Toe Nail Coming Off the Nail Bed
Do you have a big toe nail coming off the nail bed? 95% of the time it is either do to trauma (which could be repeated rubbing!) or even toenail fungus!
The 95% most common causes of the big toe nail coming off the nail bed is due to a traumatic injury, light rubbing of the toenail within your shoe that you never even noticed, a very severe fungal infection or in some cases we may never know the reason it fell off.
Will the Toenail loose toenail grow back?
- The nail will almost always grow back and you shouldn’t get too worried
- Follow the guide below and you should be in great shape!
Why is the Toenail Black?
- The nail usually appears discolored because it is filling up with blood underneath the nail as it is separating from the skin underneath it.
- Once the separation has began it is a normal process and at this point there are a few things that you can do to limit more pain or injury.
The Most Common Causes:
1)Trauma is the number one cause of nail loss:
First confirm that you have actually experienced trauma, this is usually pretty evident because you stubbed your toe really hard or dropped something really heavy onto your toe.
You will experience the following symptoms:
- Pain.
- Bleeding under the nail bed leading to red streaks or discoloration under the nail.
- Eventual loosening of the nail from the nail bed as the blood fills under the nail and you are able to evaluate the damage.
2) Repeated Light Rubbing:
Symptoms:
- This usually means your shoes are too tight.
- Very common in people who are on their feet all day.
- Pain isn’t always there!
- If you spend the majority of your time on your feet and you think it may have been possible that your toenail has been pressuring up against the front of your shoe then this is highly possible.
- This results in blistering under the toenail leading to the detachment of the nail- with or without pain!
Most likely to get it:
- People buying new shoes.
- Tight shoes in the forefoot.
- New exercise routine.
- Training for a marathon.
- New exercise class.
- Going from little exercise to a great deal of exercise.
3) Fungal Infection Causing Separation.
The nails would have been thick, hard and discolored yellow or orange for a period of time before the nail separated. This is a very common and treatable cause of nail separation.
Recommended Products For Toenail Fungus On a Loose Toenail:
- Just remember that the key to healing a loose toenail is to first trim it and cut it off properly!
- If you don’t trim and cut out the loose dead portion, you won’t have any success no matter what.
- Once you are able to trim and remove the dead dry skin around the toenail, consider foot soaks and applying anti-fungal solutions.
These are our recommended choices for toenail repair!
Best Toenail Repair Products:
Best Toenail Repair Pen.
Top Choice For Direct Toenail Application.
Top Choice For Cream For Toenails & Webspaces.
Great Option For Foot Soak.
Price:
$27.97
$20.97
$14.49
$19.99
Overview:
4 Pens with quick dry application that leaves a sealing lid on top. Easy to store and apply. Key is still to trim/file the toenail first!
All natural option that is toxic to fungus. This is similar to tea tree oil in that respect but can be more effective. You still need to exfoliate dead skin and trim thick toenails.
All natural cream option. This is a good option compared to some of the quick dry gels. This can be used on the skin surrounding your toenails.
Safe, cost effective and relaxing all at the same time! This needs to be used in a 20 minute foot soak. Works well for exfoliating loose skin/toenail as well as softening.
Pros:
Easy to use, quick drying. This fills into the cracks and seals them with minimal mess. This is great for sealing even dehydrated keratin granulations.
All natural, relatively cost effective. 1,000s of reviews with excellent results. Very clean and quick drying, easy to apply.
Relatively cost effective. All natural tea tree oil that is proven toxic to fungus. Can be used on surrounding skin as well.
Very safe, little risk, low cost and very effective if used correctly. The key is to use it as an aid to soften and exfoliate loose/dry dead skin and toenail.
Cons:
0% chance of working if your toenail is loose and has no blood supply. Make sure you trim and file any loose finger or toenail. Otherwise "0% CHANCE OF WORKING!" You cannot restore a dead toenail without blood flow.
Small amount and a little more expensive than some other options. Once more has 0% chance of working if your goal is to heal a dead, detached toenail or dry skin. Are you noticing this is a trend? This is really the key!
Still more expensive than other options. Can get messy all over different areas of your foot. Key is still debride and cleaning your dry dead toenails and skin. TRIM them!
It once more has 0% chance working if you are trying to save loose and dead crusty skin. Fungus will always grow on this if no blood flow. It can not regenerate dead skin, only exfoliate it.
Amazon Reviewer Comments (Make sure to do your own review research through the link):
"It really works, and helped me! I have tried sooo many products on the market, but none of them helped. This one was my savior!"
"I have been used a lots products didn't work. This product is really really work well. I have been using 3weeks, so far works good. The healthy nail is growing now."
"I've had athletes foot, with toenail fungus for the past 10+ years. I've used just about everything off the shelf to address this problem. This product did the trick!"
"In love with this product! While at work all I can think about is coming home to soak my feet. My feet feel absolutely amazing!"
Affiliate Link (Buying through these links helps support the site): Thank you!
Best Toenail Repair Products:
Best Toenail Repair Pen.
Price:
$27.97
Overview:
4 Pens with quick dry application that leaves a sealing lid on top. Easy to store and apply. Key is still to trim/file the toenail first!
Pros:
Easy to use, quick drying. This fills into the cracks and seals them with minimal mess. This is great for sealing even dehydrated keratin granulations.
Cons:
0% chance of working if your toenail is loose and has no blood supply. Make sure you trim and file any loose finger or toenail. Otherwise "0% CHANCE OF WORKING!" You cannot restore a dead toenail without blood flow.
Amazon Reviewer Comments (Make sure to do your own review research through the link):
"It really works, and helped me! I have tried sooo many products on the market, but none of them helped. This one was my savior!"
Affiliate Link (Buying through these links helps support the site): Thank you!
Best Toenail Repair Products:
Top Choice For Direct Toenail Application.
Price:
$20.97
Overview:
All natural option that is toxic to fungus. This is similar to tea tree oil in that respect but can be more effective. You still need to exfoliate dead skin and trim thick toenails.
Pros:
All natural, relatively cost effective. 1,000s of reviews with excellent results. Very clean and quick drying, easy to apply.
Cons:
Small amount and a little more expensive than some other options. Once more has 0% chance of working if your goal is to heal a dead, detached toenail or dry skin. Are you noticing this is a trend? This is really the key!
Amazon Reviewer Comments (Make sure to do your own review research through the link):
"I have been used a lots products didn't work. This product is really really work well. I have been using 3weeks, so far works good. The healthy nail is growing now."
Affiliate Link (Buying through these links helps support the site): Thank you!
Best Toenail Repair Products:
Top Choice For Cream For Toenails & Webspaces.
Price:
$14.49
Overview:
All natural cream option. This is a good option compared to some of the quick dry gels. This can be used on the skin surrounding your toenails.
Pros:
Relatively cost effective. All natural tea tree oil that is proven toxic to fungus. Can be used on surrounding skin as well.
Cons:
Still more expensive than other options. Can get messy all over different areas of your foot. Key is still debride and cleaning your dry dead toenails and skin. TRIM them!
Amazon Reviewer Comments (Make sure to do your own review research through the link):
"I've had athletes foot, with toenail fungus for the past 10+ years. I've used just about everything off the shelf to address this problem. This product did the trick!"
Affiliate Link (Buying through these links helps support the site): Thank you!
Best Toenail Repair Products:
Great Option For Foot Soak.
Price:
$19.99
Overview:
Safe, cost effective and relaxing all at the same time! This needs to be used in a 20 minute foot soak. Works well for exfoliating loose skin/toenail as well as softening.
Pros:
Very safe, little risk, low cost and very effective if used correctly. The key is to use it as an aid to soften and exfoliate loose/dry dead skin and toenail.
Cons:
It once more has 0% chance working if you are trying to save loose and dead crusty skin. Fungus will always grow on this if no blood flow. It can not regenerate dead skin, only exfoliate it.
Amazon Reviewer Comments (Make sure to do your own review research through the link):
"In love with this product! While at work all I can think about is coming home to soak my feet. My feet feel absolutely amazing!"
Affiliate Link (Buying through these links helps support the site): Thank you!
Big Toe Nail Coming Off the Nail Bed Home Treatment:
The priority in this situation is to accept that the nail has been lost and that you will need to wait until you can grow out a new nail.
Step 1) Acceptance!
- Accept that the nail is gone and you will have to wait for it to grow back 1 millimeter per month or so.
- This means 6-9 months if the entire toenail has fallen off (the fingernails grow back a little bit faster).
- Unfortunately there is not too much that can be done to speed up the growth of the nail beyond leading a healthy lifestyle and getting lots of exercise and sun(basically anything that boosts your metabolism).
Step 2) Treat The Pain.
- If the toe is really painful – apply ice for 15-20 mins until it starts to get numb. The faster you decrease the swelling over the first couple of days, the faster the toenail can begin to grow.
- Take some anti-inflammatory medication like ibuprofen or aspirin to prevent long lasting pain. Initially elevate the foot to decrease the pain as well. Once the pain is low enough you will be able to start trimming the nail down.
Step 3) Trim The Nail.
- The nail should be trimmed back as far as it is still attached, the danger here is that if you hit the nail again it will bend back and rip out with the tissue attached to it. OUCH! Avoid this serious and painful complication by trimming back early.
- If you cannot get to all the blood underneath the nail out and it is not painful then it is ok to let it just grow out over the next 6-9 months, but if it is really painful over a period of time then you should go to the podiatrist to get the blood drained(pain is due to pressure under the nail).
Step 4) Smooth The Nail.
- Use a nail file, emery board or pumice stone to smooth out the remainder of the nail after it has been trimmed back so that it doesn’t get caught on your socks.
Step 5)Prevent Infection.
- Apply some antibiotic ointment- neosporin and triple antibiotic ointment work very well here. Use some water to wash out the bloody area and apply the antibiotic ointment and then cover it with a band-aid.
- If the toe is getting red hot and swollen, you experience nausea, fever or redness moving up the toe or throbbing pain that lasts past the icing, anti-inflammatory medication and elevation then you likely have an infection. Get yourself to a podiatrist or a emergency room as soon as possible.
Step 6) Compression and Protection.
- If you are going to continue running or working on that foot put some heavy duty duct tape or athletic tape over the band-aid.
- If you your feet are in danger at work, wear steel toe boots.
- If you are exercising heavily, get fitted for some better shoes.
Step 7) Wait for the Toenail to Grow Back!
- Unless you damaged the nail matrix(the base of the nail) then it should grow back every time. The long term problems may be that the nail does not look exactly as it once did. It may curve more or be thicker- it is essential a scar of the nail bed. There are ways to treat it at this point. check out our guide on how to handle long nails.
Home Prevention
- Treat your fungal nails or joggers toe as outlined above.
- Get fitted for for your proper shoe size
- Trim your toenails straight across
- Get proper socks
- Use athletic tape or duct tape to cover the nail
Other Related Nail Problems:
What is onycholysis?
See if any of these other problems apply to your situation!
- Toenail Fungus
- Very Long Toenails
- Ingrown Toenail
- Toenail Falling Off
- Black Streaks Under The Nails
- White Patches On Toenails
- Black Spot Under The Toenail
- Red Spot Under The Toenail
- Toenail Coming Off The Nail Bed
- Toenail Psoriasis