Meteorological and Menstrual Reflections in Nail Growth

Abstract

When daily measurements of nail growth is recorded in the normal person or in patients, distinct periods of expansion and retraction of the nail can be observed, as well as variations in the rate of growth.Periods of cold and increasing barometric pressure (cyclonic cold fronts) are associated with cessation of growth and retraction of the nail, periods of increasing temperature and barometric decline with increase in the rate of growth. However, similar fluctuations occur in subjects kept constantly at normal room temperature (68 to 72°F). The periods of increase in the rate of growth apparently reflect periods of general stimulation that follow the anoxemia.In the graph which illustrates observations made on the same individual described in a preceding note,1 the actual growth curve of the nail is recorded. Arrows have been carried up from periods of high barometric pressure which, it will be observed, correspond to a time of retraction of the nail or slowing of its rate of growth; expansion or increase...