the.com/toenail
a tiny armored shield slowly clawing its way toward the light it'll never reach
means The hard, flat plate of keratin growing at the tip of each toe, protecting the sensitive flesh beneath.
from A plain compound of "toe" and "nail," both ancient Germanic words. "Toe" descends from Old English "ta," a cousin of Dutch "teen" and German "Zehe." "Nail" comes from Old English "nægel," the same word that names the metal fastener — the two senses (the body's claw and the carpenter's spike) sat together in the Germanic languages from the start, both rooted in an old Proto-Indo-European term linked to claws and nails. So the foot's little plate has been called a "nail" for as long as English has been English.
- growth speed
- grows half as fast as fingernails
- full replace
- takes up to 18 months to fully regrow
- made of
- keratin, same protein as hair and horns
- big toe
- its nail grows fastest of all toes
- deep roots
- the matrix beneath generates every cell
onychomycosis — fungal infection affecting over 12 million people in the us annually, most common toenail disease
ingrown toenail surgery — nail matrix ablation procedure performed over 250,000 times yearly in the us to prevent regrowth