If you are dealing with an agnail, follow these steps to avoid infection:

: Over time, people associated the word with skin that "hangs" from the finger, leading to the modern term hangnail . Quick Care & Prevention

: Regularly apply hand cream or cuticle oil to keep the skin flexible and prevent future splits. 💡 Did You Know?

: Use clean cuticle nippers to cut the dead skin close to the base.

: It originally referred to a corn on the foot, which feels like a "painful nail" being driven into the skin.

: Tearing the skin can lead to redness, swelling, or a bacterial infection called paronychia .