Fingernails can take up to 6 months to grow

For most people, it takes 3 to 6 months for their fingernail to grow from the base of the nail bed to the tip of the finger. Fingernails grow an average of 2.5 millimeters (1/10 of an inch) each month, which means that if you lose a nail you will be missing it for a while. Fingernails form under the cuticle as soft cells, but the protein Keratin hardens the old nail cells as new cells grow and push out the old ones from under the cuticle.