Thumb Slammed in Door - Nail Coming off - Advice

Hi A., once I had a student who was 5 and got the same situation. She went to the hospital and the doctor removed the nail off since it's only connected by thin skin. They stopped the bleeding and wrapped the thumb up. I don't remember for how long but when they opened it, her nail grew back! I don't think they did anything special since it's wrapped most like a cast. Therefore don't worry about it. As long as you keep it clean, it shouldn't be too bad. Anyway, good luck and you take care!

I shut my thumb in a car door sometime in high school and had an uneventful recovery :-). I remember it being uncomfortable for a while (the nail didn't fall off right away so there was the pressure from the swelling) and it looked rather ugly and purply for a while but it healed up fine, no complications.

It is the new nail growing in the pushes the old nail off but it does take several months.

ouch,,poor little girl. My son tipped over in a wagon when he was 3 and squished his finger and lost the nail a few days later. I happened to find it and saved it so now at 31 years old he gets a kick out of how tiny it was. His finger nail grew back in fine and he was never bothered by it. Hopefully your daugter's will do the same and chances are she will never think twice about it.

My son dropped a can of tomato sauce on his toe last year. His big toe bruised and eventually the nail fell off (some of it was chipped away by my son picking at it and pulling the nail off, which I think he was doing so, because it was healing and itchy). I just keep putting Neosporin and bandages on during the day (changing it often) and at night (when he was asleep) I left it uncovered so oxygen could get in and help heal. I did however at night, use foam/liquid Neosporin that dries instantly so it would not make a mess in his bed. (Don’t keep it covered at all times, as it needs to breath). The skin toughens within a few weeks, but I would still put at least a band aid over it when he was wearing shoes to keep it protected. It took a few months for the new nail to grow out. The new nail is a little damaged with a white line going down the center, but it will eventually grow out. It’s not going to be a pretty sight when the new nails grow back at first, but it will eventually look good again over time. It’s very important to keep it clean.

If your daughter's a nail biter--don't let her start biting the nail before it's grown in all the way. When my nail fell off when I was 6, I remember the day I decided it was grown in enough and I could start biting it again. It was only 3/4 of the way grown back, and it's been messed up ever since.

Hi A.-
As a 28 year old woman, I can tell you that I have broken almost every finger and lost a number of fnger nails in my youth. It looks really disgusting and it probably will be kind of funky for the rest of her life- I had one nail drilled to release pressure and it grows with a light split in it. HOwever, with all of the finger and nail injuries, my nails still grow beautifully if I take care of them. As her skin heals, rub the cuticle with vitamin e oil or a thick lotion, like the unscented Neutrogena Norwegian formula cream. It's a small tube but it will last, plus her skin will be smoothe and crack free. She is also young enough that her body will bounce back quickly from it as I did when I was her age. My nails look great and hers will too. It is falling off because it is damaged to may way for a clean undamaged nail. While the process is unsightly, it isn't permanent. Keeping it clean and the cuticle healthy will improve the situation as a whole. Good luck with your babies!
-E.

Well, here's the thing about nails (I have a queasy weakness about nails, but am tough on other injuries):
Your doc is trying to keep the nail BED alive and healthy, so she gets a new nail back if and when she loses the broken one. It must be keep moist and clean and protected, hence the ointment and wrap. It does take MONTHS to totally replace itself. Nails are simply the body's way of discarding used cells (hair too).
My son cut off half off the outside tip of his pinkie, lengthwise, in woodshop. nothing to sew back on! so gross I could not dress wound, my husband did. I could not bear to look at it. I really have nail issues from my own childhood toenail trauma. (they are all fine now)
If you are lucky, she will grow a healthy new nail. But it may be permanently wavy or bumpy, but if she gets any nail back it is GOOD. She probably will get a new nail!
My nephew lost a fingertip in a sliding glass door, but they sewed it back on. He has nail. So does my son, But just half haha. But not noticeable, truly. Good luck!

It will grow back just fine. The same thing happened to my son when he was not even 2. I can't even tell which finger it was without looking at pictures.

My son dropped a pipe on his thumb last year. He had a blue thumbnail for about six months, then it got loose. We put a band-aid on it while it was loose. About a week later it just fell off. His new nail grew in just fine. The whole process is kind of like transitioning from baby teeth to big teeth. I'm sure your daughter will be fine.

Ouch!!! I know how that hurts -- had a similar incident years ago, with the end and part of the fingernail on my first finger meeting up with a papercutter.

The doctor put gobs of Neosporin on it and wrapped it up and left it a week. Next week, same thing -- for several weeks until it healed. The ointment, in addition to healing, has the ability to maintain some of the pain. Those nerve endings in the fingers are very sensitive.

This procedure will not be understood by your lil' one, but 'this too shall pass.' Kids heal fast. Use colorful bandages and even let her design them. Make it a 'badge of honor.'

this question is a quite very good question Let me tell you guy's something about my daughter's nail. Well, this injury happeaned in the last 10 weeks I'm so surprised that I could remember all this, well this happeaned on a thursday,after school, so my daughter was with my mother so she asked my daughter if she wanted to get on the other side because there was too many packages on the side that she was getting in, So my daughter said yes, but than by accident when she did not even realize it and shut her thum in the car door. I took her for a walk to see if the fresh air would make it feel better, well sudennly she told me that her wrist started hurting, so when I took her home her wrist was all red and swollen and the same with her thum, so I took her to Patient First ( Doctor's Office) to see what was going on so she did have a little bit of a fever, and they took a x eray and it showed up when the doctor came in he looked at it and he agreed it was very red and super swollen. So, he said that it was broken so my daughter had to have surgery, it hurt very very bad well she was not bending it at all well her thum and her others fingers and wrist are like in a glove hard cast it looks like a glove but it's a cast the fingers have band aids on them and ya know those finger splints in walmart she had all those on her fingers and white and blue tape on the bottom of them, and A big glove up from her fingers down to her wrist. Yeah, it does take about 6 or 8 months for the nail to grow back and fall off, you really won't really feel it well her nail took about 7 weeks to grow back and fall off. If anyone has any suggestions or questions I've be more than happy to save the answer's and put it on this page if you would like to send me a private message my email adress is ____@____.com And my name is Skyler . E. Have a great day and I'll talk to you later.``

Updated

this question is a quite very good question Let me tell you guy's something about my daughter's nail. Well, this injury happeaned in the last 10 weeks I'm so surprised that I could remember all this, well this happeaned on a thursday,after school, so my daughter was with my mother so she asked my daughter if she wanted to get on the other side because there was too many packages on the side that she was getting in, So my daughter said yes, but than by accident when she did not even realize it and shut her thum in the car door. I took her for a walk to see if the fresh air would make it feel better, well sudennly she told me that her wrist started hurting, so when I took her home her wrist was all red and swollen and the same with her thum, so I took her to Patient First ( Doctor's Office) to see what was going on so she did have a little bit of a fever, and they took a x eray and it showed up when the doctor came in he looked at it and he agreed it was very red and super swollen. So, he said that it was broken so my daughter had to have surgery, it hurt very very bad well she was not bending it at all well her thum and her others fingers and wrist are like in a glove hard cast it looks like a glove but it's a cast the fingers have band aids on them and ya know those finger splints in walmart she had all those on her fingers and white and blue tape on the bottom of them, and A big glove up from her fingers down to her wrist. Yeah, it does take about 6 or 8 months for the nail to grow back and fall off, you really won't really feel it well her nail took about 7 weeks to grow back and fall off. If anyone has any suggestions or questions I've be more than happy to save the answer's and put it on this page if you would like to send me a private message my email adress is ____@____.com And my name is Skyler . E. Have a great day and I'll talk to you later.``

Updated

this question is a quite very good question Let me tell you guy's something about my daughter's nail. Well, this injury happeaned in the last 10 weeks I'm so surprised that I could remember all this, well this happeaned on a thursday,after school, so my daughter was with my mother so she asked my daughter if she wanted to get on the other side because there was too many packages on the side that she was getting in, So my daughter said yes, but than by accident when she did not even realize it and shut her thum in the car door. I took her for a walk to see if the fresh air would make it feel better, well sudennly she told me that her wrist started hurting, so when I took her home her wrist was all red and swollen and the same with her thum, so I took her to Patient First ( Doctor's Office) to see what was going on so she did have a little bit of a fever, and they took a x eray and it showed up when the doctor came in he looked at it and he agreed it was very red and super swollen. So, he said that it was broken so my daughter had to have surgery, it hurt very very bad well she was not bending it at all well her thum and her others fingers and wrist are like in a glove hard cast it looks like a glove but it's a cast the fingers have band aids on them and ya know those finger splints in walmart she had all those on her fingers and white and blue tape on the bottom of them, and A big glove up from her fingers down to her wrist. Yeah, it does take about 6 or 8 months for the nail to grow back and fall off, you really won't really feel it well her nail took about 7 weeks to grow back and fall off. If anyone has any suggestions or questions I've be more than happy to save the answer's and put it on this page if you would like to send me a private message my email adress is ____@____.com And my name is Skyler . E. Have a great day and I'll talk to you later.``

Updated

this question is a quite very good question Let me tell you guy's something about my daughter's nail. Well, this injury happeaned in the last 10 weeks I'm so surprised that I could remember all this, well this happeaned on a thursday,after school, so my daughter was with my mother so she asked my daughter if she wanted to get on the other side because there was too many packages on the side that she was getting in, So my daughter said yes, but than by accident when she did not even realize it and shut her thum in the car door. I took her for a walk to see if the fresh air would make it feel better, well sudennly she told me that her wrist started hurting, so when I took her home her wrist was all red and swollen and the same with her thum, so I took her to Patient First ( Doctor's Office) to see what was going on so she did have a little bit of a fever, and they took a x eray and it showed up when the doctor came in he looked at it and he agreed it was very red and super swollen. So, he said that it was broken so my daughter had to have surgery, it hurt very very bad well she was not bending it at all well her thum and her others fingers and wrist are like in a glove hard cast it looks like a glove but it's a cast the fingers have band aids on them and ya know those finger splints in walmart she had all those on her fingers and white and blue tape on the bottom of them, and A big glove up from her fingers down to her wrist. Yeah, it does take about 6 or 8 months for the nail to grow back and fall off, you really won't really feel it well her nail took about 7 weeks to grow back and fall off. If anyone has any suggestions or questions I've be more than happy to save the answer's and put it on this page if you would like to send me a private message my email adress is ____@____.com And my name is Skyler . E. Have a great day and I'll talk to you later.``