Do fingers ever stop growing? Do they shrink as you get older?

Pickle_Jr@lemmy.dbzer0.com to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world – 34 points –

Title is pretty much all.

Some context:

I took an edible and had a thought last night.

What if I tattooed a ruler on my finger?

I never would actually do this, but my interest still piqued. Do hands keep growing? Do they stop growing? Do they shrink? How long would a finger ruler be viable until it needs decommissioned?

18

Stop growing longer? Yes. And when you get much older your whole body will shrink a bit. Plus they can always get fatter or skinnier! Nobody is gonna bug you about how accurate your tattoo is though. ;)

Adam Savage has a ruler tattooed on his arm. So I'd guess if it works on an arm it works on a finger.

I will finally be available to fairly and accurately measure all the men in the gym locker room without being suspicious and bringing in a ruler 😤

As far as I am aware only your nose and ears keep on growing, nothing with a bone in it does.

That's a myth, you know. Noses and ears don't keep growing, they just sag.

I have no answer for you, other than I'd guess they stop growing the same way everything else does. Some changes but probably nothing drastic.

I mainly am commenting to say I love how absolutely stoned you are/were, and I'm happy for you to be that level of stoned.

If the old people in my family are representative of the general population, your knuckles will keep growing and your fingers will start to bend at odd angles, and will seem to grow longer as your hand meat recedes. The skin will get looser and the ruler lines won't be as accurate. Also, finger skin doesn't hold tattoo ink that well, so it will probably be a messy blur by the time you have significant physiological changes to your hands.

your knuckles will keep growing and your fingers will start to bend at odd angles

Sounds like arthritis runs in your family...