Marilyn said:
What you have describes does NOT appear to be what I have. I do not have a pad at the end, what I have grows down attached to the free edge of my nail, almost all the way down. I know what sole horn looks like and this is not the same as mine. Amanda had a look and said it was cuticle and it removes very easily and with no problem at all using cuticle remover. From how pinkchicnails described her sisters nails, it sounded the same as I have, but without actually seeing it nobody can be sure what it definitely is.
My post is not discussing the state or condition of your nails Marilyn ... rather the nails of the sister of the person who posted this thread.
Just to clarify. Because some of the advice given is
confusing and
incorrect.
The Hyponychium is the
area of the nail unit where the nail plate is
sealed to the nail bed, usually near the end of the finger. On a nail biter this area is way before the end of the finger and on others, with very long nail plates, this area can extend a little way beyond the end of the finger.
An extended Hyponychium is not a problem ... it just is the way it is for that person.
The Hyponychium does
not shed. Nor does it carry on growing with the length of the nail.
If what you are seeing is dry skin on the underside of the nail plate ... this is dead
epidermis (
similar to the cuticle we see on top of the nail plate (because it is dead, but it is
not the same and is not known as cuticle).
On most people, this dry dead epidermis naturally sheds or wears away with the use of our hands. On others it does not. Sometimes it builds up and forms a little pad of dead dry skin just in front of the hyponychium -- this is known as the sole horn- Sometimes it just wears away cleanly and there is no build up.
You should not pick or prod or try to remove
either the sole horn
or the epidermis with a TOOL. For the reason that you might actually break the seal (the hyponychium) to the nail bed and allow bacteria or other organism to infect the area. It is also quite painful to break the seal.
A more gentle way to remove any unsightly epidermis is with Cuticle Remover or Cuticle Eraser and a nail brush as described above.
I hope this clears this up for everyone.
PINKCHICNAILS -- your very first post proves that your instincts are right. If you do as you suggested yourself in this post, it will take care of the problem in a short time. Just remember that it is not the hyponychium that is not shedding, but the
Epidermis which is not shedding.