Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: thedoc on 16/09/2013 14:19:19
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Why do we have nail on our finger and toes extremities? could we live without them?
Thanks for your answers and keep up the good work!
Asked by Ace
Visit the webpage for the podcast in which this question is answered. (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/naked-scientists/show/2010.03.14/)
[chapter podcast=2530 track=10.03.14/Naked_Scientists_Show_10.03.14_5879.mp3](https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenakedscientists.com%2FHTML%2Ftypo3conf%2Fext%2Fnaksci_podcast%2Fgnome-settings-sound.gif&hash=f2b0d108dc173aeaa367f8db2e2171bd) ...or Listen to the Answer[/chapter] or [download as MP3] (http://nakeddiscovery.com/downloads/split_individual/10.03.14/Naked_Scientists_Show_10.03.14_5879.mp3)
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thanks for your linguistic answer [:)].
so, how about toes then? do nails play a protective role or something (since we don't use our feet to grab things, i do [::)], but nails don;t come into play)? if, say, i happen to lose all my toe nail, will i get infections or else?
cheers,
ace
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I had to have both big toe nails removed surgically a few months ago. They took a little while to fully heal, but have done so now. I spend a lot of time in boots and around livestock, but haven't noticed any discomfort. Previously, the nails had been damaged several times, and had become thickened and mis-shapen, thus were curved over and cutting into the sides of the toes.
The surface of the skin where the nails once were is possibly a little thinner than the skin at the end and under the toes, slightly shinier than that on the top of the rest of the toes, but not more sensitive now than that. One can still see the indentations where the nails once were.