The average human’s nail grows 3.47mm per month. It’s an indication of good health as you’re adequately hydrated, eating healthy, and properly taking care of your nails in some way. Even if the rate of nail growth is faster, there’s no need to worry. The factors which promote faster growth include a change in hormones, dominant hand, and age. You can have fast-growing nails by taking extra care of your nails every day.
Nails are something that grows way too fast on any human’s body. So you might need to trim your nails every 15-20 days to keep them short and groomed.
On average, your nails grow around 2-3mm a month, although it may vary from person to person. For some people, their nails grow at a much faster pace than others.
But sometimes, it just becomes another thing that makes no sense as we start to wonder how nails can grow so fast.
We wonder what kind of factors work together to make our nails grow so long. For example, why is it our dominant hand’s nails grow faster than the other hand? Let’s take a look at these contributing factors responsible for your nail’s fast rate of growth.
Factors responsible for fast-growing nails
If you start to think about why your nails grow so much faster than other people, you will notice the factors involved in making this possible.
Certain aspects work together and make your nails grow longer in a short time.
1. Age
When we’re young and healthy, our body doesn’t have any deficiencies. It has many potentials to make things grow on our bodies at a much quicker pace and have healthy nails.
Even if we’re suffering from any health issues, our body functions better in making sure our nails grow faster.
As we start aging, our body’s nutrients, vitamins, and minerals start depleting, affecting all body parts, including our nails’ growth. As a result, many things change as we age, and our nails grow more slowly, becoming dull and brittle.
Our nail bed also changes from a healthy pink to a little yellow and opaque. Our toenails become stiff and thick. It’s all very common as we age, but it can become better if we take care of our nails from an early age.
2. Hormones
Our changing hormones also work as a contributing factor in our nail growth. Especially for women whose change in hormone is affected by:
- Periods
- Menopause
- Birth control pills
- Pregnancy
- Other health issues like PCOD
The change needs to be apparent for four to six months for hormones to affect your nail growth. For example, if a woman is on birth control pills for six months, it will affect her nails’ growth.
Similar is the case during pregnancy as the mother’s health flourishes during this time, making everything grow faster, including her nails and hair.
After childbirth, you’ll notice a drastic change as your hormones change, and you’ll have a lot of hair fall, and your nails won’t be growing at a much faster pace.
3. Dominant hand
The nails on your dominant hand grow at a much faster pace than your other hand, simply because you use this hand more.
It increases the risk for trauma on that hand, like getting your nails snagged in something or hitting your nail with a hammer.
Due to this reason, blood flow in your dominant hand increases, and so do the nutrients for that hand. Another co-related factor is that the nails on your longer fingers grow faster. Your pinky finger’s nail grows slower than your middle nail.
4. Health issues
Suppose you’re suffering from any health issues that also affect your nails growth. Any chronic health condition will affect your nail growth and change its color and shape, such as having a spoon nail.
Conditions affecting nail growth:
- Psoriasis
- Lupus
- Endocarditis
- Kidney disease
- Liver disease
- Thyroid disease
Different health issues can make your nails brittle and make them grow pretty slow. Other issues that you might notice in your nails could be:
- Discoloration
- Changes in nail shape
- Changes in nail thickness
- Nails becoming brittle
- Pitted nails
- Bleeding around nails
- Swelling or redness
- Pain
- A nail separating from the skin
Your nails can also be a window to your current health status.
So if you start noticing something is wrong with your nails, like having spoon nails, you should visit your doctor and help get an early diagnosis.
5. Biting and clipping
If you’re a nail biter, one thing that you weren’t aware of is how it secretly helps make your nails grow longer than those who don’t.
Because of the trauma response, it promotes faster blood circulation and makes your nails grow faster. But it would be best if you weren’t nail-biting. It carries a lot of health risks.
Clipping your nails often also makes them grow fast. If you go long without clipping your nails, it won’t grow as much.
If you start trimming your nails every week soon, you’ll notice them growing at a much faster pace.
Nails growth with acrylic
Those who get acrylic nails done on their nails can usually see their nail growth in about two weeks. So people often wonder if those who get acrylics nails help their natural nails grow much faster.
When someone gets acrylic, it acts as an added layer of a tough product applied on top of your natural nail plate.
Acrylic helps in providing additional strength and thickness to your nail plate. It also helps your nails from wearing and tearing, which often happens when you keep naturally long nails.
Your nails grow at an average pace, even with or without using acrylic ones.
It’s just an illusion that your nails are growing at a fast rate. But getting artificial nails like acrylic protects your nails from chipping away and keeps them safe if you’re a nail biter.
Once you remove acrylic, you’ll have your natural nails that might tear or break if not properly cared for. For taking proper care of your nails to promote a fast pace of growth, you still need some tips.
Tips to make nails grow fast
Several ways help promote the growth of your nails, strengthening them and preventing them from breaking away.
1. Lemon
Rubbing a piece of lemon on your nails for 5 minutes every day and rinsing it in warm water afterward will help your nails grow. It will also get rid of nail stains.
2. Coconut oil
Many people swear by using coconut oil as a go-to aftercare treatment for their nails. Coconut oil is rich in vitamin E and is a great moisture provider. It also prevents fungal and bacterial infections.
Warm it up and massage it onto your nails and fingers in a circular motion. It will promote blood circulation, keeping your cuticles and nails nourished. Try to do this every night before going to bed.
3. Orange juice
Orange is also rich in vitamin C and helps in collagen production. Collagen is an important agent that helps in nail growth and adds to the vitality of nails.
Take some orange juice in a bowl and soak your fingertips for around 10 minutes. Rinse with warm water and apply any nourishing lotion.
4. Nail hardeners
A nail hardener is one way to reduce breakage for those who have brittle nails and can’t keep their nails from breaking away every time they try to grow their nails. But prolonged usage of nail hardener can have harmful effects on your nails.
Reduce the usage of other harmful things like using artificial nails, nail polish, and nail polish remover on your nails all the time. Using them for a prolonged time will have side effects on your nail plate.
5. Hydration
You probably don’t realize how keeping yourself hydrated is suitable for your nails. If you don’t drink enough water, it starts showing on your body in different ways.
Your nails get affected by becoming dry and whiter instead of being pink and a bit transparent. Keep yourself hydrated to maintain your natural nail growth.
6. Grooming nails
It would be best if you kept your nails clean and trimmed. Keep your cuticles pushed back or cut them too. Do moisturize with a cuticle oil or just regular lotion every night before bed.
FAQs
Is Vaseline good for nail growth?
Vaseline also works in keeping your nails hydrated throughout the night. It’s another home remedy that works for a lot of people in helping growing out their nails.
What food helps nail growth?
Having a healthy diet also promotes nail growth. Some of the items you should include in your diet are eggs, beans, oats, sunflower seeds, salmon, blueberries, and so on. Eating such food will prevent nail breakage and keep your nails healthy-looking.
What is your body lacking when your nails split?
You might have an iron deficiency which is causing your nails to crack. Your body needs vitamin B and protein to remain strong and healthy.
Do nails stop growing?
When we’re younger, our nails grow at a much faster pace and often, but as we start to age, our nail growth starts to decline. It’s expected as we age because our body’s nutrients also start depleting slowly.
Our blood circulation is affected as we can’t remain as active as when we were young. Slow but nails still grow when we’re old.
To summarize
For some people, their nail growth can be very fast-paced as compared to others. It’s also possible because of some contributing factors, including maintaining a healthy and proper lifestyle while also taking care of one’s nails.
For a person who takes care of their nails, it’s common to see faster-paced nail growth. However, having fast-paced growth doesn’t mean anything is wrong with your nails or your health.
The reason to worry arises when your nails are discolored, brittle, change shape (spoon nails), and so on. It shows something is wrong with your health that needs diagnosing.
