Just now, I was going over my toenails to see if any needed clipping, and as I brushed my fingers over that toenail, it came away in my hand. No pain or anything. I can’t bend over well enough to see the nail bed very well, but as far as I can see it, it looks okay. It’s not raw or anything, there is still a very thin hard layer on top of it.
The nail next to it, I just noticed, is completely frosty white on one side, the other side looks normal, and the whole nail seems to be firmly attached.
It should grow back if the matrix wasn’t destroyed, but the question is why did it come off?
That’s a good question. I don’t have an answer.
I can’t say what may have caused your toenail issue, but I am pretty sure it will grow back fine. I once stubbed my foot on a rock and the big toenail turned opaque and eventually lifted-up in place (when tapped it would make a hollow sound) but was still attached. I went to move a pile of clothes with my foot one day and it lifted up like the hood of a car, and like you, no pain - just alarming to look at. I clipped it off and the new nail could be seen growing in already, and in a few weeks had completely filled-in the nail bed with a healthy toenail.
If it was not caused by an impact or injury, perhaps it’s toenail fungus or some other malady, so maybe a check-in with the doctor?
For parts of my body I have difficulty viewing, I’ve taken pictures with my phone. It really helps. You can blow it up, etc. I’ve done this when I needed the serial number on an appliance also.
Yes, thanks, I just had that brilliant idea myself. The nail bed is discolored, it might be toenail fungus, so now that the nail is off I can treat it topically myself.
I lost a nail a while ago to a running injury. It went black, popped off the bed, and then I trimmed it. I messaged my ortho doc and he said to just keep it clean and report in if it got infected.
It grew back just fine.
This often happens to me after mechanical damage to the toe. That can either be acute damage (i stubbed it) or aggregate damage (i went to a dance weekend in shoes without quite enough toe room, and one or more toes got a pounding over the weekend, without any one blow that hurt.)
I asked my doctor about it a couple of years ago. He said it commonly happens to runners, through the same “too much pounding” mechanism, and isn’t anything to worry about.
If you do it a lot, the nail might start to grow in thinner or otherwise a little funny, but that’s not a serious problem, either.
eta: Weird, i meant to reply to the OP. 
The nail that came off had a large rusty brown area over where it was sitting on the nail bed. So I am suspecting toenail fungus as the culprit, and am treating the nail bed accordingly.
I probably didn’t really need this thread, but I confess to occasionally using this board to help me think something through more quickly than I would by myself. This took me by surprise, it has never happened to me before, and I am perhaps hypersensitive to things happening that might be symptoms of something else. Hence the rush to IMHO.
No, and yes, in most cases.
IANA medic of any sort.
IMO if you’ve got widespread toenail fungus to the point nails are falling off, and you can’t move your body to see your toes, you probably need the services of a podiatrist to manage this before your toes start rotting off.
I dropped a wooden chopping board on my big toe. 
My big toenail fell off. 
It grew back. 
Was this supposed to be a joke post? This is not an accurate rephrasing of anything I’ve written.
Ditto. I can’t see them up close.
Gruesome and unhelpful.
If a joke post, not appreciated. If not a joke post, even less appreciated.
Would you have noticed if you banged the toe and blood had collected under it? Because when that happens to me, i get exactly the symptoms you describe.
Also, I’ve never had toenail fungus to my knowledge, so i have no idea how that would present.
He’s not wrong, in spite of your aggressive hypersensitivity. This may be a case where professional medical expertise is actually called for.
If not now, when self-treatment fails (if it does).
He is very wrong at least in the cheap joke tone he made of it.
Yes, I’m pretty sure I would have noticed. I also don’t think it was the aggregate damage you talked about earlier, all my shoes have plenty of room for the toes.
I think his intention was to say that if you have issues with toenail fungus serious enough that a nail fell off, and you have trouble seeing and grooming your toes, you might want to seek professional help. Maybe a podiatrist for a diagnosis and initial treatment, or maybe a nail salon for regular maintenance.
I had no problem with that message.
Aren’t you a T2 diabetic? I am one myself, and if I found myself in this situation I’d be making a podiatrist appointment ASAP. I don’t mess around with foot stuff, especially foot stuff that should have been painful but isn’t.
I was for about 3 months, until I brought my A1c back down below the magic number, and am now keeping it fairly well below that point, without medication.
I understand the calls for medical assessment. I will mention it to my regular doctor at my next scheduled visit.