Confused by a nail that just 'dies'

SalonGeek

Help Support SalonGeek:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ChicUnique

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2012
Messages
572
Reaction score
3
Location
laurencekirk
Hi geeks! I took on a new client 3 weeks ago, and whilst we were doing her consultation she told me the she had a cycling accident a few years ago and hurt her thumb and as a result her thumb nail grows then just dies and falls off.
I asked if she had been to her gp and she said she had several times. Her nail looked fine, but I kept her nail short and applied the gelish, she came back last night to have new Gelish and said her nail had died again, I could see it looked like it had completely lifted from the nail bed.
I decided to gently buff the gelish off that nail rather than soaking it off, and right enough her nail is completely dead looking, yet its still pink at the lunula. I explained and showed her where about the matrix is and how nails are 'made' etc and that its not uncommon for a trauma to permanently damage a nail.
She showed me where she had fractured her thumb and it is in line with where the nail died. She said she has asked her doctor to remove the nail as it can be painful once it dies and she catches it but they refused saying it wasn't necessary. I said if it could be removed, once it had healed it would be easy to sculpt a new nail from l&p and use adhesive to attach it (would be a short term fix tho) so she is going to try a different gp at the practice and explain what I've said and see if they will agree to remove it.
I just wonder if I have advised her and done the right thing, and wonder if anyone has had a client or seen anything similar and do you have any more advice I could give her? When the nail eventually falls off this time is it worth sculpting a new one from the small bit that's left (using a bead to give me a ledge then a form to extend it that I read on a post gigi advised about a toe) and just keep the natural nail down so it doesnt get the chance to grow and break? sorry for such a long post. And hopeful that someone can help :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi geeks! I took on a new client 3 weeks ago, and whilst we were doing her consultation she told me the she had a cycling accident a few years ago and hurt her thumb and as a result her thumb nail grows then just dies and falls off. I asked if she had been to her gp and she said she had several times. Her nail looked fine, but I kept her nail short and applied the gelish, she came back last night to have new Gelish and said her nail had died again, I could see it looked like it had completely lifted from the nail bed. I decided to gently buff the gelish off that nail rather than soaking it off, and right enough her nail is completely dead looking, yet its still pink at the lunula. I explained and showed her where about the matrix is and how nails are 'made' etc and that its not uncommon for a trauma to permanently damage a nail. She showed me where she had fractured her thumb and it is in line with where the nail died. She said she has asked her doctor to remove the nail as it can be painful once it dies and she catches it but they refused saying it wasn't necessary. I said if it could be removed, once it had healed it would be easy to sculpt a new nail from l&p and use adhesive to attach it (would be a short term fix tho) so she is going to try a different gp at the practice and explain what I've said and see if they will agree to remove it. I just wonder if I have advised her and done the right thing, and wonder if anyone has had a client or seen anything similar and do you have any more advice I could give her? When the nail eventually falls off this time is it worth sculpting a new one from the small bit that's left (using a bead to give me a ledge then a form to extend it that I read on a post gigi advised about a toe) and just keep the natural nail down so it doesnt get the chance to grow and break? sorry for such a long post. And hopeful that someone can help :)

I have exactly the same thing with a big toenail on my right foot. I get onycholysis and it can be so painful. I keep mine short but if it catches it's horrible..

Each time it looks like its going to be okay as new nail starts to grow but then I can see it detaching from the bed and quite often it will then go green. Also it sounds hollow to touch.

I'm seriously thinking of asking my GP about having the nail removed because the pressure from my shoes can cause me great discomfort.

I have created new toenails in the past for people who have had them removed and it works well. If its painful the GP may well remove it for your client but they won't do it for cosmetics purposes.
 
Both my big toenails are like this with a very small amount of nail at the bottom. I keep them trimmed down and apply acrylic to the base to form nails. Sometimes they catch though which flippin' hurts!

I probably wouldn't recommend this for everyday wear but for special occasions it would be good. The reason for not recommending is simply the fact that she is more likely to catch a nail on her hand and, as I said before, it really hurts. Once caught it seldom returns to it's original place and needs stuck back down or removing again. :D
 
Thanks very much for your help and advice :)

I've actually recently had my own toenail removed as well but its not healed enough for me to do anything with it yet, I have no experience of this type of thing, i'll suggest that she goes back to the doctor again and just explain to them that its painful when it comes off and hopefully they will remove it for her. Xx
 
It’s quite interesting, actually..
I once hit a toenail badly and I got a hematoma (the nail grew dark)
And then, with a time, the nail detached itself completely and fell off, a new nail growing underneath.
And then the new nail that had grown to its full length fell off, too. And a couple more times.
The MOST AMAZING thing however was that with some time the opposite toenail (on my other foot) which had never been hit also detached and fell off! As if there was some kind of communication between them or the brain sent a signal the wrong way. Can you believe it?
Fortunately it all got back to normal by itself. Toe-nails stopped detaching.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top