# Finger nails V.S. toe nails.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finger-nails-v-s-toe-nails/286454
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 24, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finger-nails-v-s-toe-nails/286454 "2005-01-24T19:53:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finger-nails-v-s-toe-nails/286454/1 "2005-01-24T19:53:07Z")
Is there any reason why my finger nails grow faster than my toe nails?
I have to clip my finger nails once a week. But my toe nails take almost 3 weeks before than need clipping. Why wouldn’t they grow at the same rate?
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### Author:  [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finger-nails-v-s-toe-nails/286454/2 "2005-01-24T20:09:39Z")
Damn. I thought this was going to be one of the cage match threads. You know, polar bear vs. tiger, or something.
For what it’s worth, my money is on toe nails beating finger nails in 3 rounds.
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finger-nails-v-s-toe-nails/286454/3 "2005-01-24T20:17:02Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#):
>
> Damn. I thought this was going to be one of the cage match threads. You know, polar bear vs. tiger, or something.
>
> For what it’s worth, my money is on toe nails beating finger nails in 3 rounds.
I see it as going the distance, with finger nails winning a split decision.
Toe nails have the strength – ever trim those suckers? But finger nails, owing to their location, have the dexterity. So they’re pretty evenly matched – and being part of the same body, they’ll fatigue at the same rate.
😃
As for the serious question in the OP, I suspect that it’s simply based on “acceptable length” – toe nails need trimming less often because they _get_ trimmed less often, because they can legitimately grow longer before needing trimming. It’s much like a lawn cut to 1" height needs mowing more often than one cut to 3" height, simply because the latter can grow out longer before you get the idea that it needs cutting – and that influences rate of growth, both in grass and in nails.
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### Author:  [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finger-nails-v-s-toe-nails/286454/4 "2005-01-24T22:44:49Z")
I also notice that my fingernails grow faster than my toenails, and I like to keep my toenails as trimmed, or trimmer, than my fingernails since if they get too big they start cutting into an adjacent toe, which is quite noticeable when I run. I don’t know the answer, but I’ve heard that the healthier you are the faster your fingernails will grow.
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### Author:  [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finger-nails-v-s-toe-nails/286454/5 "2005-01-24T22:51:56Z")
I’ve heard that typing and similar activities can cause your fingernails to grow faster. Since you do more with your fingers than with your toes, my WAG is that fingernails grow faster to account for the extra wear and tear.
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### Author:  [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finger-nails-v-s-toe-nails/286454/6 "2005-01-24T23:08:41Z")
> [@pkbites](#):
>
> Is there any reason why my finger nails grow faster than my toe nails?
> I have to clip my finger nails once a week. But my toe nails take almost 3 weeks before than need clipping. Why wouldn’t they grow at the same rate?
Have you noticed that the hair on your head grows at seversl times the rate of your finger nails?
Why? Probably because of more wear and tear on fingernails than toenails.
The hair on your head is anybody’ guess.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finger-nails-v-s-toe-nails/286454/7 "2005-01-24T23:11:44Z")
> [@Jayn\_Newell](#):
>
> I’ve heard that typing and similar activities can cause your fingernails to grow faster. Since you do more with your fingers than with your toes, my WAG is that fingernails grow faster to account for the extra wear and tear.
Typing was probably not the selective factor involved, but yeah, speaking in evolutionary terms our primate ancestors probably wore out their fingernails faster in scrabbling around for food, so that’s why they grow faster.
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### Author:  [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finger-nails-v-s-toe-nails/286454/8 "2005-01-24T23:17:47Z")
This Canadian [science site](http://www.science.ca/askascientist/viewquestion.php?qID=2179) essentially says the answer is “nobody really knows.”
This [teen health site](http://www.health24.com/teens/General/735-1432,14838.asp) says :
> [@](#):
>
> Fingernails grow faster than toenails. It is thought that the reason for this might be that sunlight stimulates nail growth, and feet are often covered.
Good luck getting firmer answers.
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finger-nails-v-s-toe-nails/286454/9 "2005-01-24T23:20:44Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> Typing was probably not the selective factor involved, but yeah, speaking in evolutionary terms our primate ancestors…
Whaddaya mean, “probably not the selective factor”!?!? Obviously they were trying to beat the Bard of Avon to the draw, attempting to crank out the Complete Works of Shakespeare first! 😃
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### Author:  [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finger-nails-v-s-toe-nails/286454/10 "2005-01-24T23:51:22Z")
> [@Jayn\_Newell](#):
>
> I’ve heard that typing and similar activities can cause your fingernails to grow faster. Since you do more with your fingers than with your toes, my WAG is that fingernails grow faster to account for the extra wear and tear.
I remember reading that trauma to the nailbed somehow promotes nail growth, which fits in with what you and \*\*Colibri \*\*have said.
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### Author:  [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finger-nails-v-s-toe-nails/286454/11 "2005-01-24T23:56:35Z")
Since I started running (almost 30 years ago), my shoe size has increased from an “8” to a “10 1/2.” This has been caused by lengthening of my toes. So I’ve used my toes more than my fingers. In addition, I’ve had numerous black toenails, so if trauma is a causative factor, my toenails don’t know it. **Colibri’s** answer appears more probable: our evolutionary history, not what I or you personally do now.
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### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finger-nails-v-s-toe-nails/286454/12 "2005-01-26T02:52:15Z")
Fingernails grow faster because you can bite your fingernails down from pretty much wherever you happen to be, but biting your toenails is a much more involved process, requiring the removal of shoes and socks and the stretching of the relevant muscles until you can comfortably guide the foot to the mouth and take care of business.
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finger-nails-v-s-toe-nails/286454/13 "2005-01-26T03:12:49Z")
[Here is a cite that says that fingernails grow at roughly twice the rate of toenails.](http://dermatology.cdlib.org/rxderm-archives/fingernail-growth). I don’t think anyone really knows why. I would say that it is because the dexterity of our hands is important to our very survival. A broken toenail might cause a little pain but foot function is usually unimpaired. A broken fingernail, on the other hand, can impair function of the hand. In the wild environments that humans evolved in, I am sure that fingernails wore down faster than toenails from use. Toenails are thicker and tougher than fingernails.
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### Author:  [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finger-nails-v-s-toe-nails/286454/14 "2005-01-26T09:39:50Z")
> [@barbitu8](#):
>
> Since I started running (almost 30 years ago), my shoe size has increased from an “8” to a “10 1/2.” This has been caused by lengthening of my toes. So I’ve used my toes more than my fingers. In addition, I’ve had numerous black toenails, so if trauma is a causative factor, my toenails don’t know it. **Colibri’s** answer appears more probable: our evolutionary history, not what I or you personally do now.
I didn’t say it was the only factor, but if it is, excessive trauma, like anything else carried to extremes, is going to be detrimental, not beneficial.