How do I deal with this broken fingernail? (Poss. TMI)

[Queen Bruin]

Disclaimer: I have been to the Dr. and am going back next week. Als

Long story short, I got into a car wreck and broke my pinky bone, dislodging the nail from the nailbed (this happened about 11 days ago). The nail is still on the finger, but looking at it I see that it's still held on by the cuticle. Now, I'm not about ready to pry that baby off - there just isn't enough Vicodin in the world to make me try it; the gauze from the ER finally coming off was just about my limit. The Doc said to just let it drop off when it drops off. How should I treat it in the meantime? For now I've got antibiotic ointment and a bandaid on it (and before anyone asks, yes I just finished a round of oral antibiotics for this injury).

Also, anyone have any idea at what kind of timeframe I'm looking at before it finally falls off?

[Mirror Image egamI rorriM]

There have been a couple threads about losing toenails recently, and judging by those, I would guess no more than a couple weeks.

[SnakesCatLady]

I would keep the antibiotic ointment on it, and keep it taped to prevent it snagging on anything. (::shudder::) If it's still there when you have your follow-up, get the doc to look at it.

I hope the broken pinky/fingernail were the worst of your injuries!

[whyiseveryonestupid!]

I got my finger trapped in a car door once and if I remember after the nail went black it took about 2 weeks to drop off. It was hanging off for ages, I could peel it up a see underneath (horrible). I's just keep putting the antibiotic on and keep it bandaged, that should be all. Eventually it will get to the point where it just drops off then a new one should start to grow. Think it took about two months for my nail to fully grow back but I had the plasters off well before then because the underneath hardened slightly.

[Queen Bruin]

Thanks guys.

Snakescatlady, yes, luckily that is the extent of injuries.