why human nails still growing even when they're already dead for years?

Question

dig up the old grave and u will find that corpse have a long nail. why it still growing? does it need some nutrition to grow? don't tell me cause they were dead so they can't cut their own nails ok ;)

Answer 1

nails do not grow the body dries out and shrinks making the nails look longer

Answer 2

No, it's actually an illusion. The nails don't continue to grow. What happens is the FLESH on the fingers begins to retract and shrink. This gives the ILLUSION that the nails have grown. If you took the flesh off the fingers, and had only the fingernail and bone left, the fingernail would appear to be a lot longer than what you see when flesh is all around it.

Answer 3

That's a myth. Nails don't keep growing after death.
What happens is that after death, the body loses its fluids and the skin become dehydrated and shrinks back from the base of the nail. The nail does not grow.
The belief that is does is very old fashioned and simply untrue.

Answer 4

They don't actually grow. The skin around them dehydrates and shrinks, so they just look longer. Once upon a time, before we really understood decomposition, people thought that hair and nails kept growing, but it's really just kind of an illusion.

Answer 5

The aren't. The skin is dehydrating and decomposing, thus shrinking, which makes it look like hair and nails are still growing.

Answer 6

They don't grow much but they do still grow and so does hair. It's because nails are made of old calcium. When you die there is stil calcium in your body that you took in right before you died, so you body is still able to get rid of it right after dying. It's the same for hair, but hair is old protien.

Answer 7

your nails and hair both still grow after you are dead =not to many know the reason =gruesome eh

Answer 8

did you really dug a grave?? cool!!!!