Fingernails grow faster than toenails because they are often subjected to impact and receive more nutrients due to their proximity to the heart.
Fingernails actually grow two to three times faster than toenails, depending on age, gender, diet, genetic traits, and the seasons of the year. While fingernails take about 6 months to completely replace themselves, growing at a rate of 3mm per month from the base, toenails regrow in 12 to 18 months at only 1mm per month.
Fingernails can grow faster than toenails depending on gender traits or genetics. (Image credit: Flickr)
According to USCience, there are two reasons that may explain why fingernails grow faster than toenails.
The first hypothesis suggests that because the hands are closer to the heart than the feet, they have better blood circulation and receive more oxygen and nutrients. Hands are not confined in shoes or socks, allowing for better airflow and blood circulation. Nutrients are delivered to the fingernails through the capillaries located just beneath the nail. This means that toenails receive less oxygen for producing new cells, resulting in slower growth. This may explain why toenails grow slower in winter, as colder temperatures slow blood circulation.
Meanwhile, according to the second hypothesis, this difference arises from the “trauma” that fingernails are almost constantly subjected to due to activities like typing, tapping, and other actions. Minor injuries can stimulate fingernail growth, which is why right-handed individuals often have faster-growing nails on their right hand compared to their left, and vice versa.
Toenails are less prone to injury compared to fingernails. When fingernails are damaged due to impact or nail care processes, the recovery process will focus heavily on the injured cells. Minor injuries occur more frequently on fingernails than on toenails. The recovery process also affects the growth rate of the nails.
The main component of fingernails is keratin, which is also found in skin, hair, and horns. Nails do not contain living cells and grow from a special group of cells known as the nail matrix, which has many blood vessels located beneath the nail bed.
The growth of fingernails largely depends on finger length (longer fingers tend to have faster nail growth), nutrition (a low-protein diet can slow nail growth), age (people under 30 tend to have faster nail growth), and season (fingernails grow fastest in summer).
