World Longest Fingernails

Human nails can be easily compared to animal claws, use in defending enemies or killing prey. Our nails don't have such an important role, but still they are often used as an accessory, being decorated with the most astonishing colors or designs. Fingernails consist of keratin, the protein that animals' claws are made of. The nail has three important components:

- the cuticle - small of skin growing at the base of the nail
- the nail plate- the area growing beyond the fingertip, without nerve endings
- the nail bed - the connective texture growing from the finger, in order to form the nail, equipped with nerve endings

Fingernails grow slower than hair, approximately 3 mm per month, so it takes 6 months for a nail that have been torn to grow back completely. There are some people that love so much their nails, that they decided to stop cutting then. World longest fingernails in the world belong to Lee Redmond form USA. She hasn't cut her nails since 1979. They reached 7.51 meters length. She is a fan of a high-protein diet, and her favorite logo is that “you are what you eat”.

She used to carefully manicure her nails and, once a week, soaked them in warm olive oil. As they grew longer and longer, the operation became impossible. She established the record in September, and soon she cut them so she could take care of her ill husband, suffering form Alzheimer. Lee Redmond lost her nails in a car accident. She suffered a lot, but admitted that it was much easier to do things.

With or without her nails she demostrated she could do anything. The lady even said that vacuuming or cutting her granchildren's hair wasn't difficult at all. Before her, the record was hold for 20 years by Shridhar Chillal. He cut his nails in 2000, because his hands started to be deformed, as consequence of the heavy nails. He has been growing only the fingers from the left hand.

Another record is held by a retired Indian Photographer from Poona, close to Mumbai. He let his nails grow for almost fifty years so his thumbnail reached the length of almost 1.5 meters and looked like colored spiral made of thin tortoise shell. He put his nails up for auction.

Li Jian Ping, a Chinese from Fujian Province, is another record-man. He also let his fingers grow for 50 years. He only wanted to beat the Indian, but his nail reached one meter. Barbara Wing from Salt Lake City is another holder of one of the world longest fingernails. In her case, nails looked great. Over fifty years she applied interesting nail art on them. She has 10 Jazzmen on her almost 18 centimeters nails.