abscission line

[Pierre]

My right thumbnail just cracked at the edge, so I know it's going to abscind within the next week or two. The part that breaks off looks like it'll be 13 mm long; if it's 14, that'll be a record :) The abscission line formed about February 1. I know that because just behind it is the thick band that formed when I was in Brazil. So it takes about four and a half months for the abscission line to reach the point where it breaks off.

[LisaJaney]

A record as in "a record for Pierre", or as in "a record that will be put into the Guiness Book"?

And: is that four and a half months how long it takes the average nail to grow, or is that how long it takes your nails to grow? I have never rememembered long enough to learn how long my nails take... I have the attention-span of a sand-flea, apparently. Oh look! A chicken! :)

[Pierre]

Just a record for me. Not an 8-track tape ;) And that's how long it takes my nails to grow. I don't know about anyone else's.

[unaspenser]

I've heard that it can take 6 months for a fingernail to grow from root to the end of the nail bed, and 12 months for a toenail. I bet those of us from LHC who take crazy B-vitamins get faster growth than that. I am trimming my nails for the first time since I was a kid now that I'm on all the supplements.

ETA: Pierre, why is your nail abscinding? Did you hurt it? :ooh:

[Pierre]

The thumbnails always do that, every few months. They are the thickest and I let them grow until they abscind. The right thumbnail I use for playing bass notes and, on the banjo, the high G string. The rest of them I cut off when they're too long.

The nail is 12.5 mm and came off with a tiny bit stuck to the nail bed, which I had to peel off carefully. I haven't tried playing my instruments but I just got back from a choir rehearsal.