I was just wondering what the new nail is supposed to look like when it grows back after the first falls off. It is the middle finger on my right hand, and it was smashed in a door just below the nail maybe 6 weeks ago. The old nail came off today, and the new one looks really ugly. I cant tell if it is deformed because I don't know what it is supposed to look like. It almost looks to me like it wants to grow into the skin rather than along the finger to the tip.

What you are seeing now is NOT the new nail plate. It is only a protective covering of nail plate cells from the deepest protion of the matrix. The deepest portion of the matrix produces the nail plate cells that are attached to the nail bed. As the matrix produces enough cells to create a 'normal' nail plate, it will push any remaining cdamaged cells off the free edge. You will just have to look at a 'funny' nail until it completely replaces itself with a normal nail. This can take anywhere from 3-6 months depending on your genetics.