Clinical Evidence for the Relationship between Nail Configuration and Mechanical Forces
Open Access
- 1 March 2014
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery - Global Open
- Vol. 2 (3), e115
- https://doi.org/10.1097/gox.0000000000000057
Abstract
Summary: Mechanobiology is an emerging field of science that focuses on the way physical forces and changes in cell or tissue mechanics contribute to development, physiology, and disease. As nails are always exposed to physical stimulation, mechanical forces may have a particularly pronounced effect on nail configuration and could be involved in the development of nail deformities. However, the role of mechanobiology in nail configuration and deformities has rarely been assessed. This review describes what is currently understood regarding the effect of mechanical force on nail configuration and deformities. On the basis of these observations, we hypothesize that nails have an automatic curvature function that allows them to adapt to the daily upward mechanical forces. Under normal conditions, the upward daily mechanical force and the automatic curvature force are well balanced. However, an imbalance between these 2 forces may cause nail deformation. For example, pincer nails may be caused by the absence of upward mechanical forces or a genetic propensity increase in the automatic curvature force, whereas koilonychias may occur when the upward mechanical force exceeds the automatic curvature force, thereby causing the nail to curve outward. This hypothesis is a new concept that could aid the development of innovative methods to prevent and treat nail deformities.Keywords
This publication has 62 references indexed in Scilit:
- Role of Mechanical Forces in Hand Nail Configuration Asymmetry in Hemiplegia: An Analysis of Four Hundred Thumb NailsDermatology, 2013
- Mechanotherapy: revisiting physical therapy and recruiting mechanobiology for a new era in medicineTrends in Molecular Medicine, 2013
- Influence of Mechanical Forces as a Part of Nail ConfigurationDermatology, 2012
- Treatment of transverse overcurvature of the nail with a plastic device: Measurement of responseJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2006
- Correction of pincer-nail deformities with autograft or homograft dermis: Modified surgical techniqueThe Journal of Hand Surgery, 2005
- Surgical Pearl: Nail splinting by flexible tube—A new noninvasive treatment for ingrown toenailsJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 1998
- Anatomic Distribution of Melanocytes in Normal Nail UnitThe American Journal of Dermatopathology, 1997
- The lunulaJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 1996
- Diabetic NeuropathyClinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 1993
- Ingrown Toenail: Results of Surgical TreatmentFoot & Ankle, 1988