# Hair & Death

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hair-death/53571>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 8, 2001, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hair-death/53571 "2001-02-08T00:55:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Freejack00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Freejack00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejack00)\
**Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hair-death/53571/1 "2001-02-08T00:55:50Z")

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Is it true that hair continues to grow after death? I find it hard to believe that it does.

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**Author:** ![Stupendous\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Stupendous\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stupendous_man)\
**Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hair-death/53571/2 "2001-02-08T01:37:56Z")

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No, it is not correct. Nor is it correct for fingernails. The truth is, that after death the skin retracts, particularly around fingernails, and makes them appear to be longer. A similar sort of occurance might be true for hair, but it’s definately true for fingernails.