Pivot Point Nails 113 Practice Test

Split or brittle nails describe nails that crack, split, or peel easily and often show ridges along the plate. The correct term for this condition is onychorrhexis. It literally means a split or rupture of the nail, and you’ll typically see long, vertical ridges and delicate splitting of the nail surface. This can arise from factors like aging, frequent exposure to water and harsh cleaners, chemical abuse, trauma, or nutritional issues, and it can accompany other skin or nail disorders.

Hangnail refers to a loose piece of skin around the nail rather than the nail itself. Paronychia is an infection around the nail folds, usually with redness and swelling. Pterygium is scarring that causes the skin to attach to the nail bed and can alter nail growth. None of these describe the brittle, split nature of the nail plate itself like onychorrhexis does.