Many have noticed, and some know, that the speed at which nails grow in men and women is different. There is no clear explanation for this. There is no consensus among experts when answering the question: why nail plates on the feet grow slower than on the hands. However, there are quite convincing theories that explain these facts.
Of course, a lot in these arguments depends on the state of health and external factors. But there is no significant difference in the growth rate of nail plates among residents of the North, compared to people living in the southern regions.
Nails are keratinized tissues formed in the form of a plate. Located on the back of the ends of the fingers both the upper and lower extremities, most primates have them.
The function performed by the nail plate is to protect the ends of the phalanges of the fingers. This arrangement is caused by the need to protect soft tissues and nerve endings located among them from damage. These protection products are made of a protein called keratin. Such explanations are given by encyclopedias.
Keratin is the main building element not only of the nail plate, but also of hair.
If you believe Darwin's theory, then our ancestors are monkeys. In these primates, protective plates at the ends of the fingers can serve for defense and climbing trees. They're almost like claws.
The nail plate does not have blood vessels or nerve endings, therefore, this tissue is non-living. But at the same time it can grow. The plate is made from more than a hundred keratinized plates by layering one on top of the other.
The semicircle at the base of the nail is called a lunula. It is here that the cells that produce carotene are located, that is, they form new fragments of the plate. The location of the lunula is clearly visible in the photo:
In a lunula, new produced tissue is added to an existing part. At the same time, the nail is pushed forward - it grows. There is a narrow area of skin above the lunula. It is called the cuticle. This protects the lunula and the base of the plate from bacteria entering them, as well as from mechanical impact.
With age, the growth process of the plate slows down. Often during this period, all sorts of patterns, dots, lines or dents begin to appear on or under the nail. The reasons for this manifestation lie in the body, which thereby signals internal problems. It is the plate that first begins to show its owner that he has some kind of disease.
Biologically, the growth process of fingernails and toenails is no different. There is a difference in the speed of their regrowth.
A very interesting illustration, in it the growth zone is called not a lucula, but a hole, which is also acceptable:
This is how nails grow. Click on the picture to enlarge!
This video will help you figure out the issue; it also gives recommendations for accelerating growth:
If you look at the speed at which fingernails grow, it turns out that the average length to which they can grow daily is a maximum of 0.15 mm. Therefore, in a month this process is approximately 4 mm. For a year, after multiplying, we get the following answer - up to 5 cm.
The regrowth time may vary depending on age, general health and chronic diseases present in the body.
The only answer to the question of how long nails grow is: while a person is alive! However, saying so is a mistake.
If you refuse to cut your hair, the growth will not continue for very long. Nails grow until they reach a certain length, and then they stop growing. This was confirmed by record holders from the book of records. It is difficult to say how long they grow over time, it all depends on the state of the individual’s body, but decades – that’s for sure.
At what speed and how long do nail plates grow, an additional question plays an important role: on which finger? There is one direct relationship. The longer the finger, the faster the nail grows on it.
When answering the question why nails grow faster on your hands than on your toes, you should not forget about sunlight. The hands of the upper limbs are constantly open, and sunlight has a beneficial effect not only on the skin, but also on the growth of nails.
A removed toenail grows back in 14–16 months, which is several times slower than on the upper extremities.
Blood circulation plays the most important role in the process of nail regrowth. Blood circulation in the fingers is much more active than in the toes. If you speed up blood circulation by any means, then the ability to grow long nails faster will increase significantly.
However, we should not forget about accidental injuries to the plate, which significantly slows down its growth after receiving a strong blow. The toes are more susceptible to this action than the hands.
It does not ignore the nail plates of the lower extremities and the possibility of compression by tight shoes. At the same time, the effect of erasing nails becomes more pronounced.
Delayed nail growth can be caused by many factors:
However, not every disease is a cause that has a depressing effect on the growth process of the nail plate. Past infectious diseases often activate nail growth. At the same time, causing the same effect on purpose is a difficult task.
In order for the nail plates to look beautiful and healthy and delight the eyes of not only the owner, but also those around her, they require timely and proper care.
By applying a manicure or pedicure day after day, without giving the nails a chance to “rest,” their owner causes irreparable harm to the protectors of the phalanges of the fingers. And the next diets for weight loss are again missing vitamins, so necessary for the normal growth of nail plates. If they could talk, they asked the hostess: how long can this last?
Well-groomed toenails serve not only for beauty, but also perform the protective function of the phalanx at the end, which contains a large number of nerve endings. If such protection is absent, a person experiences severe pain when walking and the slightest blow.
But sometimes people notice that their toenails do not grow, have changed color or are deformed. Let's figure out why this happens and what to do in such a situation.
There can be two reasons why toenails do not grow - infection of the toes with a fungal infection (mycosis) or complete loss of vitality of the nail. To make an accurate diagnosis and determine the correct method to solve the problem, you need to contact a qualified specialist.
There can be many reasons why the vitality of a nail stops, including wearing tight, poor-quality shoes, improper and sloppy manicure, and foot injuries. The doctor will be able to say more accurately after examining the patient.
You can become infected with a fungal infection in public places, on the beach, in locker rooms; also, mycosis is often caused by wearing tight, uncomfortable shoes, foot damage, the presence of cracks and calluses, insufficient foot hygiene and increased sweating.
Contact with the fungus on the skin may not always lead to the development of the disease; a strong immune system can extinguish the infection in the early stages. There are certain categories of people who are constantly at risk. Most often these are those who suffer:
It should be remembered that the development of mycosis is not a rapid process at all, so symptoms may appear gradually. But if your toenails do not grow and you experience at least one of the described manifestations, immediately consult a doctor, who will take a scraping from the nail and help determine the type of fungus that is causing it.
Treatment of mycosis involves the use of topical agents and oral administration of drugs, since the infection through the nail bed can “sneak” into the tissues and blood and spread further throughout the body.
It also happens that the doctor, after conducting a thorough examination, does not detect any serious disorders or fungal infections in the patient. In this case, slow nail growth may indicate a weakened immune system or a lack of vitamins.
Then, to solve the problem with nail growth, you need to take a course of vitamins and minerals, and treat the nails themselves with special medicinal oils, varnishes and baths. In addition, approach the pedicure procedure with extreme caution, use only your own tools and trim your nails carefully. When choosing an effective complex, you must definitely take the advice of a professional and not self-medicate.
How to grow toenails quickly? This question for most representatives of the fairer sex has not lost its relevance for a long time, because a beautiful pedicure is the dream of any woman. Often, toenails do not look very presentable. They grow slowly, break and peel. You can solve this issue by visiting a salon, where a specialist will put your nails in order in just a couple of hours using extensions. However, your own nails under artificial ones deteriorate more, they turn yellow, lose strength and begin to peel even more. In addition, the trend of the season is naturalness. How to quickly grow your toenails and treat yourself to a fashionable pedicure?
In order for the nail plate to look healthy and grow faster, proper and regular care is necessary.
Of course, nails will not grow too quickly anyway, since this is still a physiological process, but it is quite possible to improve the situation a little.
A bath of white wine and chamomile infusion will help significantly speed up nail growth. To prepare the infusion, 2 pinches of chamomile flowers are steamed with 100 ml of boiling water. Leave covered for about an hour, and then add 25 ml of white wine. Do the bath every day for a week. If the need arises, the course can be repeated no earlier than in a month.
Cranberry juice will help strengthen, lighten, and accelerate the growth of nails. They need to wipe the nail plate every morning after hygiene procedures. Apple cider vinegar and citric acid have the same effect as cranberry juice. A sea salt bath also has a good effect. To prepare it, just dilute a handful of salt in 500 ml of warm water, and the healing liquid is ready. Carry out the procedure every other day until the desired results are achieved.
You can influence nail growth using a special mineral bath. Squeeze 100 ml of juice from white cabbage, dilute with the same amount of mineral water and add 20 g of tea leaves. Leave for 40 minutes. After this it is used for procedures. Grapefruit is also an excellent remedy for stimulating nail growth. Its juice is mixed with ammonia and glycerin (1:2:2). It is advisable to use this bath for 15 minutes and then rinse with running warm water.
Vegetable oils also have a very good effect on the nail plate. For the bath, take cold-pressed olive oil and lightly heat it in a water bath.
Next, apply it to the nails for 15 minutes. Remaining oil is removed with a cotton pad and washed off with warm water. You can replace olive oil with peach, castor or soybean oil. Bergamot and jojoba oils are equally beneficial.
Nails play a big role in the life of every woman. Who doesn't want to have beautiful, structured and well-groomed nails? But nature does not endow everyone with natural beauty. You can find a variety of defects: wide, deformed, with a bend towards the top, brittle, too thin or simply ugly nail plates. Typically, nails grow upward when we grow or extend them to a certain length. Often, when the nail plates reach a certain length, we clearly see not their beauty, but their upward bending.
More often than others, the thumbnail is deformed. But if you start treating it in time, you can fix everything. What are the causes of bent toenails:
Regarding the last point, it is impossible to correct anything here. In this case, you should not grow your nails yourself. It would be better to consult with a specialist, who may recommend increasing them. But don't think that extensions will fix the situation. When filing off the top layer, the nails become thin and brittle. If you get your nails done frequently, you know that at some point you will definitely need extensive restoration and treatment.
The list of problems that cause deformation of toenails is quite extensive. For some congenital factors, treatment is not prescribed at all. And all prevention methods are aimed only at preventing the situation from getting worse.
Nails grow slowly - only one centimeter every 2-3 months. If you ruin your nail plate, you will have to grow it out for a long time. Next, we will consider the most effective recommendations for nail care.
There are three main components of nails: root, edge and body. Under the skin is the root, the nail plate is the body, and the edge is the length of the nail. The cuticle and skin hold the nail and it is not advisable to remove the cuticle itself. A specialist can recommend the optimal method of care, and only by following all the recommendations can you get beautiful, healthy nails.
A healthy nail has a thickness of at least 1 mm, its surface should be smooth and pink. A diseased nail is revealed by a thin nail plate that peels off. Often the color of the nail plate changes, the nail becomes blue, yellow, black, white, pale. If you see a change in the color of your nails, it means something is wrong with your health.
Liver problems may appear as white spots. Kidney diseases – subject to white and pink spots. If the plate is red, then most likely the heart is signaling problems. A yellow nail color will indicate lung disease. And the blue color of the nail plate is a sign of diabetes.
If it is a fungal disease, then special creams, Clotrimazole, Lamisil, Econazole, Mycospor, Nizoral, will help cope with it. There are also antifungal varnishes. Fungal diseases come in thousands of varieties. Most of them are painless. But yeast fungus causes aching pain and requires special treatment. Therefore, you should not self-medicate.
Short nails also collect a lot of dirt, so don't get carried away with cutting them often. Removing the nail at the root is not recommended, as a crack may form. It quickly becomes infected, and only a surgeon can help in such situations.
Experts can recommend vitamins to strengthen nails and general baths. But each specific case has its own treatment. For example, if there is improper blood circulation, appropriate treatment in the form of massage is prescribed. Treatment of fungus using ointments and lotions will be effective.
Nails are the same appendages of the skin as hair that does not have nerve endings. By looking at your nails, your doctor can determine if you have any internal disease. A proper pedicure will get rid of many unwanted diseases. Sometimes knowing how to cut your toenails correctly is all you need to keep them healthy.
It happens that consulting a doctor is impossible. Then folk remedies come in handy more than ever. Here are some recipes for treating nails at home:
Good effectiveness can be achieved from herbal infusions. They will be useful not only in cases where nail deformation is observed due to infection. Thanks to herbal infusions, irritation will calm down, the nail plate will soften and can be easily cut off. A useful infusion with celandine is very simple to make. A tablespoon of raw material is poured into a glass of boiling water. In a steam bath, the liquid should cool smoothly for 15 minutes. It is important to protect it from direct sunlight. Using the resulting product, apply lotions on diseased nails for 20-30 minutes. After three weeks, you should stop the procedure and take a break for a month.
Vinegar can be a powerful home remedy. It is enough to wet a cotton pad with 9% vinegar and place it on the nail. The disc should not touch the skin. Fix it in this position for two hours. Then rinse everything off with cool water. And at night you can prepare the following solution: mix 9% vinegar with glycerin and add iodine (all in equal quantities).
First, you should consult a doctor to determine an accurate diagnosis. To do this, you need to pass all the necessary tests. The doctor will then determine the stage of the disease. If necessary, he may even remove the nail plate.
If you follow certain rules, you can achieve healthy nails:
For those who not only want to see beautiful nails, but also maintain youthful skin, proper nutrition is necessary. You need to choose foods that contain protein, iron, calcium, and zinc. For meat, give preference to beef, liver, and fish. You also can’t do without vegetables. Sea kale is a source of zinc. Since childhood, we have known that foods such as cheese and milk, yogurt and cottage cheese are rich in calcium.
In winter, you should not expect full results just by eating. Multivitamins with calcium are vital in the winter months. They can only be taken with the permission of a doctor. An excess of vitamin is also harmful to health, as is its deficiency. As a preventive measure, you can use eggshell powder. One teaspoon per day will be enough.
Nails have their origins in the womb. The child develops and already at the age of three months nails are formed. The plates themselves appear only in the seventh month of pregnancy. This period is important for the formation of nails. At this time, proper nutrition rich in vitamins is extremely necessary.
Many girls dream of long and beautiful nails, but brittleness and fragility for many become a serious obstacle to this dream. In addition, some nails grow extremely slowly, which also greatly complicates the process. However, those whose nails grow on the contrary, too quickly, complain about the impossibility of getting a long-term manicure with shellac or extensions. In this material we will look at how quickly toenails and fingernails grow and what the growth rate depends on.
Human nails, like animal claws, are made of keratin. This is a special protein that is involved in the construction of not only nails, but also hair. The nail grows from the base next to the cuticle; the nail plate, on which the manicure is performed, is inanimate.
Each nail has a white "crescent" at the base, called a lunula. The lunula is a group of cells that synthesize the production of keratin, thus being responsible for nail growth. Thus, new tissue from the lunula is, as it were, “added” to the old one, displacing it from the surface of the nail bed. This way the free edge of the nail is formed. It acquires a rich white (normal) color because, leaving the nail bed, it loses its base, which is supplied with blood vessels.
The cuticle is necessary to protect the lunula from mechanical stress. That is why its incorrect trimming can cause a decrease in the growth rate and deformation of the nail. Damage to the lunula itself can even cause a complete stop in growth, since it is the lunula that is responsible for how long fingernails grow.
It has been noted that the rate of growth of nails and hair decreases with age. This is due to the fact that all processes in the body and cells slow down, including the production of keratin. In children, the rate of nail growth depends on age and the presence of calcium and other essential vitamins for nails in the body. For example, during periods of active growth, nails may grow faster.
If you are concerned about why your fingernails are growing so quickly, then we can conclude that most likely this is due to one of the reasons listed below:
If it is necessary for the growth rate to decrease, then all work in water can be done using rubber gloves. In addition, the rate of nail growth under gel or shellac is significantly reduced due to the lack of oxygen access to the plates. Thus, if you want to slow down the growth rate in order to wear extended nails without correction for as long as possible, then you should not do this. After all, it will decrease on its own immediately after the procedure.
Probably everyone has noticed that the growth rate of fingernails and toenails is different. Doctors do not have a consensus on why this happens. However, there are the most convincing theories as to why toenails grow slowly. They will be given below.
It has been discovered that fingernails do not grow well if they are not exposed to the sun. Thus, we can conclude that this fact has a significant impact on the rate of nail growth. Obviously, your toenails are exposed to direct sunlight much less often than your fingernails.
If you have found out at what speed your fingernails grow and decided that it is not enough to have a beautiful manicure, you can take a number of measures to increase this speed. Masks and baths, as well as massage of the hands, can significantly affect the intensity of regrowth of the free edge.
It is very important to follow a proper diet. To make your nails grow faster, eat foods rich in vitamin D, calcium and zinc, iron, and fatty acids. All these substances are involved in the synthesis of keratin and, accordingly, the construction of a new nail.
Of course, in addition to the growth rate, there are many other indicators of nail health, by which you can determine the lack of a particular substance, and therefore speed up the regrowth of the free edge. So, with brittle nails, you should include more fat in your diet; if they crack, then the problem is a lack of vitamin C. Although certain difficulties may arise with it, since its excess also causes cracking of the nail plate. Peeling and yellowish nails most likely lack iron.
Massaging your hands, or even just your fingers, helps accelerate blood flow to the nail plates. The blood, obviously, supplies nutrients to them, so the nail grows faster. Massage should be performed daily before bed for at least two to three minutes. It is very effective for its stated purpose because slow blood supply is one of the main reasons why fingernails do not grow.
Paraffin therapy also has a good effect, during which special melted cosmetic paraffin is applied to the cuticle and nails, especially the lunula. This, like massage, can significantly stimulate blood circulation, and in addition, promotes blood flow to the plates. In addition, nails love water very much, and the more often they are in it, the faster they grow. This explains the popularity and effectiveness of baths, to which you can add olive oil, sea salt, iodine, and lemon. All these substances have a beneficial effect on nails and strengthen them.
Vitamins A and E have an excellent effect on nail growth. Their oil solution can be rubbed directly into the plates in order to not only speed up their regrowth, but also improve their appearance and condition. The easiest way is to purchase Aevit vitamins in capsules at the pharmacy, and after puncturing them, pour the solution into a small container. You can dip your fingertips in it or make a mask, but you should rub the solution twice a day, morning and evening, after washing your hands. The method is effective even if the child’s fingernails do not grow.
There is a way to “extremely” accelerate nail growth. To do this, mix ground red pepper and nourishing hand cream in equal proportions. Apply this mask to your fingers, nails or all hands for as long as you can withstand it, as the burning sensation begins. If you repeat this mask twice a day, the rate of nail growth can be increased by 2-3 times.
None of us got ingrown toenails at birth. And the number of people who face this problem is alarming. More than a third of the entire population tries from time to time to get rid of this disease, but often suffers a complete fiasco, as it grows back. The good news is that knowing what causes the disease can eliminate the problem forever. Why do toenails grow in, how to get rid of it once and for all - the answers are in our article.
A disease in which the nail plate grows into the soft tissue of the finger is called onychocryptosis. It is characterized by frequent inflammatory processes at the site of ingrowth and excruciating pain that intensifies when walking.
The most common causes of ingrown toenails are:
The symptoms of an ingrown toenail are difficult to confuse with other diseases, since the nail fold at the site of the ingrowth hurts (especially when pressed) and swells. In some cases, an infection occurs in this place, then the soft tissues become red, and when pressure is applied to the nail plate, purulent contents are released.
There are stages in the development of the process that can affect the choice of therapy. Depending on the duration of the disease and the degree of ingrowth, 3 stages are distinguished.
Losing fingernails is an unpleasant and somewhat frightening process. Quite often this can be caused by serious internal diseases. The phenomenon can be prevented if you carefully monitor your health.
This is the general name for the phenomenon of nail loss caused by certain diseases. These are somatic or systemic lesions of the body, as a result of which the hormonal balance is disrupted, blood supply deteriorates, etc. The cause may also be a reaction to certain medications.
Most often, toenails and fingernails fall off as a result of vascular diseases and insufficient blood supply to the nail and, as a result, lack of oxygen. In this case, your fingertips may turn blue. Infectious processes under the nails, fever, syphilis, ringworm, and some forms of psoriasis may also be the cause. In this case, only identifying the cause and eliminating it can help, since symptomatic treatment is often powerless.
One of the first reasons why toenails or fingernails fall out is fungus. However, this disease can manifest itself with many symptoms, and nail loss will occur only in the last stages. Before this, you will most likely notice peeling and redness of the skin, itching, splitting of the nails, they will become more brittle and loose, and turn yellow. After this, the plate will begin to peel off and the nail will fall out.
It is quite difficult to develop the disease to such an extent. However, in exceptional cases, its development can occur rapidly. In addition, if the lesion extends from the lunula area, then nail loss is more likely. But, usually, with fungus, the nail peels off from the bed not as an entire plate, but in small sections, so complete removal of the nail can sometimes be prevented.
One of the most common reasons why toenails and fingernails fall off is injury. It may not be too strong, that is, you will not notice that you hit or pressed the nail, but soon it will peel off from the bed. In this case, a hematoma may also not form, and the pain will be mild. Trauma to the lunula area when cutting the cuticle may also not be felt at all, but will lead to the phenomenon under discussion.
When it comes to falling out on your feet, a common cause is ill-fitting shoes. This applies to narrow shoes and shoes with a pointed toe. When wearing it, the nail is subjected to significant pressure on both sides every day, as a result of which it seems to be forced out of the nail bed. This process is often imperceptible, as it occurs over a long period of time.
Very often, nail loss in children and adults can be caused by a simple allergic reaction and some types of dermatitis. Most often, this is a contact allergy, and therefore this cause is less common in children, because they do not come into contact with chemicals and do not use cosmetics on their nails. However, some nails can also fall out with mild contact dermatitis.
Formaldehyde contained in low-quality nail polishes can cause them to fall out. Girls who regularly apply shellac or do extensions often encounter this. The fact is that the compositions for these procedures are left on nails weakened by preparation for nail extensions for 3 to 4 weeks. During this time, formaldehyde and other harmful compounds have time to have a full destructive effect.
Medicines can provoke detachment of the nail plate from the bed. This process in itself is not dangerous, however, unpleasant. Alone, the medicine is unable to cause nail loss. But with a combination of several factors, this option is possible.
If you take tetracycline drugs in large quantities, they can have a very negative effect on your nails. And when you are in the sun or in a solarium, this negative effect increases many times over. Detachment of the plate and, as a consequence, nail loss are very likely in this case.
An infection under the nail can occur as a result of poor-quality manicure and damage to the skin of the nail bed. This happens especially often when cleaning dirt from under the nails with sharp objects. In addition, it is possible to mechanically separate the nail from the bed in this way; subsequently, such damage will begin to develop further, as a result of which the plate will peel off.
Such an infection can cause a child or adult's nails to fall out. Its development often occurs painlessly and it is quite difficult to notice the process on your toenails, especially if you do pedicures infrequently. Nail extensions also increase the potential threat of this process, since if an infection begins to develop, it will not be noticeable under the artificial plate. In this case, the nail may fall out even when the extension is removed.
Psoriasis (both nails and skin) can cause white toenails and fingernails to fall out. It is accompanied by peeling of the skin, cracking around the nails, as well as delamination and cracks in the plate itself, and their whitening. Ringworm also manifests itself beyond the separation of the nail from the bed. With it, a soft yellowish mass may form between the fingers, itching and redness may occur. If such phenomena occur, you should consult a doctor.
Vascular diseases can cause not only why your toenails fall off, but also why your fingertips turn blue. Insufficient blood supply and lack of oxygen cause the skin to turn blue, then the nails slow down and stop growing altogether, and then they fall out. Disturbances in the functioning of the thyroid gland, and as a result, problems with hormonal balance, lead to the same effect.