10 Cool Facts About Nails

Check out 10 cool facts about nails.

Fingernails. Some use them as canvas for personal expression, while others favor their function as a makeshift tool.
Then there are those who really haven't a clue what to do with them.
Well, here are 10 facts about nails.

Number 10. They separate humans from other animals. Actually, all primates have them, but no other mammals do.


Number 9. Nails are growing faster than they did in Ye Olde Days. Improvements in nutrition, especially the intake of proteins, have spurred nail growth in the last couple of generations. People nowadays experience up to 25 percent faster nail growth than their grandparents, especially among men.

Number 8. Your nails reveal how much stress you're really under. Brittle nails are your body's way of telling you it's feeling the pressure.

Number 7. The body is built to loathe the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard. Experiments revealed that the issue is how the ear canal is constructed. That specific sound gets amplified, making it legitimately physically uncomfortable to be around.

Number 6. Fingernails grow faster than toenails. That's especially true of the ones on a person's dominant hand.

Number 5. Number 5. They can grow up to 35-inches long. The Guinness World Record for longest female fingernails was set in 2008 by Lee Redmond of Utah with a total length of over 28 feet. She hadn't had them cut since 1979, but unfortunately lost them in an otherwise fatality-free car accident in 2009.

Number 4. The nail on your middle fingers grow the longest. The slowest advancing ones are those on the pinkies.

Number 3. It's possible to get cancer in your nails. Browning is a sign that something may be wrong. Poor nail health can also indicate vitamin deficiencies and thyroid problems.

Number 2. Longer nails can harbor more bacteria. Anything that extends over the fingertip by 3 millimeters or more increases the chance that pathogens are being carried around.

Number 1. Nail fungus is rampant. It's what causes, thick, yellow, misshapen nails, and 20 percent of the general population has it. That number goes up to 50 percent in the over-40 group. Among certain ethnicities, it's as high as 80 percent so nail care becomes important.

How often do you clip your nails?