Medical question.....my fingernail got ripped!!!!

[Tekk]

Well on Saturday night at about 230 in the am, my friend and I were mock boxing and unfortunately, my fingernail hit his watch and decided to be ripped about 75% off. And its a nice rip too. I came home and called the ER and asked them what I should do....they said just cut as much of the loose nail off as you can and then bandage it up. So I have been doing it but damn it still hurts and is pretty gross to look at (interesting but still gross ). Anyway, Ive been wrapping it in gause and putting neosporin on it and I got one of those little metal splinty deals to protect it from getting bashed again. I jsut wanted to know if this has happened to anyone and what you did. Did the nail fall off or did you rip it off in the beginning

And let me tell you how fun it is to type with one less finger......its fun!

[OuTpaTienT]

Do you have a scanner? I wanna see it.

The nail will probably fall off, but just wait for that to happen...it'll hurt like hell if you try to pull it off too early. Just keep it clean and bandaged. And that splint thing is a good idea too, to keep it protected.

I'm getting chills just thinking about that...I bet it hurt like a mofo.

[Skywalker[TSG]]

I once broke my toenail

l
it looked like this -----l half the nail was at a 90degree angle my god just thinking about it brings the pain back

[Tekk]

Hey Out...I'll scan it tomorrow Just for you...but Im warning you...its uglier than he11

Hey Tekk

How much nail ripped out - did it rip out into the quick (the bit you can't normally see)? It should grow back eventually if the nail bed itself (below the quick) is still mostly intact. Will take a while though, and you should protect the nail bed until then. We have a surgeon here who likes to get a false fingernail and fix it into place while the new nail grows back, just for protection (he normally stitches thenm in).

I'd suggest getting a medical review just to see how best to keep the nail bed protected until the new nail grows back. I can't remember how fast a nail grows normally, but a doc should be able to tell you, or google might know

Ripping nails out can be messy and painful, but as long as you don't get an infection in the unprotected nail bed, or damage the bed itself, it's no big deal in the long run. Not like losing a finger or something. Nails normally can grow back.

Cheers
Mick

PS A pic would be interesting - just make sure you post it with a warning if it's truly gross!!

PPS Google find some useful sites for nail injuries here and here

[GohanSSJ]

eew that hurts, well i didn't had that but i did had once, that half my finger between a door, i wanted to get in and my brother (Barney) closed it so i had to be bandaged and i walked with that for about two months.

BTW that finger is slighty longer then the other one.

[sven222]

I once broke my toenail

I did that once. I was drunk and I ran into a shower door. cracked it right open, 3/4 of it came off, blood was everywhere. not that i was sober to feel it looked cool when I woke up though

[daveleau]

If the base is still alive and still there, then you should have no problems or no real difference. I hit my left index nail in a downward stroke of a hammer and took everything off. I ended up having to get stitches. Mine grew back a bit thicker than the other nails, but no other real differences.
Hope it quits hurting soon. Be sure to use some Neosporin on it to keep it from getting infected.
Dave

[Gomer]

hehe this thread turns my stomach... so I though I'd just continue with that theme.

Had my finger slammed in a solid core door once. GOD it hurt. Poked some holes in the nail with a red hot needle to let the pressure out.

Few weeks later, the nail had died. It began to rot from the inside out. Unaware of this I was sort of biting at it and it popped. In my mouth... smelled like the most foul road kill. I am talking FOUL.

Shortly thereafter it just fell off onto my desk. Took awhile, but it grew back. It was odd for a couple years, but that was a while back and by now it is better.

[Cruez]

It'll grow back... I ground mine of with a large buffing machine (grinder) a few years ago...except it ground off along with the meat under it down to the bone... It still grew back....slightly different, but still grew back.