How to behave when we have a broken nail

Welcome back to my blog.

Today, as you have read from the title, I want to explain how to take care of a broken nail.

A few days ago I happened to break two reconstructed nails badly and instead of breaking down I thought it would be nice to talk about it to you, so that if by chance (hopefully not) it will happen to you, you will know how to act!

Let’s get started!

Function of the nails

Before we talk about how to deal with broken nails, I want to make a premise.

The nails as well as being an accessory to decorate and embellish have a very important function for us.

They allow us to protect our fingertip and our last phalanx from possible trauma as they are very sensitive areas.

They also have the function of helping us to better grip objects.

Why am I saying these things that might be obvious?

Because when we break or damage a nail, exposing the nail bed and the fingertip, we will realize how important it actually is to keep the nails healthy.

Having said that, I’ll show you the possible scenarios that could arise.

Breaking of the nail in the middle of the nail bed

This break can occur both on those who wear reconstructed nails and on natural nails, following severe trauma.

The nail breaks right in the middle of its length, does not come off and therefore it will be very painful to have that piece of nail bending and pulling the nail bed.

Surely there will be a lot of blood, but this is normal because damage has been created to the nail bed which is a very vascularized area.

I also think that sub-nail hematomas could form.

What to do after this breakup?

First aid

First you need to perform some first aid maneuvers.

A very important thing is to wash the wound well with clean water and apply disinfectant or hydrogen peroxide.

The wound will probably continue to bleed so for some time it is good to check it and possibly disinfect again.

I recommend the application of ice which will alleviate the sense of pain and even bleeding.

After these steps the situation should improve.

For those who suffer from a break like this it is necessary, before acting, for the wound to heal slightly, this will generally happen within 3-4 days.

During this time I recommend to keep the wound as clean as possible and if we know we cannot check it often, then to bandage the finger with gauze so that any pathogens can’t enter the bloodstream.

In fact, having an open wound you risk contracting some disease, or a mycosis, so it would also be useful to use, at least for the first evening, an antibiotic ointment, in order to eliminate any possible risk.

After the wound has healed slightly, my advice, whether they are natural or reconstructed nails, is to contact a professional to have the nail covered.

Although it may seem absurd, on this type of nail bed wound, the best thing is to make the nail stiff, seal it.

If you have a natural nail, gently prepare it and only cover the natural nail to prevent it from bending and causing pain.

The gel may burn a lot but this is normal. Alternatively, acrylic can be used.

The result is guaranteed and the client will certainly feel better because she will no longer feel the same pressure that her nail used to do before.

If, on the other hand, there was already some product present, I make sure to remove almost everything, and above all I remove the possible and almost certain lifts that may have been created during the trauma.

Here, too, I cover the natural nail.

Nail break on the stress point

This is another kind of breakup that might come up.

I would say that it is more frequent on reconstructed nails, especially if the length is considerable, but I do not exclude the fact that it can also happen on natural nails.

First we need to perform the First Aid maneuvers.

This trauma will leave the fingertip and the final part of the nail bed exposed and the pain will mainly be caused by leaving this very vulnerable area uncovered.

Again for the first 3-4 days I recommend keeping an eye on the wound, cleaning it often and if you can’t, keep it covered.

When you see that the nail starts to crust and be a little less sore I recommend removing most of the product present, but not completely, we still want to leave some resistance to the nail.

I do not recommend acting immediately here.

I would let at least a week pass for the skin on the nail bed and fingertip to heal.

At this point we will find ourselves in front of an onychophagic-like nail, that is short with the uncovered nail bed and the swollen fingertip.

To relieve pain in everyday life and help the nail grow back, I recommend that you perform a minimum lengthening, aiming at where the nail should actually be.

This will protect the fingertip and allow the nail to heal with less pain.

How long will it take for my nail to return to normal?

This depends on each person.

But consider that fingernails grow 1.8mm to 4.5mm per month.

So that’s it for today’s article, I hope you found it useful.

I would like to specify that I am not a doctor and these are only ADVICE that I can give you knowing the anatomy of the nails and in any case based on my professional experience.