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| | Health & Wellness Anatomy of a Healthy Fingernail
Your nails are composed of laminated layers of a protein called keratin, which is also found in your hair and skin. Each nail comprises several parts, see the illustration below. This illustration shows components of a healthy fingernail.  | | 1. Nail Plate. The nail plate is the part of your nail that's most visible - the hard portion you see when you look at your fingernail.
2. Nail Folds. This is skin that frames each of your nail plates on three sides.
3. Nail Bed. Your nail bed is the skin beneath the nail plate. Cells at the base of your nail bed produce the fingernail or toenail plate.
4. Cuticle. Your cuticle is the tissue that overlaps your nail plate at the base of your nail. It protects the new keratin cells that slowly emerge from the nail bed.
5. Lunula. The lunula is the whitish, half-moon shape at the base of your nail underneath the plate.
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Your nails grow from the area under your cuticle (matrix). As new cells grow, older cells become hard and compacted and are eventually pushed out toward your fingertips. Nails grow about 0.1 millimeter a day, which means that it takes a fingernail about four to six months to fully regenerate. Healthy nails are smooth, without ridges or grooves. They're uniform in color and consistency and free of spots or discoloration. Nail Facts - Nails grow faster in Summer than in Winter
- They also grow faster when we are young or pregnant
- Toenails grow two to three times slower then your fingernails, but are almost twice as thick - they have 5 layers of nail plate rather than the 3 on the fingers.
- Changes in your nail may signify a number of disorders. They can indicate illness before the rest of the body is aware of anything wrong.
- Thick nails may announce a problem with circulation. Ridges or bumps might reflex a fever or acute illness. If your nail bed (the skin under the exposed nail) is spoon shaped or pale, it might mean you have an iron deficiency.
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