Do Fingernails and Hair Grow After Death? (Shave Magazine)

Deathternity is always looking to talk about all things death.  One idea that people believe is that fingernails and hair continue to grow after death.  True or false?  Per Shave Magazine it is false and a myth:

5 Absurd Scientific Myths People Believe

X-Ray Delta One/Flickr        Article By: James Evans

Shave Magazine Correspondent

  

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Even the most unscientific of us have a repository of common-knowledge, scientific facts accumulated from media, friends, peers and colleagues. Unfortunately, however, some of these scientific “facts” are not actually true. Many of these myths are so widespread and persistent in popular culture that despite being consistently dispelled they continue to be passed on with completely convinced sincerity. Here are some of the most common scientific myths that you, or someone you know, may have helped spread at one time or another.

“Fingernails and hair continue to grow after death”

There is something morbidly fascinating about death. As terrified as many of us are of death, we find that we still like to talk about it. This is probably one of the biggest factors that have helped this myth spread. However, it is entirely false. Fingernails and hair do not continue to grow after death. Nevertheless, it is easy to see why some people would think it is true. When we die, our bodies dehydrate thus making the skin and tissue around the nails and the hair line shrink away and recede. As a result, the hair and nails may seem slightly longer.  And because we are more accustomed to hair and nail growing rather than skin receding, we are more likely to attribute this change to the hair and nails continuing to grow rather than the hands, feet and head shrinking. This recession creates the illusion of the hair and nails continuing to grow on a corpse when in fact the only thing that’s moving is the skin…and even then, it’s shrinking.

Read more: http://www.shavemagazine.com/misc/5-Ridiculous-Scientific-Myths-People-Believe#ixzz1vBHLNTy1