What do you do when your nail bed rips off?
How is it treated?
- File any sharp edges smooth, or trim the nail.
- Trim off the detached part of a large tear, or leave the nail alone.
- Use scissors to remove the detached part of the nail if the nail is partly attached.
- Soak your finger or toe in cold water for 20 minutes after trimming the nail.
Can damaged toenail beds be repaired?
Many injuries to your nail bed can be fully repaired. For example, your nail should return to normal after a subungual hematoma is drained. However, some severe injuries can lead to a deformed nail.
What does a ripped off toenail look like?
The tear isn’t too far down toward your foot, and the nail is still attached to the nail bed. Any bleeding stops quickly. You have little, if any, blood pooling under the remaining nail (it will look like a blue-black spot), and it doesn’t hurt much. The toe itself looks normal.
Why are my nails coming away from the nail bed?
Sometimes detached nails are associated with injury or infection. In other cases nail separation is a reaction to a particular drug or consumer product, such as nail hardeners or adhesives. Thyroid disease and psoriasis — a condition characterized by scaly patches on the skin — also can cause nail separation.
How can you tell if your nail bed is damaged?
When to see a doctor
- any jewelry is difficult to remove from the injured finger or toe.
- pooling blood covers more than half of the nail bed.
- pain from the injury is severe.
- bleeding does not easily stop.
- any cut is deep.
- the nail is cut, torn, or detached from the nail bed.
- the finger or toe has an usual shape.
Why is my toenail splitting vertically?
Vertically splitting nails is a condition known as Onychorrhexis. It’s commonly caused by overexposure, through constantly washing and drying hands, whether just through daily life or frequent manicures, making them dry and brittle.
