Blech

October 12, 2011 1:15 PM

I slammed my fingernail in a door about two months ago and now...um...this is kind of gross so read ahead after the jump.

I had a pretty nice black mark under the nail, which went deeper under the cuticle and has been growing out seemingly nicely. It had finally reached the part where the entire black part was showing and I could see clear nail at the nail bed and cuticle junction. So basically, the bottom third was black and I kind of figured it would just keep going that way until it grew completely out. I've been painting them dark grey or black so that it was less noticeable. Over the past weekend I put pink polish on and you could see the black under but no big deal. Until tonight.

I was picking at the polish and some black bits were coming off with the pink polish. Hmmm, I thought, did I still have some of the dark polish on when I painted over with the pink? Possible, since I had a few drinks the night I was redoing the polish at a friend's house. But no, internet friends, upon further inspection, I realized I was peeling off the old nail. From the bottom. So gross. Now I have what ammounts to a hole about halfway down the nail. What. The. Fuck.

What do I do now? Do I bandage this mess? I don't want to get a nail bed infection. Is this something one goes to a doctor for? It doesn't hurt, but I don't want it to all go horribly wrong and end up with a hook for a hand.

posted by monkey!knife!fight! to Health & Fitness (21 answers total)

That's normal. It'll grow back if you leave it alone.
posted by fshgrl at 1:18 PM on October 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

It's normal. Like fshgirl said, it will grow back. Not that I'm an expert, but my sister happens to be a dermatologist, and she's seen this many a time.
posted by Falwless at 1:19 PM on October 12, 2011

When I was little, my dad dropped a car battery on his toe. The toenail turned black and, eventually, fell off. About a year ago ago, my brother (the apple clearly doesn't fall far from the tree) did the same thing with a couch. Toenail turned black and fell off.

These things happen. (Sorry.)
posted by phunniemee at 1:29 PM on October 12, 2011

Normal. I had a thumb accident that sounds similar. After the nail started to grow back, I did get an issue with some skin on my my thumb kind of (this sounds grosser than it is) trying to grow over the nail bed. I went to a dermatologist who "burned" that off - painlessly, perhaps like one does with a wart- and everything healed up just dandy.

Watch for infection like you would with any injury but it will likely be fine.
posted by pointystick at 1:29 PM on October 12, 2011

This happened to me. Once it pealed off the nail grew back and it was fine. I was prescribed antibiotics 'just in case' though so do keep an eye on it.
posted by Laura_J at 1:33 PM on October 12, 2011

Normal. Something similar happened to me. Took three to four months for the nail to grow back and the bloody part on the nail bed (under the nail) to be absorbed by the body.
posted by dfriedman at 1:35 PM on October 12, 2011

Once smashed a finger between concrete blocks, and lost half a fingernail. I soaked it in epsom salt+hot water once a day for a while. Nail peeled off, and a new one grew back after a month or so. Just keep it clean, and no more nail polish on that finger.
posted by shinyshiny at 1:46 PM on October 12, 2011

Normal. If it's raggedy, you may want to wear a bandaid so it doesn't snag on anything. Keep it dry and clean (and don't put the bandaid on too tight), keep the nail polish off of there, and you'll avoid infection and fungus. Don't trim it too short, either, let it grow out/fall off as it will.
posted by Specklet at 1:46 PM on October 12, 2011

Before I learned that one shouldn't move furniture while wearing sandals, I smashed my big toenail with the corner of a dresser. While it bled a lot, it never turned black. However, the nail died (I think I could have dug a hole through it like you describe) and a new one grew underneath. It never pushed the old nail off until it was completely grown. Eventually it had detached on one side and the bottom. I just kept a bandaid on my toe to avoid having the old nail rip off. For months. Everyone told me it would fall off, but it never did until there was a new nail 90+% grown. So, equally, don't freak out if it doesn't fall off
posted by hoyland at 1:51 PM on October 12, 2011

Response by poster: So relieved by all the "normal" replies. I will stop polishing the hook. I always thought that if you lost a nail it just kind of popped off, rather then coming off from the bottom. I'll take the polish off and keep it loosely covered when I'm out in public. And try my best not to pick at it. Again, yuck. I'm guessing I'll go through various stages of disgusting until this heals up so I should just stop being squeamish and embrace my inner grossness.
posted by monkey!knife!fight! at 1:54 PM on October 12, 2011

Nthing normal, and it doesn't even necessarily turn black - when I was about 6, dad shut the car door before my hand was out the way. Very unhappy kid, who quit yelling only when distracted by the fascinating sight of an entire nail just falling off under cold running water. No bleeding or anything - it just came off in the sink, whole.

It grew back of course, though my thumb was extremely sore and tender until it did.
posted by fearnothing at 2:25 PM on October 12, 2011

hi. i recently hit my thumb with a hammer. i didn't even hit it at the nail, but just before the nail at the nailbed. the black stuff is blood. it will eventually get pushed to the top of your nail by the new nail growing out of the nail bed. then, the old nail will hang on for dear life at the sides... where you get hangnails... until it falls off. try to keep the old nail going as long as you can, don't jam it against a 2x4 and knock it partially off. otherwise having the nail falling off wasn't too painful but it looks superweird.
posted by ennui.bz at 2:27 PM on October 12, 2011

Yup, totally normal. I damaged the nail on my left big toe last year, and exactly the same thing happened. It took about two months for the dead part at the base of the toenail to start crumbling away. Over time more and more of the rest of the nail came off. For a long time it seemed like the new nail would have a weird divot in it, it had this strange wave-like section to it right around where the base initially dissolved into powder. In the end it took a full year to completely grow back, and now it looks totally normal.
posted by Lokheed at 2:35 PM on October 12, 2011

When I was younger my dad would use a small drill bit and twirl it by hand on top of the point of impact, just enough to break through the nail itself and allow the blood below to escape. It will prevent the blood from clotting under the nail and turning black like you've described. If done soon enough it will limit the area that the nail and the nail bed separate and decrease the likelihood that it will get snagged and rip good nail out as the injured portion grows out and is exposed.

Not sure that it will help you know as the blood's already dried, but maybe will help if it ever happens again.
posted by daHIFI at 3:36 PM on October 12, 2011

A dead nail can take up to six months to fall off, then another six months to grow back. Nails that fall off can come back thicker and sometimes with ridges or ripples.

If this were to happen again you can prevent losing your nail in some cases by heating a pin and puncturing the nail thereby relieving the pressure under the nail.
posted by axismundi at 3:42 PM on October 12, 2011

My youngest dropped a rock on his finger, and then a week later squished it in the door. The nail fell off completely after a while, but grew back nicely.
posted by KokuRyu at 4:35 PM on October 12, 2011

Yup, in the process of dealing with this myself. I still have about a quarter inch of "weird nail" from an injury in March. It wasn't too painful or troublesome, and I managed to break the bone as well as the nail. Try not to pick at it, although, I can say from personal experience that's a hard suggestion to follow.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:41 PM on October 12, 2011

My husband had this happen not long ago, when I was pregnant, and our GP told him if he wanted to, he could take my prenatal vitamins, which might make it grow back in faster (might not), and in any case wouldn't hurt him.

Anyway, once it finally fell off, it grew back faster than we had thought it would.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:45 PM on October 12, 2011

Normal, as many people have said, but keep an eye on it. I saw on a hospital documentaty (RPA in Australia) a guy who had a subungual hematoma (I've had a few, so know the name), but it didn't heal. 2 years later he finally went to the doctors and had to have his entire finger amputated, as it had turned into cancer.

Unlikely of course, but don't let it stay black for months/years.
posted by antiquark at 2:39 AM on October 13, 2011

Response by poster: Oh man. Thanks, I was feeling pretty good, but now I'm convinced I have finger cancer. No, not really - thank you everyone for the great advice. Should I ever slam my finger again, holes will be drilled and I'll keep an eye on the science experiment on my left hand, while I try not to pick it. Which I will most likely fail at, but maybe since winter is coming I can just turn gloves into an indoor fashion statement. Very 50s.
posted by monkey!knife!fight! at 8:16 AM on October 13, 2011

Response by poster: Just as a wrap-up:

My nail is almost completely grown out -and there is just a hint of old blood I can't reach to scrape out. It's growing back nicely, but today I did something kind of dumb. Kids, when the internet tells you not to pick at it, don't pick at it. I was like "hey, I've got a nice new nail under here, I don't need the old one anymore!" but yeah, I did. Now I have a little weak unexposed nail bit that kind of hurts.

But thanks again, internet strangers! You rock.
posted by monkey!knife!fight! at 7:02 AM on November 17, 2011