Last November I was using a cordless drill as a power screwdriver. The Phillips head bit slipped out of the drywall screw (I was driving it into had wood, really bearing down) and hit my thumb about 1/8" from where the nail starts. It hurt/bled/all of that good stuff and when it grew out there was a divot in the nail. Ever since the divot passed the cuticle, there has been a split in the nail where it grows out, in line with the injury.
Now the split has long since reached the end of the nail. I had hoped that it would close back up, but it just keeps growing out as a split nail.
Will it ever grow back together? Anybody ever have a similar situation? It’s a PITA, I have to keep it trimmed way short to keep it from hanging on stuff.
And I’m not looking for medical advice, really. If it was serious, I’d see what a doctor said. As it is, it’s just annoying.
I had something similar once on my little finger. After some fairly long period (a year?), the nail started growing normally. Your mileage might vary, though.
I had the same thing happen to my big toenail, from where I dropped something on it. It took a very long time before the split went away (well over a year), but it’s fine now.
For the last couple of years, one of my fingernails has developed a midline split, really a crack, which I have to keep trimmed so the sharp corners of the split do not catch on clothing, etc. It does grow out and disappear but will come back randomly, and not as a result of any exogenous trauma.
If the" 1/8" inch from where the nail starts" is/was in the skin behind the beginning of the nail, you may have damaged the area where the nail is formed and it might be permanent. If the damage is in the nail itself, it should heal up in time.
I had part of an ingrown toenail removed around 1995 or so. The removed section (about 1/3) wasn’t supposed to grow back, but it did. I had a split nail for years – had to keep it trimmed with a special trimmer, occasionally had to keep it covered with a Band-Aid, total pain in the ass. Only now is it finally starting to be one piece, but there’s a big thick lump at the join. Maybe in another 12 years it’ll be normal again . . . <sigh>
It depends. I don’t know quite what it depends on it, but it does depend. Himself has a split nail that has been split for 20-odd years. I’m pretty sure it’s not going to heal itself.
He damaged it in some farming accident. I didn’t ask for the details; frankly, it’s best not to fuel my imagination regarding all the possible ways he could die in farm machinery.
I stuck my finger in a blender (don’t ask) and split the nail (flesh and bone) a couple of years ago. Eventually the split in the nail did heal up, but I still have a furrow in my nail that continues to grow with the rest of it.
I split my thumbnail partway into the nail bed about ten years ago. I still have a split, no matter what I’ve done over the years to re-join it. Sorry, I couldn’t give you more hope than that.
BUT, it may help (or not) to know I’ve had a fungus under my right big toe for about six years now. I’ll spare you a detailed description; let’s just say it’s ugly and I can’t wear sandals, which I love to wear. I even took the entire 6 months prescription of Lamisil about 3 years ago but it didn’t change anything.
Guess what? About a month and a half ago, I noticed the nail is actually growing out normally! At first, I just thought a small area was just being less ugly for a minute – but it’s actually growing back out correctly. Why? I don’t know and I hope I haven’t jinxed it.