Answer:
Dear
Tammie,
Nails
grow slowly: it will take an average of six months for a fingernail
to grow out completely, and a toenail takes at least twice as long.
They
also seem to grow more slowly as we get older.
Physical
damage to the root, nail Infections, drug side effects, skin growths,
( warts, cysts, or moles), skin conditions (psoriasis and eczema)
malnutrition and disease processes (Addison's disease, peripheral
arterial disease, or HIV infection) are reasons for having a toenail
not growing.
When
the blood contains substances that stunt growth (e.g. the cytostatics
in chemotherapy with cancer, hazardous substances from smoking), nails
stop growing.
Injury
to the root of the nail can distort a nail temporarily, while severe
or repeated injury can permanently distort a nail. People who engage
in sports such as soccer can experience this kind of damage.
The matrix
is the tissue (germinal matrix) upon which the nail rests.
The matrix
is responsible for the production of the cells that become the nail
plate.
The width
and thickness of the nail plate is determined by the size, length,
and thickness of the matrix, while the shape of the fingertip itself
determines if the nail plate is flat, arched, or hooked.
The matrix
will continue to grow as long as it receives nutrition and remains
in a healthy condition.
As new
nail plate cells are incubated, they emerge from the matrix round
and white to push older nail plate cells forward; and in this way
yet older cells become compressed, flat, and translucent, making the
pink colour of the capillaries in the nail bed below visible.
The root
of the fingernail is also known as the germinal matrix.
The germinal
matrix the reason the nail plate is healthy.
The germinal
matrix is the simply tissue that creates a toenail.
The growth
of the nail is retarded if an individual is in poor health or disease
or there is an injury to the nail matrix.
Defective
circulation to the germinal matrix may stop nails growing.
