UKC

I think my big toenail is going to fall off. I bruised it coming down off Mont Blanc in August.

Any idea if/how/when they fall off? (my skin is crawling thinking about it, I HATE nails, blurgh).

Will it grow back? How long will it take? Anything I should/shouldn't do?

Can I avoid having a lumpy disfigured, replacement?

Advice much appreciated. <faints>

In reply to AnnaSpanna:

There are lots of ways for it to happen, but my experience with bruising of complete big and small toenails is:... The bruise under the nail is basically a blister - this is best drained (I go in from the front, under the white bit), which will leave the nail "hollow". Once it is hollow the skin underneath will start toughening up and forming into a new nail pretty quickly. You can leave the old nail on and it'll loosen up a bit, but it might never fall off without some manual assistance... The old nail can be cut back painlessly (it's not alive or attached to anything - use clippers and take off as much as you can. You'll notice that where the nail is attached at the sides it can be "peeled" off the skin quite easily and painlessly... The hardest bit to take off is the very back, but this also comes off when it's ready by peeling it forward from the cuticle - this is painless and simple, but always feels a bit gross...

A big toenail might take 6-8 months to grow back to near normal. Coincidentally this is just the right time between OMM and LAMM races, after which it will come off again and the cycle repeat...

Partial bruising is different and can lead to complications. One of my big toenails got a small bruise from winter climbing, never came off, but developed a secondary nail growing under the first. When the whole lot came off a few years later and grew back, it grew back wrong... The nail doesn't grow off the front of the toe like it should (it doesn't form a white fringe for cutting), but rather just bulges up and out... I can cut into the bulge and file it so it it roughly normal shaped, but the nail definitely isn't right... The best way to keep it in check is to lose it roughly once a year, and I have no idea what the long term prognosis is!...

In reply to johnSD:

So I suppose my main tip is to cut the nail back with clippers as much as you can - only cutting hollow/loose bits, and continue to do so as the nail grows and the new nail grows in. Don't cut or pull anything that seems alive or firmly attached.

In reply to AnnaSpanna: Oh dear - I did this when I bought some new shoes for playing hockey. My old ones used to skid around and so I stopped suddenly expecting to skid, my shoes gripped and my toes got rammed into the reinforced toe cap of the shoe.

My nail fell off about a month or so later. It wasn't such a big deal as the new nail had more or less grown half way across the skin and it wasn't painful either. However, I did need to prize the new nail over the skin at the end of my toe with an orange stick and vasaline to overt an in growing toenail.

If in doubt - go see a quack.

In reply to johnSD: wow, thanks John. It sounds like this has happened to you a few times!

My left big toe nail is coming loose at the 'soft' end so it's all I can do is to hope for it to fall off nicely. Otherwise I'll need professional help - it really grosses me out.

My right toenail has a partial bruise so I hope this doesn't end up all wonky!

6-8 months to grow back?! Really?! Crikey - I had no idea it would take that long. Don't think a Scottish Winter Climbing trip this year will do it any good! Hey ho, the sacrifices we make...

In reply to Jon Dittman:

<Fainted>

In reply to AnnaSpanna:

I'm sure they'll both be fine, but if anything odd looks to be happening it might be worth having it checked out.

Don't worry if it's not all the way back over the winter - the nailbed thickens up really quickly and isn't sensitive, it just takes a while for the nail to fully thicken up and form a cutting edge. It might even protect you against a repeat bruise if the nail isn't fully formed...

In reply to AnnaSpanna:

My damaged nail didn't come off until there was a nice new one underneath. I cut the very last bit holding it on to get it off but only because I was swimming and was scared it was going to come off on its own and float round the pool! It was ages after the damage occurred, but didn't cause me any problems at all.

In reply to AnnaSpanna: I fell over years ago and managed to rip off my complete middle finger nail on my right hand - it took a good 6 months to grow enough to have to start clipping it.

In reply to AnnaSpanna:

If it does fall off, there's something you should know.


Your nail bed is going to feel very weird without the nail on it, and I think it's a statistical impossibility for you to make it six months without some ungainly type standing on it..

They'll probably be wearing high heels too :-

In reply to AnnaSpanna: I get his fairly regular. I absolutely love scraping the black pudding from under the nail before it comes off

In reply to AnnaSpanna:

I did this in february on Aonnach Mor. Was just a painful miscoloured toenail for a couple of weeks, then the pain went away but it stayed miscoloured. It also sounded hollow if you tapped/flicked it.
Then about 2 months later I was picking my toe nails when it just sort up flapped up and was left hanging by a thickish piece of skin (I have a photo somewhere!) I ripped it off, and it was just kind of very soft sensitive red skin underneath. It took a further 3 months at least to grow back fully, and yes it is all knobbly & disfigured.
Not what you wanted to hear I know, but hey, its the truth, you might as well be prepared.

In reply to AnnaSpanna: I badly bruised my big toe nail on Aonach Mor a few years ago after an exciting and exhausting day doing winter stuff. It took several months for the nail to sort itself out and it went through a few colour changes. It does grow back after it comes off, best to leave it be and let it come away naturally.

In reply to trek: Cheers trek, honesty appreciated.