Nail Beds

mine are low, its like the nail curves up off the bed, except on my little and index fingers. they are higher. I've never liked it but when I don't wear polish for a while people are always surprised the ends of my nails are naturally white.

Mine are quite high. I can't cut my nails too short without it hurting. If I crack a nail I sometimes have to do the teabag trick to let it grow long enough that I can cut it.

Interesting to hear you think it's due to biting Shezza, I'd always assumed it was something you were born with. But thinking about it, one of my sisters bit her nails for years and she has very short nail beds compared to mine and my other sister's.

If Linzi's around she could probably give us the technical lowdown.

I think I have long nails beds. Short nails to me are long nails for most of the female population it seems  

Geordie Nails wrote:I think I have long nails beds. Short nails to me are long nails for most of the female population it seems  

Mine are the like this too. Sadly the nail beds aren't all the same length on all my nails though, so I have to have different length free edges to make them all look the same. And there's no way I could cut my nails really short, they'd look silly.

My nail beds are all different length, on my index fingers I have to be careful not to cut the skin bit underneath and on my ring fingers it's the complete opposite, I have about 3mm of white nail tip until the nail reaches the finger tip. Also when my eczema is bad the skin on my cuticles come off making the nail more exposed, sometimes making the nails looking really long.

Mine are quite long, I think you're right that that helps against breakage as I don't get too many breaks (except for my index finger!). But having longer beds means that my nails can be quite long with hardly any white (tip) showing.

Mine go right to the end of my fingers (apart from my ring fingers, which are a mm or 2 short). Normally I cut my nails so that at the middle of my nail there's no white, and I think they still look quite long.

Short nail beds does seem to be down to biting when younger (I like to inspect people's nails and enquire about their nibbling habits lol)

My nails sleep in the same bed as me usually  
I'd never really thought about this, I'd say mine are short and wide.  So am I.  Maybe it's in proportion to your height?

Mine are quite low - 3mm of white still isn't past the end of my fingers (well, on most of them - not all quite the same)! Nothing to do with biting in my case though - not something I've ever done.

I'm somehow really confused by the short/long thing - I can't work out which means what!
If I cut mine at the end of my fingers there's some white showing so does that mean short?
I was a biter so I think taht fits in with the theory, although I'm also a poker and picker and obsessive cleaner with nails from the other hand so I think I constantly push mine up.
Weirdly my little fingers aren't quite the same - the skin seems to be attached much closer to the edge of my fingers but only in the middle. I've done ouchy when cutting sometimes.

So what about toes? My toenails are a nuisance as I can feel them against my socks and want them shorter but they are the reverse of my fingers - the skin is attached close to the end of my toes. I had a friend cut them recently and she was a bit energetic on the big toes & that was ouchy for a week. But I've seen girls in flipflops with painted nails where there's skin round all four sides so their beds must finish half way up the toe! I'd never really looked at other people's nails or toes before joining here so that came as a surprise - I guess I subconsciously thought everyone's were like mine.

I think high & low is a better description  High meaning the nail beds are close to the end of your fingers (less white) - and low meaning they're further down (more white). Short and long just gets confusing - mine are actually quite long (much longer than they are wide), but also low  

Toes on the other hand, short and low - can't stand the feeling of socks catching on my toenails, so there's always skin on all 4 sides.

I can't stand long toe nails. How do people cope? uuuurggg.

And sorry but a toe nail that is callused/calcified/looks textured on the surface that hangs over the edge of the toe and is painted is gross. Why make the effort to paint the toe nail but have them look like claws. I know diabetics can't cut their own toe nails, so I try and be less judgemental about why people do this, but it still grosses me out.

shudder.

Not a fan of long toe nails. Mine are kept short. I wonder how someone wears shoes comfortably with long toe nails...
Also, forgive me for being naive, but why cant diabetics cut their own toe nails? As long as its not cut down too short which may risk them cutting the skin, I thought they could.

I let my big toe nails grow far too long, til they hurt! But I hate cutting them cos they're so thick, too much effort lol. Sorry this post is rank...

my old boss told me it was because they can bruise easily and it can cause problems...?? she also said they were prone to frost bite, more than non diabetics... must be something to do with nerve endings maybe?

ask your boyfriend to cut your toenails Laura? that would be a lovley romantic night in?  

Diabetics often have poor circulation and some degree of numbness in their toes. If they cut their own toe nails they could nick the skin and not even realise it. They can easily end up with infections or ulceration that doesn't heal properly. It's not worth the risk, that's why they generally go to a podiatrist to have their toe nails done.

ninjablossom wrote:

ask your boyfriend to cut your toenails Laura? that would be a lovley romantic night in?  

Gag I might ask him to and see the reaction!

Thanks for the information Ninja and Starry. Didn't think about the bruising and numbness but it all makes sense. Such a shame how little tasks are potentially life threatening!

ninjablossom wrote:
ask your boyfriend to cut your toenails Laura? that would be a lovley romantic night in?  

I second this.  

The beds on my toe nails are really long as well. I'd love to be able to cut them down so there was skin on all four sides, but that's just not gonna happen (well...not without serious injury). It's so annoying though, even as short as I can get them I can feel my shoes on them and I get bruised on the nail bed.

Sam wrote:The beds on my toe nails are really long as well.  I'd love to be able to cut them down so there was skin on all four sides, but that's just not gonna happen (well...not without serious injury).  It's so annoying though, even as short as I can get them I can feel my shoes on them and I get bruised on the nail bed.

That's what mine are like & its really annoying!
I do wonder if sustained cleaning out underneath might eventually push them back a bit. But I suspect it would only last as long as I continued even if it did work, and I just don't hve the patience.

Laura wrote:

ninjablossom wrote:

ask your boyfriend to cut your toenails Laura? that would be a lovley romantic night in?  

Gag :DI might ask him to and see the reaction!

My husband did mine with a dremel style electric file last night (and took my old polish off at the same time) - give 'em a power tool of any variety and they're happy  (although he did say that the tool wasn't 'man enough' for the dry skin and that he'd 'have to go and get something with a bit more oomph from his van'....... Cheeky sod.)

I've noticed that my toe nail beds have gotten longer since summer came and wearing polish on my toes. Think it's because when I have polish on I can't see the whites on my toe getting longer so I leave it longer before trimming though.

I hate long toe nails too and when people do French manis on their toes  

LoolaBeanbag wrote:

Laura wrote:

ninjablossom wrote:

ask your boyfriend to cut your toenails Laura? that would be a lovley romantic night in?  

Gag :DI might ask him to and see the reaction!

My husband did mine with a dremel style electric file last night (and took my old polish off at the same time) - give 'em a power tool of any variety and they're happy  (although he did say that the tool wasn't 'man enough' for the dry skin and that he'd 'have to go and get something with a bit more oomph from his van'....... Cheeky sod.)

Oh magic. Maybe I can persuade OH to do that too!

candyrain wrote:I've noticed that my toe nail beds have gotten longer since summer came and wearing polish on my toes.  Think it's because when I have polish on I can't see the whites on my toe getting longer so I leave it longer before trimming though.  

I hate long toe nails too and when people do French manis on their toes  

French toes? I've never seen tht but it sounds horrid.