Everything about fingernails

Structure of fingernails
Beautiful fingernails is a reflection of personal culture and self-respect . A lot of people who have unhealthy fingernails are wondering whether there exist a magical medication which would make their fingernails healthy and beautiful. Unfortunately, there is no such elixir that could totally change your fingernails condition. In order to achieve this you should always take care of your hands (fingernails). It is advisable to manicure every week to make your fingernails strong and healthy.
Fingernail- is a smooth, a little bit curved, translucent corneous plate, which has a hard structure and consists of keratin. The fingernail is situated in the nail bed. Sides of the fingernail have specific names, for example its free ending is called the edge. Besides a distal edge there are also two side edges and one proximal edge. An opened part of the fingernail is called the nail plate and a closed part is called the root. The fingernail is surrounded with a nail barrier, the part of it, which is situated close to the root, is called cuticle. The cuticle fuses the skin of the finger and the nail plate .The part of the nail bed covered with the root is called matrix. The front part of the matrix is lighted through, as a white crescent shaped structure, called lunula. Due to the reproduction of the matrix cells
nail plate is growing.
Here is some information about the growth of fingernails. The average speed of growing is 3-4 mm a month. The total nail plate renewal happens in about half a year. So, it takes about 2 months for a fingernail to grow about 5 mm. That’s why insignificant damages of the matrix could be noticed only in a few weeks. The fingernails grow faster when a person is 10-14 years old and it, slows down after the age of 20.
The keratin of the fingernail differs from the keratin of the skin in that it is much harder, less porous and less swollen even when contacted with water. Unfavorable environmental conditions also influence your fingernails, for example using dish washing detergent etc. Fingernail plates have about 10 % of water and 1 % of fat in addition to keratin. These proportions must be always balanced, otherwise your fingernails would become dim, fragile and splitting.