Nails: growth, breakage and cuticle care

Beginner · SESH Academy

Understand where nails grow, distinguish growth from retained length, and learn useful daily care.

Locate the nail matrix that produces new nail, the nail plate and surrounding skin. Retaining length is different from accelerating growth.

Locate the nail matrix that produces new nail, the nail plate and surrounding skin. Retaining length is different from accelerating growth.

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What you will learn

Understand where nails grow, distinguish growth from retained length, and learn useful daily care.

Core ideas before application

Where does nail growth begin?

The matrix near the base. The matrix produces new plate that moves forward.

Does constant length with broken tips prove growth stopped?

No; growth may continue while tips are lost. Retained length reflects both growth and breakage.

Find the stratum corneum at the top and cell renewal below. This is thick skin, such as a palm; its clear lucidum layer is absent from facial skin.

Find the stratum corneum at the top and cell renewal below. This is thick skin, such as a palm; its clear lucidum layer is absent from facial skin.

Image source · OpenStax College: J. Gordon Betts, Peter Desaix, Eddie JohnsonCC BY 3.0Compressed display copy; illustration content retained.
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What important role does the cuticle serve?

Helping protect the nail base. Removing it can compromise protection and contribute to problems.

What warrants assessment?

A new dark band or pain and swelling. New or painful changes should not all be treated as cosmetic.

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