I had my thumb crushed in a safe at work. The amputation required surgery to reattach and pins inserted. It has healed well. I have been through months of Occupational Therapy with mixed results. The worst part of all of this is the
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The worst part of this is the "peeling " of the nail that grows. (The crush happened at the base of the nail bed.) This nail is not like the others. It is semi-hard and about once a month it will have a crack that gets bigger until it peals to reveal a new nail under it. It only covers the surface. Never growing upward like a normal nail. It does not hurt until it gets to the surrounding skin...Then it's like the worst hang nail ever. I often wonder if I should have not had the thumb reattached. It is now 3 years since the accident and wonder if this is how it will always be.
If the nail did not heal itself within the first 6 months, it will always be this way. The reason is because you 'crushed' the matrix which is where the nail palte cells are 'born'. What you have left is the uppermost layer and the lowest layer and nothing in between. The nai plate is formed in three layers, the bottom layer is attached to the nail bed, the center layer gives the nail strength and the upper layer is the portion you can touch that protects the underlying layers. You can have the nail removed by having the remaining portion of the matrix removed (the root) - in your case this would be the best option as long as they completely remove all the root. Once this is done, you will not grow another nail plate at all.
i had a very similar thing happen to me 7 weeks ago. also in the safe at work, guess safes arent that safe. i lost an inch off of my right thumb. doing physical therapy now. wondering how you doing with it all?
Re: thumb amputation 
