Your Fingernails Grow Faster in Summer

Next time you're getting a manicure more often during beach season, don't blame it on all that typing by the pool—your fingernails genuinely grow faster in summer. Research shows nail growth speeds up by about 10-20% during warmer months compared to winter, though you probably never noticed until your cuticles started staging monthly rebellions.

The science is surprisingly straightforward: warmth increases blood circulation, and better circulation means more nutrients delivered to your nail matrix (the part under your skin where growth happens). Add in extra vitamin D from summer sunlight, which aids keratin production, and your nails basically go into overdrive. It's like your body's version of seasonal farming, except the crop is fingernails.

The Evidence (and the Skeptics)

Studies going back to 1958 documented this phenomenon, showing that nails grow slower in Arctic winters than temperate summers, with individual variation depending on how much time people spent outdoors. Warmer peripheral temperatures deliver more blood flow to your extremities, which means fingertip real estate gets premium nutrient delivery.

But here's where it gets interesting: Dr. William Bennett Bean spent 35 years studying his own fingernail growth and concluded that climate had zero effect. His explanation? Modern life with central heating and air conditioning means we're never actually exposed to real temperature extremes anymore. We're all just living in a perpetual 72°F bubble.

Not Just About Growth

Before you credit that vacation glow for your suddenly fabulous nails, consider this: you might just be wearing them down less while relaxing. During your normal routine, nails get filed down by keyboards, opening cans, aggressive phone-scrolling, and whatever else you do with your hands. On vacation? You're horizontal. The growth rate might not have changed much—you're just not destroying them as fast.

Key factors affecting the summer speedup:

• Increased peripheral blood circulation from heat
• Higher vitamin D levels from sun exposure
• More time outdoors (for those who actually go outside)
• Better overall hydration in warm weather

What This Means for You

The practical takeaway? Your summer nail appointments aren't a scam—you genuinely need them more often. The effect is real but modest, so don't expect dramatically different growth rates. And if you work in a climate-controlled office year-round like Dr. Bean, you might not notice any difference at all.

Your nails are growing right now at about 3.5 millimeters per month (fingernails, anyway—toenails are slower and lazier). In summer, bump that up by 10-20%. In winter, your nails are basically hibernating. It's not dramatic, but it's measurable, and it's one more reason to appreciate those long summer days.