Which part of the nail unit is richly supplied with blood vessels and with nerves?

• A. Nail bed
• B. Nail plate
• C. Nail matrix
• D. Lunula

Answer: (A)

The nail bed is the part that's richly supplied with blood vessels and nerves. It lies right under the nail plate and has a dense network of capillaries and nerve endings, which delivers nutrients to the growing nail and provides sensation. The nail plate itself is the hard keratin coating and is largely avascular, while the matrix (the growth zone at the base) has its own blood supply but isn’t the part typically described as the richly vascularized surface beneath the nail. The lunula is simply the visible portion of the matrix and also doesn’t present the same dense vascular supply as the bed. That combination of nourishment and sensation under the nail plate is why the nail bed fits the description best.