Damaged my tumbnail and root - will my nail ever grow back?

[ACfly]

Help:

I had a ice fishing accident, and broke my thumb.. In the process, I damaged my nail root so much to the extent that I have a deep ridge where the root of my nail growth...

Now there is a big ridge.. and I'm afraid my nail is now gone..

If the root is compeltely wiped out, will I not have nails growing? What do I do?

I'm seeing my docotr and he has made no comments as of yet.. Appreciate your help

[Marti]

Originally Posted by ACfly

Help:

I had a ice fishing accident, and broke my thumb.. In the process, I damaged my nail root so much to the extent that I have a deep ridge where the root of my nail growth...

Now there is a big ridge.. and I'm afraid my nail is now gone..

If the root is compeltely wiped out, will I not have nails growing? What do I do?

I'm seeing my docotr and he has made no comments as of yet.. Appreciate your help

You probably just damaged the leading edge of the matrix which can be seen as the white half-moon at the base of the nail. In order to damage the 'root', you would have had to cut deeply into the flesh about 1/4" behind the cuticle, or had the nail ripped completely off with a lot of damage between the cuticle and the knuckle. The 'root' lies much deeper than one may think.

The matrix is comprised of three main sections that produce the nail plate cells. The part that lies deepest (the root) produces the cells that become the portion of nail plate that is the surface. The portion you can see as the white half-moon produce the portion of nail that touches the nail bed. When this portion is damaged, it can produce scar tissue on the nail bed which can result in a ridge on the surface of the nail plate. Depending on the extent of the matrix damage, you may end up with a permanent ridge in that area; however, it will reduce somewhat in height as the nail bed heals. Your nail will continue to grow unless you have the nail root surgically removed.

[ACfly]

Thanks Marti,

Your comments are most valuable...

I was just wondering what happens if the root is completely damaged? Will there be no nails then? What does the finger look like then? without nails?

[Marti]

Originally Posted by ACfly

Thanks Marti,

Your comments are most valuable...

I was just wondering what happens if the root is completely damaged? Will there be no nails then? What does the finger look like then? without nails?

If the root is completely damaged, it can still produce some cells (that is unless it is ripped out such as they do when they remove a cats claws). Those cells would only produce something that looked and felt like ahrd skin in place of the nail plate, so the finger tip would end up looking like the pad of the finger.

[Aprilly]

Hi,

I also damaged thumbnail and root ( probably) and now 4 months passed since it stopped growing

I went to doctor and he told me that my nail is " fainted ". He just gave me some antimicotic cream and antibiotics, to prevent infection. He didn't tell me anything more. I'm afraid maybe my nail root is damaged so much that it won't start growing again.

Does anyone know how long can nail remain in " fainted" state ?
There are also slightly red swellings, a bit painful in the area of nail fold.
Can x-rays show how much nail matrix is damaged ?