Has it ever happened to you?

So yesterday we visited my podiatrist, the awesomely nice Dr. James Jung. Well, unfortunately he was suffering from a cold/flu and was late, but because this is hopefully our last visit, I forgive him. It was just to get the final stamp of approval that everything is A-OK with the follow-up matrixectomy to my big left toe. Aside from some internal scar tissue that I can forsee being a pain in when I wear high heels, I am ok.

But then I told him about my purple toe. He took a look and said that it is a 50/50 shot as to whether or not I lose the nail. I hadn’t really seriously considered it, but yikes! Out of a random kick, I may end up losing the nail. I have never lost one before. I know it isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it is ultimately a fascinating subject, so please tell me, have you ever lost a nail? I want the story! Even better, I will give you a cookie if you show me a picture of your nekkid digit! lol

28 Responses to "Has it ever happened to you?"

ressacjane says:

March 5, 2008 at 12:31 am

my fingers got smashed in the doorway when i was little, and i lost the nail on my left ring finger. it was weird not having a nail for a while, but was really no big deal, so don’t worry about it!
majorxero says:

March 5, 2008 at 2:29 am

I don’t know if you remember my mom’s house, but the security gates are very heavy steel. I smashed my finger in there once and it got all black and yucky. The nail started coming off and the best I could do was just trim it as it started to peel off. It managed to grow back in pretty well. You can’t really even tell that it ever happened if you look at it, except to this day, I still get an ingrown fingernail here and there. It doesn’t happen all the time and it’s kind of annoying, but it’s something I’ve learned to live with.

This was years ago and I didn’t really consider taking a picture of it. can i have a cookie anyway?
anitza says:

March 5, 2008 at 2:31 am

So you get an ingrown fingernail? Ugh. That is annoying. My doc also trimmed it because he didn’t want it to get caught on my socks and make it come off like that.

And just because you asked.
anitza says:

March 5, 2008 at 2:32 am

I am not really worried about it. It is more of a “Huh, I never thought about that happening.” And then I just got curious. 😀
speciestart says:

March 5, 2008 at 3:06 am

I lost both big toe nails when I was about 12 by wearing my friends shoes (2 – 3 sizes too small) and running around all day. They both turned black and came off. Ew.

I lost both big toe nails AGAIN last year after both feet got stomped a few times during a Pogues show in San Francisco. I knew the floor was a bag place to stand! Mosh pits were breaking out all over the place. I didn’t take a picture because I was very annoyed at the situation since I like my personal space while watching a band, damn it!

😀
1. anitza says:
  
  March 5, 2008 at 5:00 am
  
  OMG! If that is what happened to them, how could you stand wearing them?!
  
  And as far as mosh pits, steel toes all the way!
speciestart says:

March 5, 2008 at 3:06 am

I lost both big toe nails when I was about 12 by wearing my friends shoes (2 – 3 sizes too small) and running around all day. They both turned black and came off. Ew.

I lost both big toe nails AGAIN last year after both feet got stomped a few times during a Pogues show in San Francisco. I knew the floor was a bag place to stand! Mosh pits were breaking out all over the place. I didn’t take a picture because I was very annoyed at the situation since I like my personal space while watching a band, damn it!

😀
purple_equator says:

March 5, 2008 at 4:43 am

Do I get bonus points for having not only already told you about it (Inca Trail) but also having already posted a picture of it just for you? It isn’t that big of a deal especially after all your poor toes have been through lately. It only took about 7 months for mine to be back to normal–well…almost.
anitza says:

March 5, 2008 at 5:00 am

Hahaha! OMG YES! But WHY did it come off? Do they just not like to stay attached?
1. purple_equator says:
  
  March 6, 2008 at 6:45 am
  
  Mine was like what Canutius said below. I got blisters UNDER the nails I suppose just from all the banging against the shoe on the downhill. That part was way painful! You can see the start of it here:
  http://flickr.com/photos/91387210@N00/754574414/in/set-72157600930696265/
  (and all that hair is from my sock–my toes aren’t that hairy!)
  I left them alone and thought they were going to be fine until I spent a couple of days at the beach. I suppose that all the time in the water was too much for the loose-ish skin to handle and they just sort of came off. The gross part (which I don’t feel bad about telling after the other stories here) is that the skin opened at the base first, and the pocket it made got all filled up with sand. Then, I just sort of pulled it off the last little attached part at the top. No pain at all. The other one came off, over a month after the trek, one day when I was swimming. Same thing with the water I suppose.
2. anitza says:
  
  March 7, 2008 at 7:53 pm
  
  So weird that you get stuff under the nails. Does it hurt your toe when your nail is nekkid like ‘s did?
3. purple_equator says:
  
  March 10, 2008 at 3:05 am
  
  Mine was a little sensitive, but not too bad. It was already sort of dried out when the nail came off.
anitza says:

March 5, 2008 at 5:00 am

Hahaha! OMG YES! But WHY did it come off? Do they just not like to stay attached?
plumapen says:

March 5, 2008 at 5:28 am

I’ve lost neither but dad’s lost two. No nekkid digit pics for you though. Sowwy.
skylanth says:

March 5, 2008 at 6:26 am

Oh, I’ve lost (and ripped off) quite a few nails. It’s not too bad after the initial pain is gone, but it’s a little gross as the nail lifts up and off So it starts detaching from the tip on down to the base, which means it flips up sometimes, can get caught on things, etc, and that hurts. You can also grab it up and go “bleeeeh” and make your friends turn white and faint.

But since it’s yours, it’s not as gross as it is when you see it on someone else.

The blue/black stuff under the nail? Yeah, that’s dried blood and other gunk. You can scrape it or wash it out, being careful of the tissue under it, which is extremely sensitive. Put a band-aid over the nail and change it often, and trim down the dead nail as it lifts off to keep it from flipping up and ripping away. Ew and ow.

Then, you’ll be left with a blank spot, and the new nail will grow up from the quick at the base. The blank spot is stupidly tender so you’ll need to keep it bandaided up and for heaven’s sakes try to keep from stubbing it or you will swear loudly.

Hope this helps! It’s annoying and kinda gross, but is not a big health concern.
1. anitza says:
  
  March 6, 2008 at 1:30 am
  
  Thank you for the in-depth description. No, really. I am seriously getting a really good kick out of all the stories, not to mention some really great information that I think would be hard to come by in the wild wild internet.
  
  I really hope it doesn’t come off because I want to have normal feet for once in who knows how long. 😀
skylanth says:

March 5, 2008 at 6:26 am

Oh, I’ve lost (and ripped off) quite a few nails. It’s not too bad after the initial pain is gone, but it’s a little gross as the nail lifts up and off So it starts detaching from the tip on down to the base, which means it flips up sometimes, can get caught on things, etc, and that hurts. You can also grab it up and go “bleeeeh” and make your friends turn white and faint.

But since it’s yours, it’s not as gross as it is when you see it on someone else.

The blue/black stuff under the nail? Yeah, that’s dried blood and other gunk. You can scrape it or wash it out, being careful of the tissue under it, which is extremely sensitive. Put a band-aid over the nail and change it often, and trim down the dead nail as it lifts off to keep it from flipping up and ripping away. Ew and ow.

Then, you’ll be left with a blank spot, and the new nail will grow up from the quick at the base. The blank spot is stupidly tender so you’ll need to keep it bandaided up and for heaven’s sakes try to keep from stubbing it or you will swear loudly.

Hope this helps! It’s annoying and kinda gross, but is not a big health concern.
canutius says:

March 5, 2008 at 7:11 am

No pictures, but I did lose a toe nail once. Don’t ask me how I managed it, but I got a blister UNDER my toe nail. I just noticed that it kinda hurt and was weirdly raised, then it started to turn red. Just because I am this way, I thought I’d stick a needle under the nail to see what happened and all the blood/goo came rushing out. The pressure relief was wonderful. Unfortunately, that left the toe nail hanging on a blister, which dried up and the whole thing came off. No biggie though. Didn’t hurt and by the time the thing fell off, a quarter inch of new nail had grown back and it just looked like I had a really short nail.

Good luck!
1. anitza says:
  
  March 6, 2008 at 1:32 am
  
  UNDER? How is that even POSSIBLE?! I think you win for the worst/best story just because that is so freakin’ bizzare!
2. canutius says:
  
  March 6, 2008 at 7:10 am
  
  I have no idea how that happened, but it did. I get a lot of weird blisters from walking. I need new feet, not new shoes!
canutius says:

March 5, 2008 at 7:11 am

No pictures, but I did lose a toe nail once. Don’t ask me how I managed it, but I got a blister UNDER my toe nail. I just noticed that it kinda hurt and was weirdly raised, then it started to turn red. Just because I am this way, I thought I’d stick a needle under the nail to see what happened and all the blood/goo came rushing out. The pressure relief was wonderful. Unfortunately, that left the toe nail hanging on a blister, which dried up and the whole thing came off. No biggie though. Didn’t hurt and by the time the thing fell off, a quarter inch of new nail had grown back and it just looked like I had a really short nail.

Good luck!
kiwisc says:

March 5, 2008 at 5:28 pm

Ironically, I just posted something related to this yesterday :). One of my little toes is prone to falling off. I’ve lost the nail a few times, and right now it is rather unpleasantly as skylanth explained it… running yesterday was difficult.

All the best!
amandamazing42 says:

March 6, 2008 at 1:11 am

I lost my right big toe nail about 2 years ago. Rach and I were moving a very large, heavy radio into our room and it slipped out of my hands and fell right onto my foot. It turned purple at first, then the next day a really nasty blackish blue. It hurt terribly (and it didn’t help that I went to 6 flags 2 days later & people kept stepping on it!) About a week later blood started swelling up under the nail and I poked it open, which was a mistake, because the bottom of my nail started to pop out. When it was only holding on by a little piece attatched, I could lift it up, and underneath it looked like yellow, dried up leather. My mom pulled it off in the pool- it felt so weird not having it. It grew back oddly; really thick with ridges in it. It took really long too, a full year. Evetually it grows back normally, and you can clip the deformed pieces off.
No pics, but can I have a cookie anywho? *puppy eyes*
anitza says:

March 6, 2008 at 1:29 am

I am so sick.

I am enjoying these tales tremendously. What does that tell you about me? GAWD.

Fortunately, I don’t have the immediate blood pooling like you did so it is just a waiting game for me right now. Will it, won’t it? The yellow dried up leather was the grossest, ew!

It is so sad what our poor feet go through!
anitza says:

March 6, 2008 at 1:32 am

I saw that! lol

How weird, prone to falling off…
dead_sexydexy says:

March 6, 2008 at 6:25 am

I wish I had pictures, but I don’t. I lost my big toenail when I was about 9-10 year’s old. I was helping a teacher at my mom’s primary school get textbooks ready for the upcoming year and in my Tonksy clumsiness managed to knock my foot under a bookcase and separate the nail from the bed. OUCH. It hurt like a big dawg and was UG.LY. No longlasting problems, though.

I’m going to try and dig up pic’s of Caleb’s broken finger from last Spring tomorrow. He lost that nail and it was insanely ugly. (Especially when it looked like it was actually part of his finger bone out of place.) Pics aren’t great… cell phone at the emergency room. I’m sure I’ve got them somewhere.
anitza says:

March 7, 2008 at 7:54 pm

OH MAN! Weird to have it look like the bone! That must’ve been gnarly!
belladoragirl says:

March 8, 2008 at 6:45 am

I haven’t lost a nail. I’ve clipped toenails pretty short/had them rip half off. I’ve had friends lose their toenails though. One friend told me all about it during lunch when we were 13. Another lost it doing a spinny thing barefoot with a friend that was wearing steel toed boots. She bled profusely and had to stop the bleeding with the icky paper towels that Mum’s work has (it was a birthday party another friend was having at mum’s work). Three months later at same friend’s grad party, her toenail was half back.

In a slightly random direction, when we had just gotten Moodog for a few months, he was about a year old when we adopted him, and he loved climbing into the chairs when we were sitting in them. Especially to get to the stuff we kept behind the chairs, the majority of our things because our house was too small for all the junk dad saved. I was in my favorite chair, the one that rocked and swiveled, and he decided to climb into my chair with me to get at some paper at the top of the pile. He pushed the chair around so he could get at the pile, climbed on, and the chair went flying backwards and I ended up hitting my right hand on the hard floor. I must have done something to my middle finger there, because I can’t crack it anymore except on rare occasions. But after the initial pain and slight swelling went away, no pain in it. Moodog hasn’t climbed into a chair since either.

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