# How do fingernails grow?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fingernails-grow/44977>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 11, 2000, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fingernails-grow/44977 "2000-12-11T05:26:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fingernails-grow/44977/1 "2000-12-11T05:26:59Z")

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Okay, today I was at the gas station and I couldn’t get the handle thig away from the pump. It was totally stuck, and I had already paid so I couldn’t move to a different pump. Anyway I was trying to pry the stupid thing out and it pull my nail away from my finger. Hurt a lot, to say the least. It got me thinking. If it hurts so much when you pull you nail away from your finger how do nails grow. They obviously get longer, but don’t they grow from the cuticle. SO the nail must move as it grows. How come that doesn’t hurt then? How does that work?

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**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fingernails-grow/44977/2 "2000-12-11T06:59:26Z")

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This would be the person to ask:

> **[Record fingernails go under the hammer](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/dec/11/lukeharding)**
>
> He is scared of the wind, has slept badly for years and has to avoid cows and other moving objects. Now, almost 50 years after deciding to let his fingernails grow, Sridhar Chillal has had enough.

It seems to have taken him a long time to decide that fingernails a metre long can be inconvenient.

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fingernails-grow/44977/3 "2000-12-11T13:34:55Z")

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The nail does generally grow out from the cuticle. I have noticed, however, that when you pull off a nail, the skin underneath hardens into a nail.