Fingernails and toenails are made of hardened proteins, which grow when new cells grow to replace older cells. While you may feel your nails lengthen quickly, at the most your nails actually grow 1.2 millimeters each week. However, slow-growing nails grow as little as 0.5 millimeters a week. If you find yourself on the slow-growing side, a few factors could be at play, including poor circulation and advancing age, which causes nail growth to slow.
Maintain Your Nails
Maintaining your nails ensures you keep them strong and smooth, which helps prevent easy breakage. From regularly trimming your fingernails and toenails to buffing them to remove ridges, proper nail maintenance boosts your nail growth. Moisturizing the hands and fingernails also can encourage healthy nail growth.
Although you are trying to grow your nails out, you could still be tempted to bite your fingernails. For this reason, rub something that tastes bitter or unpleasant to you on the tips of your nails to prevent nail biting.
Improve Nutritional Habits
The fingernails are made of protein, meaning you should ingest enough protein in your diet. This is especially true if you are dieting, which involves restricting calories, according to Health.LearningInfo.org. Choose lean proteins, such as grilled chicken, turkey and fish that help you maintain a healthy weight while allowing you to increase your protein intake.
You should also eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, which contain fingernail growth-boosting vitamins and minerals. Examples of good foods to eat include spinach, eggs, nuts and fish such as salmon. If you are having trouble incorporating the appropriate amounts, take a multivitamin each day.
Increase Your Circulation
According to Health.LearningInfo.org, the dominant hand a person uses to write with typically experiences faster fingernail growth. Enhanced circulation helps increase nail growth. Using your hands to perform activities can boost circulation. Activities include typing, playing the piano or exercising, including weightlifting.
You should, however, be very careful to avoid the use of hands in activities that may injure the fingernails, such as picking at or prying things open and washing dishes in scalding hot water, according to Love to Know. You also can massage the nails and cuticles with the pads of your fingernails in order to boost your circulation.
