What is the function of the free edge of the nail?
By Katie Barnes | 21 September 2022 | Expert Advice, Feature, Health & wellbeing
To understand the function of the free edge or nail tip, we must firstly understand how and why the nail grows.
The function of the nail is to protect the outermost bone of the finger or toe, the fingertip, and the surrounding soft tissues from injuries. The fingertips contain a lot of sensory endings that allow us to distinguish touch, pain, and temperature. As these nerve fibres are very sensitive and fragile, it is important to protect these. The underside of the finger is fleshy, and the nail covers the pad-like topside.
The cells originate in the matrix and move forward towards the fingertips. When they first become exposed from under the cuticle, the cells are soft and spongey and only harden and keratinise when exposed to the air. This usually takes several days. The nail continues to grow forwards in the shape and width of the nail bed.
When the nail plate extends beyond the hyponychium, this becomes the free edge.
The longer this grows, the further up the back of the nail plate the hyponychium can grow. This can lead to the extended hyponychium, where the hyponychium can protrude over the finger pad up the back of the nail plate. Care must be taken when shaping and removing length to not detach this hyponychium and cause discomfort. Learn how to safely file the free edge here.
It is important to have a free edge as this ensures that all the nail bed is covered and therefore protected.
The free edge is white, translucent, or yellow in appearance as it no longer has the nail bed which contains blood vessels underneath to give the pink tone the nail plate often appears to have, due to the nail bed underneath.
Why do some nails grow longer than others?
The nail plate is designed to crack or break off under pressure or upon impact to act as a shock absorber so the nail bed and nerve endings should be exposed to minimal damage only. The free edge is the most vulnerable part of the nail and can be easily damaged by everyday tasks. This explains why it can break so easily and individual lifestyles can be a factor of this.
Naturally, those that are harder on their hands will experience breakage more often than those that aren’t. Carrying out household or work tasks without protecting your nails and hands can cause breaks more easily.
This is why nail pros should recommend aftercare and maintenance treatments to help to protect the client’s natural nail. Regular use of cuticle oil, protecting the nails during household tasks such as washing up, gardening, not picking, biting, or removing nails incorrectly are just some aftercare tips that can help to protect the natural nail and free edge
Sometimes due to the nail purpose, the nail breaks further down and can cause discomfort. Learn how to identify the cause and deal with this in my previous post for Scratch here.
Love Katie B x
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