I cutem of course, but usually they tip up towards my center. If they grow from one side shouldn’t it circle?
Why toenails grow most at center of body instead of even?
I cutem of course, but usually they tip up towards my center. If they grow from one side shouldn’t it circle?
20 Comments
ExtremeDullard@piefed.social · 14 pts · 219d
I wish I even understood the question.
sbeak@sopuli.xyz · 6 pts · 219d
He's asking why, after you cut your toenails, it gets pointy in the middle. It's a fair question, I just think nobody likes to see a picture of toenails in their feed, it would have been better if that was omitted
ExtremeDullard@piefed.social · 2 pts · 218d
Willy@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 218d
Thank you for your backup. I was wondering more about the “inside” growth. Maybe it’s just me? It seems to m like the part closer to my center grows faster and would make a rainbow from my center
Willy@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 219d
Do your nails grow even from side to side or do they favor a direction?like do they want to curve?
ExtremeDullard@piefed.social · 4 pts · 218d
Nails - toe or finger - grow depending on several factors. One of them is the shape and direction of the nailbed: if it's very curvy, you'll get more rounded nails (and at the extreme end, ingrowing nails). if it points to a particular direction, the nail will tend to grow following that direction. Think of it as a pasta extruder: the shape of the pasta and the direction it takes when exiting the extruder depends on the hole's geometry.
Of course, the shape of the bone underneath also guides them this or that way. Nails don't grow in a vacuum: they're attached to the digit underneath for most of their length.
After that, nails will shrink depending on how dry the environment is around them. That changes their shape also.
404@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 218d
The term you're looking for is "medial side" (closer to the centreline of the body).
They probably wear down more on the lateral side, shafing on shoes and whatnot. The medial side is more protected.
Mothra@mander.xyz · 2 pts · 219d
Tonsils? You surely meant toenails right? My tonsils grow in my mouth. I don't cut them
Willy@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 219d
Sorry! Fixed. Do your nails grow even?
Mothra@mander.xyz · 2 pts · 219d
No, they don't grow even. But it's not so uneven to be problematic for me.
Willy@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 218d
Yeah I could use a pedicure
sbeak@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 219d
I think I understand what you're saying. You are wondering why the middle of the toenail (not body, feet are clearly on the very end of that) grows a bit faster than the bits on the side, leading to a toenail that's a bit pointy in the middle, which could be quite annoying to you.
I think it's because, when you cut your toenails, you almost always cut from the corners, not straight on, leading to a toenail that is more pronounced in the centre, since you usually make the edges of the toenail shorter than the middle.
Another theory is that (pulling this from a hat, I didn't take Biology), since toenails are essentially just dead stuff that's growing from the corpses of alive stuff underneath the toenail, there was some evolutionary advantage to having extra alive stuff in the middle of your toenail. (perhaps to better protect that alive stuff, as it could be more vulnerable out near the edges or maybe to make the toenails sharper and pointier for better grip)
There is more alive stuff in the middle, I know this from experience that when cutting too far into the toenail, it's far easier to touch the alive bits in the middle (it's painful!) compared to the edges.
sbeak@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 219d
When I was little, I think I kicked something really hard and bent my left little toe (pinky toe? Why do people call the little finger a pinky anyways? It's equally pink as the rest of the fingers...) where the toenail now grows way off to the right, it's bent to the right permanently it seems, which is kind of interesting.
Willy@sh.itjust.works · -1 pts · 218d
Pic or it didn’t happen :-)
sbeak@sopuli.xyz · 5 pts · 218d
I don't think anyone needs more toenail pictures
Willy@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 218d
If you post ill hide mine from what is left from the main feed.
sbeak@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 218d
Nope
Willy@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 218d
I really appreciate your response. I do appreciate the thought about how much stuff is in the middle. I have had to have surgery for an ingrown toenail. Never again I guess my question Or observation would be that toenails seem to grow out from the body like a rainbow so the most inner part of each toenail grows out and now that I’m saying it out loud it seems like it makes sense, but I don’t know if anybody’s ever noticed that and I guess I was just like wow
dumbass@piefed.social · 1 pts · 219d
What's going on here... Did you mean toenails?
Willy@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 219d
Yea sorry I fixed the title after someone else noted my error.
dumbass@piefed.social · 1 pts · 218d
That's all good, I was really stoned when I read it and thought I fried my brain lol.