Cosmetology · Manicure Services

Why avoid cutting the living skin (eponychium) around the nail?

Correct answer

Cutting living tissue can cause pain, bleeding, and infection

  1. A It is faster to cut it
  2. B Cutting living tissue can cause pain, bleeding, and infection
  3. C It looks better cut
  4. D It is required

Why this is the answer

The cosmetologist should avoid cutting the living skin around the nail (the eponychium) because this tissue is part of the body's protective barrier; cutting it can cause pain and bleeding and create an opening for pathogens to enter, leading to infection. Only the non-living cuticle tissue on the nail plate is gently addressed, and even that conservatively. Protecting the living skin around the nail is an important manicure-safety and infection-prevention principle that the exam expects candidates to understand.
Source: Skin & Nails — Protecting Living Skin

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