My wife recently shut her finger in the car door ..ouch !
However the question is, what 'sticks' the nail to the bed
and how does it move as the finger nail grows
Oh i see. Yes. They're fixed at the cuticle i think, and supported by the skin at the sides, so as the nail grows forward, it's held slightly further down? I haven't been awake long enough to start making sense:-\
From people i know that have lost a toenail, it doesn't seem to be attached to the bed in anyway. Although that could be because it's been quite gradual and healed underneath as the nail has loosened.
The nail grows forward from the root which is under the cuticle and is held in place by the cuticle supported by the nail bed which runs almost all the length of the nail.
if you had a slow motion camera, you would see the nail "move"....;-)
Incidentally, bit of an aside.
Pig farmers used to 'nick' the bottom of their thumb-nail when the pig had it away and when it reached the top the piglets were due.
I thought that might interest you.
Svejk......\\Yes sqad, but its 'stuck' to the skin.\\
no it isn't....it is"held" by a layer of "not very sticky stuff" between the length of the nail and the skin below. Not held tightly enough for slow growth...very slow growth.