# What's the reason for pushing back cuticles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 1, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-reason-for-pushing-back-cuticles/277580 "2004-12-01T21:52:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-reason-for-pushing-back-cuticles/277580/1 "2004-12-01T21:52:06Z")
Why do we need (DO we need?) to push back our cuticles? Is it just for appearance, or does it stimulate nail growth in some way? When grooming my nails I was always taught to push them back, but never really heard a reason why. Now I do it partly out of habit and b/c I do think it looks nicer. What’s the general consensus on this? ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-reason-for-pushing-back-cuticles/277580/2 "2004-12-01T22:16:17Z")
My impression is that it’s intended to expose more of the lunula, the white crescent shape at the base of the nail. I’ve never heard of it stimulating nail growth. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-reason-for-pushing-back-cuticles/277580/3 "2004-12-01T22:25:19Z")
We definitely don’t _need_ to. I’ve never pushed a cuticle in my life. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-reason-for-pushing-back-cuticles/277580/4 "2004-12-01T22:50:52Z")
I’m 43 years old and have never bothered to push back cuticles. To me it seems like a strange proactice, since I’m unaware of any benefit. However, a few months ago my wife started ragging on my fingernail grooming habits, and recruited my mom and sister to help, saying that I’m a slob since I don’t worry about my fingernails and toenails (there was no other criticism, just nails). I keep them trimmed and pretty clean, I just don’t worry about cuticles. And even in this confrontation, I still have never heard a good reason to, other than they think it looks better. It’s just something I don’t get (and it feels uncomfortable too). ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-reason-for-pushing-back-cuticles/277580/5 "2004-12-01T23:38:58Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > My impression is that it’s intended to expose more of the lunula, the white crescent shape at the base of the nail. I’ve never heard of it stimulating nail growth. Am I the only person in the world that doesn’t seem to have those at all? Anyway - I always heard it was for hangnails. For me, it seems to be true. When I don’t push my cuticles back regularly, I get hangnails; when I do, hangnail free. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-reason-for-pushing-back-cuticles/277580/6 "2004-12-02T14:54:14Z")
If hangnails are those little strips of skin which come away from the base of the nail (and sting!), then that’s why I push them back too (my gf’s suggestion). ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-reason-for-pushing-back-cuticles/277580/7 "2004-12-02T16:17:48Z")
Ah, so it’s mostly for appearances’ sake. **Amarinth** , I don’t really seem to have visible lunulas either - only on my thumbnails. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-reason-for-pushing-back-cuticles/277580/8 "2004-12-02T18:46:53Z")
My wife’s response to this question is to make her nails look longer, especially when painted. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-reason-for-pushing-back-cuticles/277580/9 "2004-12-02T20:47:12Z")
> [@duality72](#): > > My wife’s response to this question is to make her nails look longer, especially when painted. Yeah, exactly. I can’t imagine ragging on a guy who (presumably) has unpainted nails for the appearance of his cuticles - they just don’t stick out, to my eye. But if you have significant cuticles, and try to paint your nails, it looks really stupid. If you paint over the cuticle, it obviously makes the polish look lumpy. If you don’t, it looks like you have a sorta ragged patch of unpainted nail just past where the polish stops. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-reason-for-pushing-back-cuticles/277580/10 "2004-12-02T20:56:22Z")
It _really_ helps prevent hangnails. Once I learned about that, I get them a lot less often.