Nail Vocab Flashcards
Mantle
The layer of epidermis at the base of the nail, before the cuticle.
Function: to protect the matrix from physical damage.
Nail Matrix
The area where your fingernails and toenails start to grow.
Creates new skin cells, which pushes out the old, dead skin cells to make your nails.
(As a result, injuries to the nail bed or disorders that affect the matrix can affect your nail growth.)
Nail Root
The root of the nail is also known as the germinal matrix.
The root portion of this nail lies below the skin, underneath the nail, and extends several millimeters into the finger.
It produces most of the volume of the nail and the nail bed.
Nail Bed
The skin beneath the nail plate.
Nail Plate
The hard part of the nail.
Made of translucent keratin protein. Several layers of dead, compacted cells cause the nail to be strong but flexible.
Lunula
The white area at the base of the fingernail.
Eponychium
The thickened layer of skin at the base of the fingernails and toenails.
Cuticle
A layer of clear skin located along the bottom edge of your finger or toe.
Function: to protect new nails from bacteria when they grow out from the nail root
Nail Grooves
The indentation between the edges of the nail plate and the skin.
Side Walls
The skin on either side of the nail plate, (aka the lateral nail fold), acts as a barrier against bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
Perionychium
The tissue surrounding the nail, whether it be a fingernail or a toenail, including the tissue bordering the root and side.
Free Edge
The part of a nail, such as a fingernail or toenail, that extends past the flesh of the finger or toe.
Hyponychium
The area of epithelium, particularly the thickened portion, underlying the free edge of the nail plate on the nail.
Onychosis
A disease or deformity of the nail.
Etiology
The cause, set of causes, or manner of causation of a disease or condition.
6 signs of infection
Pain · Swelling · Redness · Local fever · Throbbing · Pus.
Onychomycosis
A fungal infection of the nail.
Also known as tinea unguium.
Tinea Manus
A fungal infection of the hands.
Tinea Pedis
A fungal infection that usually begins between the toes.
Paronychia
An inflammation of the skin around the nail.
Can occur suddenly, when it is usually due to the bacteria Staph.
Onychoptosis
The periodic shedding and falling of one or more nails, in whole or part.
Onychia
an inflammation of the nail folds (surrounding tissue of the nail plate) of the nail with formation of pus and shedding of the nail
Onychatrophia
Atrophy or wasting away of the nail plate which causes it to lose its luster, become smaller and sometimes shed entirely.
Injury or disease may account for this irregularity.
Onycholysis
The medical term for when your nail separates from the skin underneath it.
Blue Nails
Caused by a low level or lack of oxygen circulating in your red blood cells.
Eggshell Nails
Hapalonychia- causes your nails to be soft and thin, bend or break .
Corrugations
Long ridges that run either lengthwise or across the nail; some lengthwise ridges are normal in adult nails, and they increase with age.
Lengthwise ridges can also be caused by conditions such as psoriasis, poor circulation, and frostbite
Kolionychia
Aka “spoon nails”
A nail disease that can be a sign of hypochromic anemia, especially iron-deficiency anemia.
Refers to abnormally thin nails (usually of the hand) which have lost their convexity, becoming flat or even concave in shape.
Furrows
Transverse lines or grooves across the fingernails.
Onychogryphosis
Aka “ram’s horn nail”
A nail disorder resulting from slow nail plate growth.
Characterized by an opaque, yellow-brown thickening of the nail plate with elongation and increased curvature
Onychocryptosis
Ingrown nail
Melanonychia
Dark pigmentation of the fingernails or toenails
Onychauxis
A nail disorder that causes fingernails or toenails to grow abnormally thick.
AgnailsorHangnails
A tiny, torn piece of skin next to a fingernail or toenail.
Bruised NailsorSplinter Hemorrhages
Look like thin, red to reddish-brown lines of blood under the nails.
They run in the direction of nail growth.
They are named splinter hemorrhages because they look like a splinter under the fingernail.
The hemorrhages may be caused by tiny clots that damage the small capillaries under the nails.
Leukonychia
A medical term for white discolouration appearing on nails.
Pterygium
A wing of extra tissue.
In a nail, it is due to scarring in the matrix.
Beau’s Lines
Horizontal (transverse) depressions in the nail plate that run parallel to the shape of the white, moon-shaped portion of the nail bed (lunula) seen at the nail’s origin..
Onychophagy
Nail biting
Onychorrhexis
Brittle nails
