Have a chipped toenail that won't grow. Need to fix it somehow.
 

Hello. Ok...this is freakin gross. My little toenail was chipped. I have no idea how I chipped it but it was chipped. I decided that maybe it'll just grow out and a new nail would replace it. Well it's not. Over a few days, I've been picking at it and snipping little pieces away with a nail clipper and it still won't grow. Now picture this one toenail and split it in two. The left side is gone with a little bit where it grows from and the eight side is still there but I think it's dead. Not looking too healthy.

What should I do? Should I just continue to clip at it until the right side is gone and maybe that'll trigger it to start growing again? How can I get it to start regrowing and be healthy?

- Undercover_Man

i would be at a doctor lol

I'd wait some more. I had the same thing happen to me on my pinkie finger. Slammed it in a truck door.

It eventually grew out and now it is normal. Unless your toe is black and green and puss is oozing out of it, it should be okay. Just give it some time.

No no. Doesn't hurt at all. Still got feeling in it. No ooze. I'll just wait a tad bit more I guess.

Smashed my big toe nail (drawer fell out of the dresser onto my toe). Split it up good. After a year, there wasn't much improvement, but now at about 1.75 years, it's showing some improvement. I guess these things just take time...

I once managed to rip my entire pinkie nail off once, and it didn't even hurt. It took forever and a day to grow back, but it did eventually. It just took some time.

My big to grows in crooked and kinda overlapping itself. Not painful, looks normal at first gance. Just the aftermath of an igrown toenail that was pulled off by a doctor 4 years ago.

I recently jammed my thumb between a pallet jack and a ladder at work. Hurt heaps at the time and then the nail turned black... I now am just waiting for it to grow out. The new nail growing underneath looks good so hope it will be normal again soon.

Your nails and hair go through dormant stages where they don't grow as much. It's possible that's where you are now. I actually keep my finger and toe nails quite short. I only have to cut them once every 2 - 3 weeks. Toenails can go fairly slowly.

If the nailbed looks normal, the nail material looks relatively clear, and there's no puss, or blood then I wouldn't worry. IF, on the other hand, Your nail is yellow or has brownish streaks, if it's significantly thicker than some of your other nails, and the nail material is somewhat flaky you could have some fungus growing in there. In that case it would be an ongoing problem and would grow much more slowly.

I would personally wait a week or so - see if there's any improvement and if not or if it continues to chip then I would see a Dr. I'm sure it goes without saying that if you begin to notice any signs of infection that you should see a Dr ASAP. For now just be patient.

Toenails take a very very long time to grow back. I have had mine ripped out twice. The last time was in july and it is just now grown fully back, but it is ingrown so I will have to go through that again anyhow for the time being if you are going to wait it out my advice is to wear sandals all of the time, but I would personally like to have the reassurance that a doctor can bring so I would suggest that. If it is dead I would think that you would have to get it ripped out completely for it to start growing again. Good luck from the guy who has a really bad ingrown toenail right now lol

Toenails can take up to a year to fully replace. I wouldn't panic about it to much, but it's definetly going to take some time. If it starts showing signs of infection or swelling or pain, then you might want to see a Dr, but otherwise just wait it out.

I agree with vitamin H. Years ago i messed up my big toenail pretty bad, it was at least a year before it started to look half way normal.

I started getting incredibly bad ingrown toenails when I was twelve or so. I had to have them ripped off but they are manageable. When you feel it start it grow into the skin, and I can notice pretty early, cut down the side of the nail. I've been staving off ingrown toenails this way for a decade. Just be sure to disinfect and clean the side you cut for a couple of days.

Going to the doctor to have them removed each time is nuts. I trim the sides five or six times a year and I'm good.