Us humans tend to take some parts of our body for granted and unfortunately, our toe and toenails fall in that category. But let’s be honest, we owe so much to our toe and toenails because we cannot fully walk without them and our feet would not look that presentable if we don’t have them. Even if our toes and toenails look pretty simple, they are far more complicated than we think. That’s why in honor of our toes and toenails, we are going to give you fun and interesting facts about them to get to know them a little better.
- Our nails are made of keratin which is a protective protein that also makes up our hair. But the keratin molecules that make up our hair is different than those that makeup our nails that is why our nails are tougher than our hair.
- Our toenails are not just designed toenails, they are also made to protect surrounding soft tissues from any external injuries.
- The small white crescent shape we see on our nails is the visible part of the matrix. But it is not always seen on all nails especially on our little fingers and toes.
- Research shows that our toenails help us to balance and interpret our surroundings.
- No matter how hard we clean our feet, there will be always fungi and bacteria that lurks between our toenails and the skin beneath them. This is because our feet have about 125,000 sweat glands on each foot that makes it warm and moist which means that our feet are the best breeding ground for fungi and bacteria.
- Some people have as many as thirteen toes. In fact, two boys from India namely Devendra Harne and PranamyaMenaria both have 12 fingers and 13 toes. This condition is known as polydactilism.
- There’s a World Toe Wrestling Competition where contestants lock toes in a ring and try to push each other out in just three rounds.
- Our toenails grow faster in summer and in warm climates.
- Men’s toenails grow faster than women’s toenails.
- Ancient Egyptians knew how to replace toenails. Even if a missing toe would not cause us inconvenience at all, it doesn’t mean that it should not be replaced, right? In fact, explorers found a mummy in Egypt hat has a leather and wood contraption on its foot that is believed to be a prosthetic toe.
- Our toenails are considered to be mostly vestigial which means that we can function without it. Just like out wisdom teeth or our appendix.
- Men are more likely to get fungal nail infections than women.
- The most common reason why our toenail falls off is because of contagious fungal infection.
- A toenail usually regrows fully six months after it comes off.
- If you want to enlist in the army, you need to have all of your ten toes to be intact. Because their rules clearly state that the army will reject anyone for the absence of a foot or any of its portion.
- Toes can replace our fingers. This is a surgery that was first used in humans in 1975 since then, the toe-to-hand surgery is one of the widely used procedures.
- No matter how lovely and pretty it might look, putting nail polish on your toenails frequently can discolor them.
- Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of the Vogue magazine finds toes sexy. She even listed it on the unwritten dress code of the Voguette.
- Nails don’t have any sweat glands that’s why they never sweat.
- The most common fungal nail infection is called Onychomycosis and the older you are, the more likely you are to get it.
- If some mammals have claws or hooves, us humans have toenails. Experts believed that way back when we use our feet for more than just walking or running, our toenails would help us pick things up just like the way our fingernails still do today.
We hope you enjoyed reading these fun and interesting facts about our toes and toenails. We hope that this article changed the way we look and think about your toes and toenails and start taking more care of them.