Does your hair keep growing after you die? You must have heard people say that hair and nails continue to grow after the body is long gone. But is it really true? Yes and no.
Nothing in your body can grow after the death because the cells stop multiplying and reproducing. However, people, who are sure that the hair keeps growing after you die, are always ready to present plenty of evidence.
There have been cases when after digging up a grave, the relatives said that the dead person’s nail and hair have significantly grown. So what did actually happen? The answer is pretty easy and it can satisfy both parties.
The below video summarizes the process:
FAQs
Contrary to popular belief, your hair does not continue to grow after death. Instead, your skin dehydrates and shrinks back, which gives the illusion that your hair is longer.
As mentioned, your hair does not grow after you die. The dehydration of the skin causes the skin to shrink and retract, which makes the hair look longer. Your hair does not grow longer; it just seems that way.
After the heart stops beating, glucose production stops. Glucose production is what is responsible for hair and nail growth, so with the halting of this process, the hair does not continue to grow.
Hair color can change after death, but it depends on the location and method of burial. Hair can oxidize and break down faster in extreme conditions like very wet or cold places.
Hair does decompose after death. Since it is a natural substance made of keratin, it does decompose into the earth like any other natural compound.
However, there is no rule about how quickly hair decomposes, and specific areas of hair on the body may decompose at different rates than others.
The Secret Is Simple
After the body stops functioning, the skin starts to lose moisture. As soon as it dries up, it begins to pull back on the fingers, toes, and scalp. While pulling back, it exposes more nails and hair.
That’s why the locks and nails may seem longer because when you make measurements, you take the hairline as the starting point. The loss of moisture changes the location of the hairline.