A Treatise on Corns, Bunions, and Ingrowing of the Toenail; Their Cause and Treatment (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. INGROWING OF THE TOE-NAIL INTO THE FLESH. SECTION I. FORMATION AND GHOTTTH OP THE KAILS. It may not be out of place here to mention another affection, arising partly from the same cause as corns and bunions, termed "ingrowing of the nail," a designation most unfortunate, as leading to an erroneous notion of the disease. To the right and proper understanding of this affection, and to arrive at a rational plan of treatment, it will be necessary first to consider the structure and mode of growth of the nails. 64 INGROWING OF THE TOE-NAIL. Like the epidermis they are formed of cells, secreted by the cutis, flattened and intimately blended together. In form they are doubly convex externally, concave internally, they are thickest towards their free margin, thinnest at the root or that part implanted into the fold of dermis, which is about two lines in depth, acting the part of a follicle to the nail. At the bottom of the dermoid fold are situated a number of papillae which secrete the cells forming the margin of the root, and by a successive production of the cells the nail is pushed forward in its growth. Beneath the concave surface of the nail are numerous vascular papillae, those between the margin of the lunula and the free extremity of the nail being larger and more vascular than those beneath the lunula itself: they are arranged in longitudinal plaits, and perform the double function of secreting additional cells to increase the thickness, and at the same time present an extended surface for the adhesion of thenail. Cells are also formed in the furrows between the lines of the papillae, causing the under surface of the nail to present a number of ridges corresponding to these furrows. This longitudinal arrangement is plainly observable by the l...