Well, that's a thing that happened.

[conuly]

I was kneeling in front of the fridge to find the garlic, and I found the garlic, and when I went to stand up I pushed my leg back first and apparently my toenail was caught in the grout somehow, I don't even know, and I ripped off some portion of my toenail. Yes it hurt. There was blood.

Eva very kindly helped clip off the ripped nail and then put a bandaid on for me because I didn't want to look at it. She says I lost about half of it. I wouldn't know, I didn't look.

Ugh. How long until it grows back, or at least stops twinging every time I bump my big toe against something?

Comments

[topaz_eyes]

Ouch, your poor toe! As long as you didn't damage the nail matrix, expect a few months for the toenail to grow back, depending on how much you lost. Fingernails grow at about 1/10 inch per month, and toenails are slower.

[conuly]

Nail matrix what?

[topaz_eyes]

The very bottom of the nail, where the nail grows from.

[conuly]

Ah. No, I don't think so. (But I didn't look!)

[squirrelitude]

It's very unlikely the nail matrix is damaged -- that's deeper inside the toe, before the visible part starts. I've lost an entire fingernail before, and it all grew back. It was a little wavy at first, then straightened right out.

You've probably just done the equivalent of a couple months toenail trimming all at once.

For me it the skin felt super weird and sensitive-tingly for a bit, then felt weird and dull, then just mildly odd for a long time until the nail covered it again.

[conuly]

I'm hoping it feels normal sooner rather than later.

trigger warning fingernails

[melannen]

I used a utility knife to very nicely and accidentally cut my thumbnail in half vertically all the way down past the cuticle and nearly to the knuckle, that was second week of December, and it was just the start of this month when the very last of the cut-part grew out to where I could trim it off and the nail is back to normal. So if it really is half the nail, I'd expect at least two or three months.

But based on how long it took to stop feeling just plain wrong that my thumbnail would fold in half, it will probably stop feeling quite so weird and tender a while before it grows out - give it a week or two and your body will have accepted that this is now just exterior skin.

Re: trigger warning fingernails

[conuly]

*cringe*

[cellio]

cringe I hope it's feeling better soon! It'll be a while before it feels normal but I hope you get to "noticing but not really bothered" soon.

[adafrog]

ow!!! {{{hugs}}}

[mount_oregano]

I dropped something heavy on my big toenail in December 2019, and the nailbed bled a lot and eventually the toenail fell off. It took about a month for the wound to stop weeping, although by then the pain had dropped to background noise. Your injury sounds less dire, and I hope it is. Toenails take a long time to grow back, much slower than fingernails (which I've also smashed). My toenail is still not fully grown out a year and a half later. Good luck, and remember to keep the wound clean. I recommend generous use of triple antibiotic ointment. There is a kind that has painkiller in it.

[conuly]

Ugh, and all this during the pandemic.

[mount_oregano]

I tried to imagine the toenail as a pandemic hobby. 😊

[gwydion]

I hate when that happens.

[lilly_c]

Ouch. It takes a few months for toe nails to grow back. I once had a fire door pushed over my foot and it took most of the nail off.

[gale_storm]

You're having a rough time with your nails overall lately, aren't you? Sorry to hear this happened!