The hyponychium is the area of

epithelium Epithelium or epithelial tissue is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. It is a thin, continuous, protective layer of compactly packed cells with a little intercellul ...

, particularly the thickened portion, underlying the free edge of the nail plate on the

nail Nail or Nails may refer to: In biology * Nail (anatomy), toughened protective protein-keratin (known as alpha-keratin, also found in hair) at the end of an animal digit, such as fingernail * Nail (beak), a plate of hard horny tissue at the tip ...

. Its proximal border is immediately distal to distal limit of nail bed—a.k.a. the onychodermal band (the line along the interface of the nail bed and the nail plate). Its distal border the free edge of the nail plate—or where that edge would project downwards onto the epidermis. It is sometimes called "the quick" (in its archaic meaning of "living"), as in the phrase

cut to the quick Cut may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely-directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** Cut ( ...

References

Nail anatomy {{anatomy-stub

See also

References