Which grows faster fingernails or toenails

Based on some turn-of-the-century research he'd read, Dawber believed that the growth rate of any nail depends on "terminal trauma," an ominous-sounding term that just refers to how often a fingertip is used. A splinted finger, he reasoned, would get a lot less fingertip use. Accordingly, he hypothesized that the nail on his splinted finger would lag behind the rest of his fingernails. For the three months it was splinted, Dawber's left ring fingernail grew 25 percent slower than the three months after he took the splint off.

Dawber acknowledged that the injury itself might have affected the growth, but he noted that the damage was limited to his tendon, not the blood vessels or bone. He also noted as had many others that the fingernails on his dominant right hand grew faster than his left, while his toenails on both feet grew at the same speed. Neither Dawber's nor any subsequent study exposed the biological mechanism for the different growth rates. But, Dawber's conclusion—that our fingernails grow in response to how much their corresponding fingertip is used—is the generally accepted explanation.

And it makes sense. According to Dawber and other proponents of the trauma theory, frequent fingertip use indicates to the nail matrix that the nail is probably being worn down faster, so it calibrates by increasing the rate of growth. Do you prefer to do it yourself or go to a professional? Toenails have less circulation. Toenails get fewer nutrients. Toenails are less traumatized. Bonus: curious facts about nails.

It was found that men generally have faster nail growth but there is one exception. Also, one study found that the fingernail on your little finger grows slower than the others. It happens because that hand is more active. Rather strangely however the longer your fingers the faster your nails grow and the nails on your more active hand grow faster than on the other. Your middle nail grows the fastest and your thumb nails the slowest. Eating foods to help your hair shine?

Nails and hair are both made out of the protein keratin. Eating healthy foods and vitamins will help strengthen both your hair and nails, while a junk food diet will lead to peeling nails and split ends. Believe it or not your nails can give dermatologists clues about the rest of your health, a serious disease could be uncovered by a fingernail examination. Blue discolouration can be a sign of lung cancer while yellow discolouration can be related to a respiratory disease.

Indentations across your nail may just be caused by damage, however if they appear for no reason they could indicate zinc deficiency, diabetes or a high fever.

Nail abnormalities: clues to systemic diseases. Am Fam Physician. Variability in the growth patterns of the cornified claw sheath among vertebrates: implications for using biogeochemistry to study animal movement.

Can J Zool. American Academy of Dermatology website. Published Accessed May 22, Effect of mechanical forces on finger nail curvature: an analysis of the effect of occupation on finger nails. Dermatol Surg. Zaharoff G. How do chimpanzees trim their nails? The World of George Zaharoff. Published June 8, Accessed May 16,