Understanding If & How You Can Get Long Nail Beds

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A simple guide to what causes short nails and how to grow them back

Co-authored by Ritu Thakur, MA and Aly Rusciano

Last Updated: March 21, 2025 Fact Checked

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Making Nail Beds Appear Longer

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Maintaining Nail Beds for a Longer Look

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What causes short nail beds?

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Can a nail bed grow back?

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Treatment After a Nail Injury

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Video

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Expert Q&A

Healthy nail beds are essential to having strong and beautiful fingernails and toenails. The nail bed is the layer of skin beneath your nails that supports and secures the nail into place on your finger. Like your regular fingernails and toenails, nail beds also grow; however, they don’t become longer over time. Despite this, you can still help the tissue of your nail beds grow and regenerate at a healthy rate by adopting good grooming habits and performing the right treatments after a nail bed injury.

Making Your Nail Beds Longer

Nail beds are the thin layer of skin under your fingernail that protects your fingertip. Nail beds can’t grow longer (like fingernails do), but you can make them appear longer and stronger by practicing good hygiene and nail health habits. For instance, avoid biting your nails and moisture them regularly.

Section 1 of 5:

How to Make Your Nail Beds Look Longer

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Grow your nails to help them appear longer. One of the best ways to make your nail beds appear longer is to grow out your nails! Since it’s not possible to grow your nail beds themselves, having longer fingernails is a great way to create a longer illusion. The longer the tip of your fingernail, the longer your nail beds will appear. Check out these tips for growing longer nails: ^{[1]
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Go Ask Alice
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- Eat foods rich in vitamins A, E, and D, like fish, almonds, eggs, and spinach.
- Take a biotin supplement to support nail growth.
- Moisturize your hands regularly to prevent breakage and cracking.
- Apply a nail hardener to help protect and strengthen your natural nail. ^{[2]
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  Mayo Clinic
  Educational website from one of the world's leading hospitals
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Section 2 of 5:

How to Maintain Your Nail Beds for a Longer Look

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1
Apply lotion around your fingertip to moisturize the whole nail. Use your hand to rub lotion on and around the nails of the opposite hand. Moisturizer is a great preventative measure that keeps your nails from drying out, which can help they grow stronger and faster. ^{[3]
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Cleveland Clinic
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- Nail artist Mia Rubie recommends using cuticle oil as well. Apply the product with an applicator brush or dropper and rub it evenly over your fingertips. ^{[4]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Mia Rubie
  Nail Artist
  
  Expert Interview. 23 April 2020.}
2
Stop biting your nails. If you chew on your nails, do your best to break the habit , as nail-biting can hurt your nail beds. ^{[5]
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Cleveland Clinic
Educational website from one of the world's leading hospitals
Go to source} Additionally, biting your nails can introduce bacteria to the edges of your nail beds, which can potentially cause an infection.
- Add a coat of bad-tasting nail polish to help break the habit. ^{[6]
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  American Academy of Dermatology
  Professional organization made of over 20,000 certified dermatologists
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Prolonged contact with water or cleaning chemicals can weaken your nails, preventing them from growing. Aim to wear rubber gloves whenever you do the dishes or use harsh chemicals to help protect your nails and grow them longer and stronger . ^{[7]
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Mayo Clinic
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4
Try not to pick at your cuticles. Picking or pushing back your cuticles may help your nail beds look longer, but it can do more damage than good. Moving or cutting your cuticles (especially without the proper tools) can cause harm to the nail bed and put you at risk of infection. ^{[8]
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Mayo Clinic
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- Cuticles actually protect your nail bed, and cutting or picking them could make you more susceptible to bacteria. ^{[9]
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- Rather than pushing back or cutting your cuticles, moisturize them and leave them be.
5
Avoid getting an acrylic manicure. Try not to get acrylic manicures when you go to the nail salon. As beautiful as they look, the process of getting them is extensive. After two weeks, you have to return to the salon for maintenance, and eventually, you have to get them removed. The removal involves dipping your nails in acetone or using special tools to remove the fake nails. Regardless, the chemical or mechanical process can hurt your nail beds and make them weaker. ^{[10]
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American Academy of Dermatology
Professional organization made of over 20,000 certified dermatologists
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- Gel nails that can be soaked off your fingers are a better manicure alternative.
- The healthiest type of manicure is a classic manicure that uses regular nail polish. While it may not last as long as acrylics or gel, it does the least damage to your nail beds. ^{[11]
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  Research source}
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Rub vinegar on your nails with a cotton swab before applying nail polish. Use a Q-tip dipped in white vinegar to clean off any natural residue from your nails. Wiping them down beforehand ensures that your manicure is applied in a clean environment, which is good news for your nail beds—it can help them grow stronger! ^{[12]
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- If your nails are clean, there’s also a smaller chance of bacteria getting into them, which decreases the chance of infection. ^{[13]
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  PubMed Central
  Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
  Go to source}

Section 3 of 5:

What causes short nail beds?

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Short nail beds are most commonly caused by genetics. If you have short nail beds, chances are it’s because of your genes! ^{[14]
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Research source} The shape and size of your nails are widely determined by things outside your control; however, how you care for your nails can play a big factor. Here are some things you can control that can affect your nail beds:
- Hygiene: Cleaning and properly caring for your nails can help them grow longer and stronger. So, clean them with a nail brush regularly and avoid picking or biting them. ^{[15]
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  Mayo Clinic
  Educational website from one of the world's leading hospitals
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- Injuries: Accidentally cutting or hitting your nail may cause it to break, leading to a shorter nail bed. Avoid this by never using your nails as tools. ^{[16]
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  American Academy of Dermatology
  Professional organization made of over 20,000 certified dermatologists
  Go to source}
- Fungus: Nail fungal infections can cause the nail plate to separate from the nail bed, ultimately leading to a shorter appearance. Avoid fungal infections by keeping your nails clean and dry. ^{[17]
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  Mayo Clinic
  Educational website from one of the world's leading hospitals
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Section 4 of 5:

Can a nail bed grow back?

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Yes, a nail bed can grow back in 6 months, at the minimum. If you tear, rip, or separate your nail from its nail bed, a new nail bed will form after at least 6 months. The new fingernail will grow where the old nail used to be. Nails take a long time to grow, so have patience and make sure to keep the area clean. ^{[18]
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National Health Service (UK)
Public healthcare system of the UK
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- Toenail nail beds can take up to 18 months to fully grow back.
- Remember, nail beds can’t grow longer as they’re the skin beneath the fingernail; however, the layer of skin does grow back after an injury with time.

Section 5 of 5:

Treatment After a Nail Injury

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Talk to your healthcare provider before approaching any treatment to repair your nail beds to help them grow or regrow. There are many ways to get your nail beds healthy and growing again, but your treatment plan might be different depending on the type of injury that you have.
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Receive a nail bed graft if you’ve lost a portion of your nail bed. Have a medical professional repair a damaged or partially missing nail bed by grafting part of another nail bed onto the injured area. This can help provide more instantaneous results. Performing a graft can help the damaged nail bed begin to grow again. ^{[19]
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Trustworthy Source
PubMed Central
Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
Go to source} Nail bed injuries like these can happen when a lot of pressure or force is applied to the nail, like stubbing a toe.
- Nail grafts can be taken from both fingernails and toenails. ^{[20]
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  PubMed Central
  Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
  Go to source}
3
Get stitches if the nail bed separates from the finger. A hand surgeon should apply special stitches to repair the nail bed and realign the finger bone in the case of a big injury. This procedure physically reconnects the nail bed to the fingertip, allowing the growth process to continue. These injuries occur after moments of intense trauma, like slamming a door on your finger. ^{[21]
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Research source}
- Sometimes, a wire needs to be added to set the bone into place.

Expert Q&A

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Question

How can I make my nails grow faster?

Mia Rubie
Nail Artist
Mia Rubie is a Nail Artist and the Owner of Sparkle San Francisco, a nail studio based in San Francisco, California. She has over eight years of nail artist and management experience and is known for her push-the-envelope designs and artistic eye for colors. Her clients include Sephora, Target, and Vogue. Her work has been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle and StyleCaster. She holds a BBA focusing on Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations from San Francisco State University. You can find her work on her Instagram account @superflynails.

Mia Rubie

Nail Artist

Expert Answer

So if you can, get biweekly manicures at a nail salon. If you can't swing that, give yourself a manicure at home every couple of weeks. It's also really important to moisturize and take care of the overall health of your nails using cuticle oil. This will help your nails grow a little faster. You may be able to take a biotin or collagen supplement to help your nails grow faster, but talk to your doctor first.

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Understanding If & How You Can Get Long Nail Beds

Making Your Nail Beds Longer

Steps

How to Make Your Nail Beds Look Longer

How to Maintain Your Nail Beds for a Longer Look

What causes short nail beds?

Can a nail bed grow back?

Treatment After a Nail Injury

Expert Q&A

Video

Tips

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