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Hangnail
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A hangnail or agnail is a small, torn piece of skin near a fingernail or toenail. Unlike whitlows, hangnails are usually caused by dry skin or (in the case of fingernails) nail biting, and may be prevented with proper moisturization of the skin.
When attempting to remove a hangnail, additional skin may be painfully ripped off if its attachment if not broken properly.
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Encyclopedia
A hangnail or agnail is a small, torn piece of skin near a fingernail or toenail. Unlike whitlows, hangnails are usually caused by dry skin or (in the case of fingernails) nail biting, and may be prevented with proper moisturization of the skin.
When attempting to remove a hangnail, additional skin may be painfully ripped off if its attachment if not broken properly. This may lead to a painful infection called paronychia. Therefore, hangnails should usually be cut using nail scissors or a nail clipper; biting them frequently makes it worse. People with a hangnail should be careful to cut it all off and rub hand lotion into the cuticles two to three times a day.
The term "hangnail" is misleading, as a hangnail is not an actual part of the nail. It is dead, dried skin, not nail, the latter being mostly made up of keratin, a tough fibrous protein. It can, however, also include a bit of nail, hanging loose from the rest of the body of the nail, attached to the nail bed.
Colloquial terms for hangnail include "catchy" and, in the UK, "stepmother's blessing".
Etymology
Agnail is the Middle English term meaning "corn." It comes from the Old English term angnęgl (from ang- tight/painful + nęgl- nail). Agnail was adapted to hangnail by a process of folk etymology.
External links
- from MotherNature.com /The Doctors Book of Home Remedies II
- from WebMD
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