Toe Nail Coming Off... What Do I Do?!

[BigGingerBob]

Hello everyone,

About two months ago I dropped a fence post whilst working in the garden. I was wearing my safety Vans and it landed fully on my big toe. That was the only part of me it hit. It bloody hurt and over the next week it went black.

I thought I was getting away with it because it stopped hurting and the bruising went down but was still visible.

But then I went to the beach.

I looked down and there was a load of sand underneath. I'm not generally squeamish but I felt a bit sick. I immediately washed it out using the foot wash tap.

This evening when doing some pruning in the garden when kneeling I caught it on the lawn and it's lifted up a lot!

What do I do?!

Photos for the non squeamish but it doesn't look that bad.

[Inspire]

Assuming it is not painful, I’d leave it to fall off. The nail should regrow underneath. This happens a lot to marathon runners (ask me how I know!)

Rob

[Super Sonic]

It will fall off then a new one will grow. I have lost both my thumbnails. One time I put my thumb through a bead roller, it swelled up and at hospital they had to drill a small hole in my thumbnail and squeeze all the liquid out. It really hurt!

Edited by Super Sonic on Saturday 22 August 21:12

[shtu]

Inspire said:

leave it to fall off.

That's what I've done in the past. Eventually it'll drop off.

[Belle427]

May benefit to bathe it, maybe salt water is good for this?
Lost one playing football years ago, never quite grew back the same as maybe the root was damaged but it came off after a few days from memory.

[AddyT.]

Broke my big toe twice. Second time the nail came off and a new one was underneath but its “dead” after checking it out at the time with a chiropodist.

[bigpriest]

Try a salt water bath, dilute Dettol or antiseptic wash to make sure it doesn't get infected. Keep it clean. Old nail will fall off. Depending on any damage to the nail bed you'll get a nice new nail or a weird one that's a bit thick and warped and may never recover

[xx99xx]

A new one will grow back. I ripped a fingernail out once and after a few weeks of pain, it grew back. Just let things happen naturally, it'll fall off soon enough.

[Hoofy]

NOT MEDICAL ADVICE.

I had a toe that was hanging off due to tight rock climbing shoes but not quite so bad. Nearly as bad. I just removed it. They would have done it at A&E and I couldn't be arsed to wait 48 hours in A&E so I just sat in the bath and did it. It looked like I murdered someone, though. It really fking hurt but I just soldiered through.

So, I advise going to A&E.

[fiatpower]

I’ve lost a few through running. When it’s loose like that it will eventually dry out underneath and fall off. Don’t pull it unless you like pain

[The_Doc]

Tape it down to stop it catching on things.
Then wait for it to fall off.

When we have to stop a nail regrowing (which we do for various reasons) it is surprisingly difficult to get the Germinal Matrix (source cells) to stop making a new nail.

It takes a chemical burn or a high/low temperature burn to stop a new nail coming through.

Your photos are 1/10.:

Edited by The_Doc on Sunday 23 August 21:03

[HTP99]

It'll fall off and regrow, just be careful when it does fall off as that area will be painful if you drop something on it. Being the person I am, I would have likely played with it untill it came away completely.

I sliced a fingernail clean off 2 years ago now, zero pain as I took the nerves with it and a lot of the nail bed (I have pics if anyone is interested). I went to the hospital, was close to needing a bit of plastic surgery but didn't. Kept it covered and it grew back. The only pain was knocking it as the bone was only covered by the tiniest bit of nail bed. You wouldn't know now by looking at it.

[BigGingerBob]

Thanks you the replies, gents.
I will leave it on! I might trim a bit off as it keeps catching on things.

A question for the runners, I ran a marathon a few years ago and got away without any nail damage (thank you Hoka and giant toe boxes!) and I was planning on starting again after losing weight. Is it likely to cause damage to the new one coming through? I'm only talking the odd 5k

[thebraketester]

Had similar. Cut as much as you dare and tape the rest. It will fall of quickly.

[TeaNoSugar]

BigGingerBob said:

Thanks you the replies, gents.
I will leave it on! I might trim a bit off as it keeps catching on things.

A question for the runners, I ran a marathon a few years ago and got away without any nail damage (thank you Hoka and giant toe boxes!) and I was planning on starting again after losing weight. Is it likely to cause damage to the new one coming through? I'm only talking the odd 5k

Just a quick reply on the subject of trainers - if you haven’t worn Hokas for a while I’d definitely try a few pairs before buying. I used to swear by Clifton’s (for road) and Speedgoat 5s for fell/trail, but having thoroughly worn out my last pair of Speedgoat 5s and a pair of Salamon SpeedCross, whatever Hoka have done recently the toe boxes seem far less generous.

I went up a full size with the Speedgoat 6 but even then the toe box was narrow and tight and ruined one of my toenails on my first long run in them. I sold them on Vinted, and managed to get some Hoka Mafate 5 on the recommendation of my SiL. Even those (half a size bigger than usual) aren’t as generous as Hokas used to be. It’s annoying the way some brands feel the need to fk about with their lasts / fit every few years. .

[BigGingerBob]

That is really annoying, especially as someone with wider feet.

I don't understand it either. Hoka was knows for wide toe boxes and super cushy soles. Why change?!

Toenail update - It was kicked off by my one year old son yesterday when I was changing him.i had to get the scissors out to finish off the 2mm bit still attached!

[throt]

I use to play a lot of football and during one game my left middle toe nail exploded.
It did grow back but, much thicker so, unfortunately it looks a bit spooky now

[hurstg01]

Happens often to me as a runner, both 'long toe' nails from the toe next to my big toe come off every once in a while, they grow back only to be in the danger zone after any Parkrun

[BlackTails]

BigGingerBob said:

A question for the runners, I ran a marathon a few years ago and got away without any nail damage (thank you Hoka and giant toe boxes!) and I was planning on starting again after losing weight. Is it likely to cause damage to the new one coming through? I'm only talking the odd 5k

Almost certainly not.

[danb79]

As others have said it'll soon drop off

Smashed both my big toes a few times now through rugby and dropping big stones on them (and 50kg weight plates - don't ask)

A new one soon grows back