Will my nail grow back? - Nail Problems Message Board

Njoker8 · 06-06-2009, 10:45 PM

Hello HealthBoards. I am a 14 year old boy, and I am extremely worried about my toe nail. I have been biting, and clipping it out of obsession. Recently, though, I have clipped a little too much. My left toenail had become half removed, to what feels like the fleshy underbelly underneath. It worries me because many of what I have read from Google search results says that it may have ripped the root out. I need reliable results, and I can not go to a doctor right now because my parents refuse due to money being tight. Here are two pictures of the toe nail.

* links to pictures removed by hb-mod, moderator *

Please help.

Marti · 06-07-2009, 07:22 AM

Leave the thing alone!! The soft flesh underneath is the nail bed. The nail plate is there to protect this delicate tissue. If you had removed the root, it would have been incredibly painful as you would have had to rip it out, not bite it off. The nail root lies deep under and behind the cuticle area. Keep it clean and dry by applying a drop or two of alcohol which will dry out the soft tissue until a new nail plate can grow out to cover it. If you suspect infection, then apply peroxide.

Njoker8 · 06-08-2009, 09:51 AM

Thank you very much.