It’s that time again! Another module started, another module completed! Woohoo.
Me and science and biology aren’t the best of friends, though I did like chemistry when I took it in high school. Still, I never took any sciences beyond the base credits I needed, and staying in liberal arts and social services for post-secondary meant I never had to do science ever again. So you can imagine how much I loved seeing the title for this week’s module in my TAOND program. Ugh! Anatomy!
To be honest, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. A lot of the work was just memorization. Do you know the difference between the trapezium and the trapezoid and where they are located? I do, now! Is this knowledge I particularly want or need? Not especially. But I have it, I used it in my test, and now I can move on to Module 3. 🙂
 |
| Edited from Blausen.com staff. “Blausen gallery 2014”. Wikiversity Journal of Medicine. |
I get the idea behind understanding the anatomy in the parts of the body you will be working on — the hand, arm, leg and foot. That being said I honestly don’t think it will impact my professional practice that much. (But maybe I’m wrong? Any licensed techs want to weight in?) Understanding how the bones and tendons and muscles are connected and work together is useful, the specific names for all the bits and pieces, though? Not so much.
The one part I did find the useful though was the info on the nail and cuticle specifically. (Look at the image I edited to the right to help myself study!) Knowing what dictates how thick your nail will be (the nail matrix — not nail thickening products) and where your cuticle actually ends and your eponychium (don’t cut it, it’s keeping you safe from infection!) begins is important so that you can explain it to clients, especially ones who like to go all-out when it comes to nipping their cuticles.
I’m hoping the manicure module will build on all of this, because I’d like to know more practical skills and steps around it. For example: If you do nip the eponychium accidentally should you just stop working? Or should you stop the bleeding and keep going? How do I know how hard or gently to work to avoid damaging the nail plate? These are some of the questions I’m holding on to, so we’ll see if they get addressed in the upcoming module or if I should email the instructor about them.
Ultimately I got perfect on my test which was a pleasant surprise as there were 3 questions I really wasn’t sure of. Hooray! I’ve learned a few useful facts but overall I’m still itching to get into the practical modules… Next up is diseases and disorders so that’ll be interesting and probably stomach-turning. Hooray? Haha.
I’m also planning to pick up the 7th Edition of Milady’s Standard Nail Technology which is basically the bible text book for nail techs from what I’ve read. I’m hoping it will build on what I’m learning here.
Checking in on my 5PP: I put off working on this module once but kicked my butt in gear by reminding myself how much I would enjoy writing this blog post after I got it done. I ended up going to Starbucks at 7pm at night to just sit and read and study, and did the test as soon as I got home. Pushing through that way really helped me get it done.
I also reached out to TAOND to ask about the student kit (which used to be available through their site) to ask about the status of it, and now you need to be doing the full certification program to buy it from one of their online partner stores. So that sucks, but it’s also good because it’s more motivation to upgrade to the full program (which I’ve been thinking about a lot this past week). I have another 3 modules to do before I get into the practical aspects so I still have time to think about it, but I’m pretty sure I’m gonna upgrade. Overall things are going well with my goals, though! 🙂
So that’s it for this week! Check out my other nail school posts here, and thanks for visiting! xx
