If so, why and for how long?
2006-07-15 14:53:17 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Other - Health
no. your skin shrinks which gives that appearance
2006-07-15 14:56:34 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
i found this using a search engine
Dear Straight Dope:
Whether it's true or not, the continued growth of hair, fingernails, and toenails pops up continually in fiction. But is it true? And how much growth can there be after the old beet juice stops circulating? Should we include with our organ-donor cards haircut and manicure instructions to the mortician? --Robert Hamlin
SDSTAFF Hawk replies:
It's not exactly true, but it's understandable how the idea came about. Unfortunately, books and Hollywood have done more to bloat this idea than any corpse ever could. So here's The Straight Dope.
Hair and fingernails aren't actually growing. Dead is dead. The only things growing after you're dead are worms, bacteria, and flowers. What is happening, however, is that the skin around the hair and fingernails will desiccate (i.e., lose water) and thereby shrink. When the skin shrinks, it retracts, making hair and fingernails look longer, as if they'd grown.
Think of it this way: a fifty foot tree grows in ten feet of swamp water. The visible part of the tree is 40' tall. A few months later, a drought causes the water level to drop five feet. Now the visible part of the tree is 45' tall. Did the tree grow in a drought? No, but you can see why people would think it did.
Hope that helps, and remember, don't try this at home!
2006-07-15 22:05:36 · answer #2 · answered by dolphin girl 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope not at all, just a myth. See people think this because hair and fingernails are dead skin cells; but of course we all know this right? Yes, anyways the dead skin cells had to be alive once right, nothing is born dead and keeps growing does it? Not to my knowledge, the dead skin cells that form nails and hair are from the live cells of the cuticles (for the nails) and beneath the scalp (for the hair) and when we die, all of our cells die, so no more growing. Hope this helps.
2006-07-15 21:57:38 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Your skin recedes to give the appearance of growing fingernails and hair.
2006-07-15 21:56:56 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous 20-Something 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope. There may be the appearance of change secondary to recession of soft tissue, but growth stops dead.
2006-07-15 21:58:03 · answer #5 · answered by Nowayjose 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No it is not true. The skin around your nails dries and shrink, making it look like your nails are growing.
2006-07-15 21:56:35 · answer #6 · answered by starting over 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, they die along with the rest of your body.
2006-07-15 21:57:33 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes and I am not sure how long the will continue growing.
2006-07-15 21:56:53 · answer #8 · answered by masterurownmind 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go to the following website for your answer:
http://dying.about.com/od/faqs/f/nailGrowth.htm
And now you should feel relieved that upon your eventual death, you don't need to be buried with nail cutters or shears. :)
2006-07-15 21:58:40 · answer #9 · answered by nothing 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Babe, OF COURSE NOT.
when you die, all of the cells in your body die with you.
2006-07-15 21:58:21 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Your tissues dry out and shrink.
2006-07-15 22:02:36 · answer #11 · answered by sevenzark_7 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋