Hangnail

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A hangnail on left-hand little finger

For other uses, see Hangnail (disambiguation).

A hangnail or agnail is a small, loose strip of torn skin near a fingernail or toenail. Hangnails are usually caused by dry skin or (in the case of fingernails) nail biting, and may be prevented with proper moisturization of the skin.

When attempting to remove a hangnail, additional skin may be painfully ripped off if its attachment if not broken properly. This may lead to a painful infection called paronychia. Therefore, hangnails should usually be cut using nail scissors or a nail clipper; biting them frequently makes it worse. People with a hangnail should be careful to cut it all off and rub hand lotion into the cuticles two to three times a day. ^[1]

The term "hangnail" is misleading, as a hangnail is not an actual piece of nail. It's dead, dried skin, not nail, the latter being made up of mostly calcium and a fibrous protein, known as keratin.

[edit] Etymology

Agnail is the Middle English term meaning "corn on the foot." It comes from the Old English term angnægl (from ang- tight/painful + nægl- nail). Agnail was adapted to hangnail by a process of folk etymology.^[2]