• Question: how much do your nails grow a year

    Asked by cewis to Enda, Jean, Kate, Kev, Tim on 15 Nov 2012. This question was also asked by hazelleehahalol, epicmustachio.
    • Photo: Jean Bourke

      Jean Bourke answered on 15 Nov 2012:

      It depends on the nail! It also depends on the person.

      The nails on your different fingers grow at different rates and your toe nails are quite slow indeed. The rate of growth appears to be related to the length of the last bone in your the finger/toe in question, this is why they grow at different rates on the same hand or foot.

      The average for humans is 3mm a months so in a year they grow about 3.6cm. But the exact rate depends on gender, age, diet age, exercise and genetic. What season it is also has an effect with nails and hair growing faster during the summer.

    • Photo: Enda O'Connell

      Enda O'Connell answered on 15 Nov 2012:

      Hi Cewis

      I have two quick things to add to Jean’s excellent answer. I didn’t realise nail growth was seasonal @Jean 🙂

      1. I hope you don’t find this too morbid @cewis but there is a myth that your hair and nails continue to grow for a short time after you die. People have observed bodies over a few days after death and it can often appear that the hair and nails are longer than when the person died. What is actually happening is that the body starts to dry out and the skin around the hair and nails retracts, making them appear slightly longer.

      2. Every year North America moves away from Europe at the same rate your fingernails grow. This is due to a ridge, where two tectonic plates meet in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, constantly producing fresh magma which pushes the two continents apart. So the next time you cut your fingernails, just think that you are that much further away from Disney World.

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