Nails
The role that fingernails and toenails play in the integumentary system is that they simply protect our fingers and toes. Fingers experience lots of trauma during day to day life so it is important the we have fingernails to protect our fingers from anything very severe.
Fingernails and toenails are made of a tough protein called keratin. The parts of the nail are:
Nail fold- a fold of hard skin overlapping the base and sides of a fingernail or toenail.
Nail bed- the adherent connective tissue thta underlines the nail, otherwise referred to as the "quick".
Nail plate- the hard and translucent portion, composed of kertain.
Hyponychium - the attachment between the skin of the finger or toe and the distal end of the nail.
Lunula- the crescent shaped whitish area of the nail bed.
Free edge- the part of the nail that extends past the finger, beyond the nail plate.
Eponychium or cuticle- the fold of skin at the proximal end of the nail.
Paronychium- the fold of skin at the sides of the nail.
Fingernails and toenails are made of a tough protein called keratin. The parts of the nail are:
Nail fold- a fold of hard skin overlapping the base and sides of a fingernail or toenail.
Nail bed- the adherent connective tissue thta underlines the nail, otherwise referred to as the "quick".
Nail plate- the hard and translucent portion, composed of kertain.
Hyponychium - the attachment between the skin of the finger or toe and the distal end of the nail.
Lunula- the crescent shaped whitish area of the nail bed.
Free edge- the part of the nail that extends past the finger, beyond the nail plate.
Eponychium or cuticle- the fold of skin at the proximal end of the nail.
Paronychium- the fold of skin at the sides of the nail.
Diseases
Many gross things can happen to our fingernails over our lifetime. Most of them deal with bacteria or fungus growing under our nail between the nail and the skin. To list a few:
Pseudomonas- a bacterial infection that occurs between the nail plate and nail bed
Tinea Unguis- ringworm of the nails, causes severe deformity and results in nail plate loss
Onychatrophia- a wasting away of the nails
Onychauxis- over thickening of the nail plate and can be the result of an internal disorders
to name a few.
Pseudomonas- a bacterial infection that occurs between the nail plate and nail bed
Tinea Unguis- ringworm of the nails, causes severe deformity and results in nail plate loss
Onychatrophia- a wasting away of the nails
Onychauxis- over thickening of the nail plate and can be the result of an internal disorders
to name a few.