[Lewis Thomson (OP)]

Darren asks:

On a recent Naked Scientists episode, you mentioned that nails grow faster on longer fingers and toes.  When I was younger, I had my second toe on both feet shortened as they too long were causing pain when wearing shoes. My supplementary questions to your previous episode are:
-    If a toe is shortened will the nail grow more slowly due to the toe being shortened? I haven’t been able to see any noticeable change but it’s not something I have recorded over any length of time (no pun intended  )
-    If a toe or finger is transplanted from a donor, does the nail's growth rate still remain in proportion to its length or does the growth rate reflect the rate of the toe/finger it has replaced?

Anyone know the answer?

[chris]

I think the amount of evidence on whether digit shortening affects rates of nail growth is going to be severely limited and hence probably insufficient to provide you with a decent sample size to make a valid conclusion!

Sorry for this cop-out. However, it is worth mentioning that if trauma or surgery to a digit involves the "nail plate", which is the assemblage of stem cells from which the nascent nail tissue issues, then growth, shape and structure will certainly be affected, often permanently.