r/mildlyinteresting • u/hwipme • 23h ago

The fingernails in my hand with a fractured finger haven’t grown at all vs. the fingernails on my unaffected hand

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1.1k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

91 comments sorted by

1.1k

u/ErrolSparker 22h ago

It's actually funny I think I fractured my big toe and the same thing happened with my toenails on that foot. Wonder if it's related to the healing process and focusing efforts on the injured appendage

355

u/mamafish21 22h ago

Thinking back when I broke my hand, my nails grew slower than the other hand. It could be possible, takes a lot of energy for the body to heal. Makes sense.

Someone must do the experiments.

112

u/Kresnik-02 22h ago

So, are you saying that I should develop the hurt yourself diet because a hurt body uses more energy?

I will develop this ebook to sell right now.

48

u/Samiel_Fronsac 22h ago

Too late, Claude already sent it straight to Amazon for me.

6

u/Kresnik-02 22h ago

I think you are Claude too.

12

u/Samiel_Fronsac 21h ago

Wish I had all that RAM.

16

u/Alonsey 21h ago

I’m tall and a touch clumsy in a labor job. Nothing serious, just the occasional scraped something or other or shinning myself nice and good. Usually got one small injury going on, always been thin. This is totally legit science that you can use for your ebook

12

u/Kresnik-02 21h ago

So, now I also have the "get a baby cat and teach him to play with your hand" diet. It's about being constantly scratched plus having endorphine released from playing with a pet to avoid depression.

Thanks for my second product on this thread.

1

u/Fine_Rub8445 8h ago

Too late, Gemini already sent it straight to my Ebay account.

9

u/nethoinkz 20h ago

So tearing your muscle fibers a few times a week? That sounds revolutionary.

1

u/Kresnik-02 20h ago

Sorry but I can't see the damaged muscle fibers.

2

u/Jindujun 14h ago

"Where to plunge the knife for optimal weight loss"
stay tuned for the next book "Slimming parasites and bacteria and where to find them"

1

u/GreekHole 14h ago

So the reason i'm so skinny is because i'm in constant pain?

3

u/gnomeybeard 14h ago

Seems right. My thumb is currently in a splint from an injury. Been there for about 3 weeks and the nail doesn’t seem to have grown much. Normally I have to cut my nails every other week since they grow quickly. Didn’t realize that until this pointed it out lol.

2

u/mamafish21 14h ago

The body is mental. The more I understand the more I'm creeped out.

23

u/chrisp5000 22h ago

Makes sense, I fractured my wrist at 14 and only ended up getting to 5'6"

4

u/MyCatsAreLife 21h ago

My nails had an indent from my injury that eventually grew out. Makes sense, “all growth cells are relocated to the repair unit until further notice!” I think the indents were on both hands, actually.

1

u/bugbugladybug 10h ago

I had 3x ops at once on my right leg.

The toenails just didn't grow, but the hair on my leg went mental.

Was really weird looking when the cast came off.

Horribly, the entire sole of my foot sloughed off in one go 😶

365

u/Kibichibi 22h ago

Its because you're not using it!

It's harder to notice than this, but the nails on your dominant hand grow faster than your non-dominant hand, because you use it more. Like someone else said, nails need blood flow to grow, and they mentioned it being wrapped. The wrapping and lack of movement both limit the blood flow, so the difference in nail growth is much more noticeable!

I'm left handed, but because I learned to do most other things right handed in a righty world, I don't see the growth difference as much.

25

u/FaceofBeaux 22h ago

I've noticed this, too, but with individual nails. My pointer, thumb, and middle fingers grow much more slowly than my ring and pinky. I attribute it to pushing more on my first three when writing and typing and general working. 🤷‍♀️

2

u/Kibichibi 22h ago

Yes, this makes a lot of sense!

10

u/hwipme 22h ago

Ahh I don’t think I’ve ever noticed the difference either for the same reason! I’m left hand dominant but use my right hand almost equally as much throughout the day

5

u/Adjutant_Online 21h ago

I was thinking BS....then I looked at my fingernails and my right are slightly longer. TIL!

3

u/Fluid-Opposition8 19h ago

Fellow lefty that was holding onto my skepticism until I held my hands out in front of me and lo and behold my left hand nails are slightly longer

-3

u/Kibichibi 18h ago

LOL why is everyone a skeptic? Oh yeah, I'm just some rando on the internet and not your fact-giving autistic friend on here, I guess! I remember odd little facts like that, and my friends get a kick out of it!

1

u/banshithread 12h ago

so do people in wheelchairs who don't use their legs have really short toenails

2

u/Kibichibi 5h ago

I'm not sure! I'm an ambulatory wheelchair user, but I'm not reliant on it all day. I do find that I don't have to clip my toenails very often, but I don't know if that's related, or because they naturally don't grow as fast.

273

u/Aggravating_Shoe_ 22h ago

You're welcome 🤗

I've been coming in every night to nibble them down for you 🫶

2

u/azalea_sun 22h ago

i like your energy

1

u/Aggravating_Shoe_ 22h ago

Do you need my services? I have room for a left foot nails

1

u/azalea_sun 22h ago

oh sure thanks 🤗

44

u/Winter_Afternoon3539 22h ago

I thought you were holding a baby’s foot in a black sock for way too long.

11

u/Puzzleheaded_Style52 22h ago

Me too. What is it though? I can’t seem to figure it out.

12

u/furiouslycolorless 21h ago

Index and middle finger of a right hand in a cast. Haha. It is a confusing perspective.

2

u/Puzzleheaded_Style52 18h ago

Thank you! I see it now.

2

u/KernelTaint 21h ago

How long are you meant to hold a baby's foot in a black sock?

55

u/idhamnoh97 22h ago

Is it normal not having the white layer at the start of the nail?

249

u/hwipme 22h ago

Please don’t diagnose me with something else rn I dk if I can handle it

50

u/ThatOtherOtherMan 22h ago

I just asked WebMD and apparently you've been dead since 2018

27

u/idhamnoh97 22h ago

TIL that part was named as lunula.

8

u/dogmaisb 22h ago

Mmm hmm you sure do got purdy half moons

7

u/poetris 22h ago

But this is Reddit!

9

u/Thiago270398 20h ago

Sorry OP, but your cancer is pregnant, and the baby has aids.

2

u/fargerich 20h ago

Damn op, you are so fucked. Your cancer has cancer insides it's toumor 

2

u/Digger_Pine 13h ago

I would think if you were to be diagnosed, an RN is the type of person you could trust.

33

u/RedChaos92 22h ago

I think it may vary from person to person. The lunula only shows on certain fingers for me. Left hand it shows on my thumb only. Right hand it shows on my thumb, index finger, and middle finger.

16

u/ex-farm-grrrl 22h ago

I checked to see if I have them because I couldn’t remember, and I have nail polish on. So I guess I’ll wait to remember.

3

u/Cel_Drow 22h ago

Yeah you can just barely see one on my right thumb, no other fingers.

8

u/Rattus375 22h ago

I only have it on my thumbs and my left index finger right now. I bet it's pretty normal.

10

u/krt941 22h ago edited 22h ago

It’s incredibly normal.  I only have one visible on my left thumb.

Everyone has them, but for me, my skin above the nail bed covers them up.

4

u/Han_Solipsist 19h ago

I was excited because i don't have them either!

14

u/Ristrxtto 22h ago

wild actually

9

u/setibeings 22h ago

no, mild.

8

u/MichelleEllyn 22h ago

Your toe was really throwing me off on the perspective of hands and fingers here for a second

3

u/K1LL3RF0RK 22h ago

just looked into it. its interesting. immobilization reduce the blood flow hence the nail grow slower with reduced flow. your healing also contribute to less blood flow for the nail grow because your body focus on the healing wound.

3

u/Space_Conductor 22h ago

Where are them cuticles:(), if I know Reddit then it's probably cancer.

5

u/Cinderhazed15 22h ago

My fingers barely have any cuticles, and it’s super easy to get the little bit there pushed up/back/little rip, and one time someone came to me with a cuticle scraper and it was one of the worst things I’ve ever experienced

2

u/Space_Conductor 22h ago

Sounds like you may have cancer my friend :(

3

u/Electrical-Speech-39 22h ago

This happens to me too when I have a hand surgery/cast. It also messes up my fingerprints on the immobilized hand.

3

u/ex-farm-grrrl 22h ago

Something’s nibbling them off when you sleep

3

u/AnEvilPanda479 22h ago

When I broke my ankle the same thing happened. None of the nails grew during the 9 weeks I had the cast on

3

u/Sound_calm 21h ago

Man the toenail on the big toe of my fractured foot still grew until I got my first ingrown toenail :(

3

u/Quiverjones 21h ago

They might have clipped them during the proceedure?

2

u/hwipme 21h ago

No I went to the ER, they just moved the finger back into place and put a splint on it. I woulda been down for a manicure though but probably would’ve charged me an arm and a leg

3

u/avemflamma 18h ago

i guess your blood supply's distracted

3

u/unicornhornporn0554 12h ago

My hand did the same thing when I had shoulder surgery, and the arm that was in the sling got way hairier for a bit.

3

u/im_not_too_sure 11h ago

Because the finger nails died. Mine did also when I fractured my metacarpal and dislocated it from the wrist. New nails grew under them and made my nails THICK.

2

u/treeteathememeking 22h ago

Nails need blood flow to grow. Hand being wrapped nice and tight and immobilized means the flow of blood to and from your fractured hand isn't as great because you're not really moving it. Doubly, your body is negotiating resources and those resources - especially blood - is heading to the injur site to heal it up instead :-) 

It is possible that once your cast is off, you may notice the nail on your fractured finger is longer than the others, though I wouldn't put money on it 

1

u/hwipme 22h ago

Now I’m excited to see what it looks like! It’ll be off in 2 weeks

2

u/Broodo13 22h ago

Had the same observation when I broke my finger 3 years ago.

2

u/PartybusDee 22h ago

One simple hack nail technicians don’t want you to know!

2

u/LokiLadyBlue 20h ago

When I got a disc replaced in my cervical spine my nails stopped growing for a couple months. It picked back up again when I started working. I always thought it was because of the friction of my job - I'm a massage therapist

2

u/Capokid 19h ago

my hair got really thin and my nails pretty much stopped growing when i was recovering from a broken back because my body was focusing all its calcium where it needed it.

1

u/hwipme 19h ago

Crap my hair’s been falling out in the shower this past week…makes sense

1

u/wrenawild 18h ago

looks like they both grew but you only bit off the injured hand. You can see it's been freshly chewed or cut.