Hey there guys and gals,
Thought I would seek some advice with a small problem, yesterday morning whilst charging about like a blue bleep whatsit, tryin to get small peeps to school, i caught my thumb nail, this resulted in the nail extension and gel coming off along with my natural nail, well actualy half of my natural nail.

From the nail free edge part upwards to at least half way is just pure nail bed, nice bare flesh, yuk yuk I have had it checked at the Quacks and kept it bandaged nicley but does anyone have any brite spark ideas as i am finding it very hard to work with my chunky poor thumb, and also wonder if any one else has been this clumsy and what they did, how long it took to heal etc

My oh my this is bad for business, I look such a dummy

Wanna a new thumb, any donners? ha ha
Grace x

om me god ruth that looks soooooo sore! Good idea my mum did a similar thing and thats what i did just stuck it back down and hoped for the best. It grew out just fine.
Hope your thumb recovers soon grace!!! bless

Thanks, I would love to stick the nail back in place but its gone So so wish I could have stuck it in place but would have ment I had to put glue all in the bare flesh, yuck owch no no cant do it. Looks like ill just have to grin and bare having a mutent thumb for a while.

Ruth your finger looked very sore, it does hurt doesnt it, sort of undescribable pain realy, I must admit i did charge around the house shouting all sorts of foul words my poor son was also charging about in panic wondering what I had done bless him.

Perhaps I will take a photo of it to remind my self to stay calm and relaxed on the morning school run and to keep my extensions shorter. lol

Cheers
Grace x

PS so pleased im not the only one to rip a nail off. feel less stupid now lol

Just a thought grace but when the soreness has gone a little you could try a smaller plaster and the finger wrap (you know what i mean?) may be less bulky for you and your clients need never no. We are only human afterall!!
everyone breaks a nail now and then i always break mine on the washer door!

OUCH.. Grace I feel for you!
Two years ago I visited a theme park “Movie World” here in Australia. I boarded a ride where we sat in a capsule type set-up, a simulator. You get jolted about big time. I was sitting right at the back and felt the full impact of the ride. Well anyway, we were to hold on by the rubber type grips underside of the chairs. Hope this makes sense? Okay now, this ride is well on its way, there’s no looking back! I could not find a secure hold anywhere. My little pinkie on the left hand found a hole in the metal structure under the chair “WHERE the grip should have been” The ride took a big jolt, my nail was snared and I felt a crack and a feeling of moisture!! Just thinking about it brings me out in a sweat. I thought I was going to die. The ride seemed like it was going on forever. When I got off the ride the entire colour was drained from my face, my family had no idea what just happened. I could barely stand up. An old childhood memory flooded back after losing the tip of my finger due to a door lock in the primary school rest rooms. Once they realized what happened, I do not know who was more freaked out LOL. It took a good 6 -7 months to grow back? I was so worried that I did permanent damage. After the tenderness was gone, two-three weeks later, I applied acrylic just short of the finder tip. This helped pretty it up a bit and to protect my nail while growing out.
For pictures.... http://au.f1.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/...c=bc%26.view=l

Deb

Hi Deb,
I had a girl in over christmas with the same childhood accident. Her nail grows over and under her finger now. What system looks best on it as it is on her wedding ring hand she wondered if I could help disguise it. I applied acrylic, only system I know, but the result was disappointing. I wasn't able to ask the other geeks as I never had a picture. She is only in early 20's and is worrying about her wedding pictures, she's engaged no date set. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
It took a lot for her to come and see me as she is very self-conscious.

Ouch

I know how painfull that is I did the same thing a couple of years ago so painfull and I was going on holiday the very next day so I did the same as Ruth slightly pulled the split apart prep and then glued back together and put a wrap over the top eased the pain and didnt have to hide my hands on hols

Hope it gets better soon.

Take care Dawnie xxx

Hi Jackie,
(This is very long, sorry) I also apologize for my late response. The day just got away on me.
In my case it is also my middle finger on my left hand . I feel for this young lady. I remember being in her shoes before my wedding day. In the early years, I went to see a surgeon to see if they could work miracles on my finger. I was hoping they could make my finger less wide on the tip and maybe help the nail to grow more upward. I was so desperate for my finger to look nice for my wedding day. Sadly it was not to be. On my wedding day I taped it over. The surgeon said there was nothing they could do, except remove the nail completely, which was not an option for me.

After my first born over 18 years ago, I discovered nail enhancements. I kick myself that I never thought to do this before my wedding day. Over the years I met some lovely technicians, they tried their magic on my troublesome finger. The result was not too bad considering what they were faced with! Talk about learning on the job. It only took a couple of visits before we got fair results. This was a challenge after all. At the beginning the tech would dread doing this nail, as we techs always strive for perfection. I understand now being one myself. This will never be the perfect nail, but it is sure a far cry to what it would be without the enhancement! They did a top job and I was always happy.

Jackie when doing this young lady’s nail, it may not be as bad as you think, truly. I am sure she would be happy with it. If her finger is simular to mine and with some nail plate, which it sounds like she does, you can build her a nice nail bed and free edge. With a few practice rounds you will find it will be just fine, promise. You are not going to give her back her fingertip, but you can give her the next best thing.

I was thinking, maybe you could practice on an old nail polish bottle; the type where the brush handle is long and semi round or flat on top. Start off by building a nail bed with a few beads or so of pink acrylic. In my case and possibly with this young lady‘s, there will be no flesh framing the new nail bed. Practicing using the polish bottle should give you an idea what her nail could look like. Once you have built the nail bed, I usually sculpt a nail tip or apply a tip with acrylic then overlay the prosthesis (right word?) with clear or p/w. Depending on the look I am after.
In this next paragraph I explain more on how I do my own nail.

As you have seen from the picture, the fingernail grows around and over where the fingertip should be. What I do is, I put a few beads of pink on the existing nail plate that is already prepped. I then start to build and mould a nail bed. It might look unsightly to start with, but do not worry; it will take shape.

Next…. I put a form on the newly built nail bed then sculpt the free edge or place a tip on by placing a small bead of acrylic or glue on the tip. When I use acrylic to fasten the tip, it gives me more time for better placement as I am working with my less prominent hand. Once the acrylic is set, I add more acrylic to reinforce the nail tip and also to redefine the nail a tad more? Being primarily left-handed and working right-handed I tend to play with this finger more, to get it the way I like it. When adding more acrylic to reinforce the nail enhancement, as mentioned above, I use the clear or p/w, depending on what look I am after. I think this nail looks more natural when kept at a modest length. Pink and whites always looks great. I only wear my nails longer if I want to wear nail art.

Ok, next …. I turn to the “under side” of the nail. The fun bit. I fill in with acrylic the small gap between the false nail bed and tip giving it more stability, and preventing dirt and what have you settling in. Due to the natural nail plate being round, it will never be an attractive look underneath. So don’t fret. Usually it is not seen anyway. In any case, I use the E/F to shape and smooth out a small hollow. Gosh, I hope you can make sense of all this. Hopefully the picture will clear it up a bit. When doing this nail I concentrate on making it more attractive from your view, than what it looks like under the nail.

I forgot to mention, as my nail grows out, somewhere around 4-5 weeks it looks much like…. lets say, The Leaning Tower of Pisa. At this point I will remove the tip, prepare the nail for a fill as you would with the others and rebalance the false nail bed. Then I sculpt or place a new tip on. Every few months I may soak off the acrylic and start afresh.

Surprisingly most people are not aware of my finger unless I point it out. Before putting a nail enhancement on my finger, it was more noticeable due to the fact it was shorter than the others. The nail doesn’t look too bad now, all things considered. Though in saying this, if someone grabs my hand to see my nails, which is often, I always have my right hand at the ready. My left hand is always busy or holding something. LOL

Some months ago I had to see a surgeon. During the consultation the topic of my finger came up. He had experience in cases much like mine, but no longer specializes in this area. He was surprised with the results I achieved using acrylic. I was stoked that someone with his expertise was very impressed.

I hope this was helpful to you; I apologize for it being long winded. Please feel free to e-mail me. Here is a link with more close up pictures.
Damaged finger before and after.
Deb

PS. Sometime in the near future I will try to take pictures for the step by step procedure.

Hi Deb,

Thank you so much for your in depth post, I've got a feeling this is not an uncommon childhood accident. Looking forward to your step by step. I'm sure there are other geeks who have or will come across this and will benefit from your experience.

Cheers