To cut cuticles or not??

[Bagpuss]

Some do and some dont...Creative teach using a cuticle remover but Ez flow dont...i have done both and both ways work fine for me.

 

[nenee]

Hi there
I went tomy usual college lesson last night and thought I would ask about the eponychium issue, this is what my tutuor said.

The eponychium is situated where the naIl fold ends, and its live skin, then the cuticle is next which is the ring of skin we trim back and push with the hoof etc so in other words the eponychium is the skin around the cuticle its in between the nail fold and cuticle???

Now I thought the eponychium was the true name for the cuticle? and the cuticle was actually the non living tissue on the nail plate we scrape off?


nenee

 

[Jaydee]

Now I thought the eponychium was the true name for the cuticle? and the cuticle was actually the non living tissue on the nail plate we scrape off?


nenee

NO.....Cuticle is cuticle which is the non living tissue on the nail plate.
Eponychium is eponychium which is the skin surrounding the nail plate. The eponychium folds back on itself and protects the matrix from foreign bodies and bacteria. Cuticle is a sticky residue that gets pulled along the nail bed as it emerges from underneath the eponychium. Cuticle is all that you should be removing from the nail plate.
David

 

[Classy Claws]

Take a look at the following links hun

http://www.davidlnelson.md/images/anatomy_nail.jpg

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/podiatry/images/clip_image003_006.gif

Natural Nails and Their Care

This is why I am becoming an educator, so this sort of confusion round these parts does not continue.

 

[Cathie!]

Great links...I'd love to know where abouts in the South Pole you are located!

 

[nenee]

Hi

I feel completely useless now, Iv soooo confused myself by asking question after question and when i look at the diagrams it looks like there is two cuticles??? Now I am not the slowest of students by far in fact I excel in a lot of areas, so know Im not, how do you put it, missing a few brain cells! but my brain has hit a wall with this eponychium issue, and looking at other chats im not alone (so there is comfort there that its not just me lol)

Please please try and explain to me (I know yet again yawn sorry!) in simple terms perhaps that will help my poor brain lol Can you answer each question for me help!!

1) Ok let me say what iv come across in college and how the diagrams look? the eponychium is not the ring of see threw cuticle that sits on the nail plate which we rub oil into, or push back with the hoof stick, am I right? is it that see threw ring the non living cuticle?

2) the eponychium is the skin around the ring of cuticle, so when I look at my nail plate now, theres the nail fold then theres the first line (at the start of the cuticle) but its the eponychium which is live skin? then the cuticle is next which can be the flap when comes loose after soaking, which is pushed back and sits onto the nail? thats why the diagrams show 2 rings around the nail plate, the first ring is the skin/live eponychium, the 2 nd is the cuticle which we can trim etc??

3) ok heres where I got confused I thought the dead skin we scrape off the nail plate with a dual tool/pusher, which we cant see most of the time is the non living cuticle??

So my poor brain (on this silly matter) thinks that the we have the nail fold, then theres the living tissue next called the eponychium, then theres the ring of cuticle which can flap around when its been soaked and pushed up? then theres the un seen skin on the nail plate we scrape off with the dual tool and its the non living dead cuticle cells? Is the eponychium underneath the cuticle and nail fold, like the hyponychium is living tissue?

I have just looked in my book and the definition of the eponychium is: When performing treatments on the nail the cuticle should never be pushed back further than the eponychium?
I just want to get this right as Im going round in circles here and feel completely in adequate!

cheers

nenee

 

[Vetty]

Hi

I feel completely useless now, Iv soooo confused myself by asking question after question and when i look at the diagrams it looks like there is two cuticles??? Now I am not the slowest of students by far in fact I excel in a lot of areas, so know Im not, how do you put it, missing a few brain cells! but my brain has hit a wall with this eponychium issue, and looking at other chats im not alone (so there is comfort there that its not just me lol)

Don't feel useless some things just take onger to click than others!!

Please please try and explain to me (I know yet again yawn sorry!) in simple terms perhaps that will help my poor brain lol Can you answer each question for me help!!

1) Ok let me say what iv come across in college and how the diagrams look? the eponychium is not the ring of see threw cuticle that sits on the nail plate which we rub oil into, or push back with the hoof stick, am I right? is it that see threw ring the non living cuticle?

Cuticle is a layer of dead skin cells sat on top of the nail plate.

2) the eponychium is the skin around the ring of cuticle, so when I look at my nail plate now, theres the nail fold then theres the first line (at the start of the cuticle) but its the eponychium which is live skin? then the cuticle is next which can be the flap when comes loose after soaking, which is pushed back and sits onto the nail? thats why the diagrams show 2 rings around the nail plate, the first ring is the skin/live eponychium, the 2 nd is the cuticle which we can trim etc??

The eponychium is the fold of skin at the base of your nail, beyond that is the skin of your fingers! The lateral folds, the eponychium and the hyponchium (under your free edge) form a complete seal around your nail bed. All the folds are living tissue.

In Clasy Claws last link this line should help :Eponychium is the visible part of the proximal nail fold that appears to end at the base of the nail.

3) ok heres where I got confused I thought the dead skin we scrape off the nail plate with a dual tool/pusher, which we cant see most of the time is the non living cuticle??

It is!

So my poor brain (on this silly matter) thinks that the we have the nail fold, then theres the living tissue next called the eponychium, then theres the ring of cuticle which can flap around when its been soaked and pushed up? then theres the un seen skin on the nail plate we scrape off with the dual tool and its the non living dead cuticle cells? Is the eponychium underneath the cuticle and nail fold, like the hyponychium is living tissue?

You're over-thinking this! The nail fold is the eponychium - it can be pushed back, but not past the point that you feel resistance.

The unseen skin on the nail plate that we remove is cuticle.

I have just looked in my book and the definition of the eponychium is: When performing treatments on the nail the cuticle should never be pushed back further than the eponychium?

But this sentence is confusing because it infers that cuticle and eponychium are both living tissue in the same place!

I just want to get this right as Im going round in circles here and feel completely in adequate!

Good for you to want to truely understand rather than just accept what you're told!

cheers

nenee

Does any of that help?! I've got a lovley clear diagram but can't get my scanner to work :irked:. I'll keep trying and add it if I can!

 

[user 17597]

Take a look at the following links hun

Natural Nails and Their Care

This is why I am becoming an educator, so this sort of confusion round these parts does not continue.

Wow brilliant site, thanks for link, i did not know it existed. you have made my day. :hug:

great thread, its sorted out a few confusions for me too. There is a lot of conflicting tutoring going on. But i do understand from previous threads that this is not the tutors fault but that it takes a long time for the correct information to reach its way to the classroom. Even if the tutor knows its not correct they are bound to teach the module as layed out.

 

[nenee]

Hi Vetty

Just wanted to say a big big thank you for taking time out to explain this issue to me and hope I have once and for all got it?

Ok I think my original (and years of knowledge on this) was right from the begining(hopefully lol) and because I have started beauty therapy lately it has been confusing my original thoughts on this matter.

1) I use to think (heh goes deep breath and I hope I now see the light) that the eponychium is what gets confused and referred to as the "cuticle" in college? it is live tissue and it folds back on itself making a seal to the matrix, this is why we should not cut it back as bacteria and organisms have a lovely little entry to the matrix to cause infection?:irked:

2) the cuticle is the dead cells we scrape off from the nail plate (which is like a see threw film and is not the ring of skin at the base of the nail we refer to as cuticle in college) prior to nail enhancements as this skin prevents a good adhesion, therefore we take this off as it can over grow to and cause lifting?

3) Now pterygium?? in my book its is said to be due from overgrown thickened cuticles. often tightly adhered to the nail plate, if left untreated it leads to splitting of the cuticle and infection, is that right?

Hope Iv finally got this and atleast it is helping others too. If you can scan the photo and send it I would be very interested in seeing it

Big :hug: and thank you once again.

is there anyway of having a email when someone replies to my question so I dont have to keep checking ?

nenee
xx

 

[Classy Claws]

Okay I have taken a photo of my thumb and labled it... lets have no comments about the ugly naked thumb, I soaked them off lastnight and am about to do a new set lol... but you can clearly see the eponychium "fold" on my nails... it may help someone else who still cant picture it and the picture is much larger than the others I posted.

 

[Classy Claws]

Even if the tutor knows its not correct they are bound to teach the module as layed out.

But nothings says you cant add to that CND teaching where I am has developed a bad name due to the "teaching" or "lack of teaching" going on.... I plan to change that :green:

Great links...I'd love to know where abouts in the South Pole you are located!

On that funny shaped chunk of country that fell off Australia :lol: NZ :lol:

 

[nenee]

That is so kind of you, going to so much trouble, normal drawings confused the hell out of me but seeing a true picture makes all the difference, why they dont have real photos in the book we use beats me, ahhh!!!:grr:

After seeing that picture I always thought the eponychium was the ring of skin and the cuticle comes underneath and lies on the nail plate. hurrah:lol:

I hate anything getting the better of me especially over something so silly, but colleges should not be teaching the wrong way they should change it.

I love this site its so great.
cheers
nenee
x:hug:

 

[Classy Claws]

That is so kind of you, going to so much trouble, normal drawings confused the hell out of me but seeing a true picture makes all the difference, why they dont have real photos in the book we use beats me, ahhh!!!:grr:

After seeing that picture I always thought the eponychium was the ring of skin and the cuticle comes underneath and lies on the nail plate. hurrah:lol:

I hate anything getting the better of me especially over something so silly, but colleges should not be teaching the wrong way they should change it.

I love this site its so great.
cheers
nenee
x:hug:

Your Welcome hun :hug: I am a visual learner... try to tell me what the eponychium is and I might go.. huh? but show me and I go AH-hA! glad it helped you, and also makes me take note to make things alot more visual when I move into education

 

[sammyjane]

i was told at college to not cut away anything because even the tiniest cut can become infected when the l&p is applied.
i always cut my own tho not on other ppl as the nuture oil hydrates the cuticles afterwards so its probly just dry skin and cuticle around the nail