So, after a recent sword hit to my thumb, my finger broke (I was wearing gloves, it is fine) and there was a new finger nail growing beneath it. It is going well and my old nail is almost falling off, just holding onto the skin with the last bit. Last week when I bended the nail too far it put stress on my skin and hurt, this week I was able to simply take it off without any harm after showering.
So my question is: how does it stick to the skin? Is it glued? Does it work with vacuum/low pressure? Simply friction?
(NSFW because of the description of my nail/finger)
In: Biology
The area underneath your nails is called the nail bed. As your nail grows, it will fuse to the nail bed to make it more durable. The nail and the bed beneath it literally grow together.
As you’ve learned, though, they’re only lightly attached, and can un-fuse if needed (for example, if the nail is damaged). It hurts because you’re tearing tiny bits of skin when you pull the nail away from it.
The reason why it fuses is surprisingly obvious – if you use your fingernails to scratch yourself with firm pressure, it’s immediately obvious why the nail fuses to the nail bed – otherwise you wouldn’t be able to exert any pressure with the nail at all without it lifting up!
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