Advice from the peanut gallery?

[grundyscribbling]

Anyone have any good tips short of ‘keep it covered with a bandaid’ for how to deal with a ripped thumbnail? It’s a small rip, not painful - luckily the rip didn’t go all the way through the lower layers of the nail - but still on the nail bed, so I can’t just cut it. (Not sure how fast my nails grow, but if it’s close to average, I’d estimate maybe a month before it gets to a point where I can trim it off, even cutting the nail as close as I dare.) The rip happened a couple days ago, but I snagged it on something yesterday and made it worse. I’d really like to make sure that doesn’t happen again, because I think if it does, it will probably rip all the way through...

Comments

[ysilme]

I used band-aids or leucoplast on similar cases until the nail had grown out, mainly to protecting the nail for the reasons you mention.
I don't know if you have leucoplast or something similar: leucoplast - a narrow plaster strip which is fully covered with glue. I cut off small sections a bit smaller than the nail so only the nail would be covered. It was the big toe in my case, and it worked well.

[grundyscribbling]

Oh, that's a good idea. (I think we call Leukoplast surgical tape? Or sports tape, depending on the context? I'm pretty sure it's the same stuff.) I don't want to have band-aids wrapped around my thumb for the next month but I can live with tape on the nail itself.

Thanks!

[sulien]

Since the cut didn't go all the way through to the skin, you could use a dab of nail glue, or even a tiny dab of superglue. No problems with soap and water, no need to change it at all, just file it away as the nail grows. Just make sure the nail is clean, dry and free of oil of any sort so that the glue will adhere properly.

[grundyscribbling]

This is one of those things that once someone said it is blindingly obvious, but hadn't occurred to me first. Nail glue. I have been to the CVS and found there are actually nail glues meant for exactly this, repairs.
*headdesk*

Thank you!

[sulien]

As you know, I pretty much excel at stating the obvious, but it is good to know it's a useful habit at times. :)

[grundyscribbling]

This is seriously the best thing I've learned today.

[independence1776]

I thank you as well. I had no idea nail glue was a thing and I'm going to look for it now. (My thumb nails love to crack at the "too far down to trim" level.)

[grundyscribbling]

I feel slightly better knowing I'm not the only one who never connected 'you need adhesive to put fake nails on' with 'you can use that stuff to fix a torn nail'.

[ysilme]

It didn't occur to me either; but then I've also never given the fake nails question a thought before, or realised that they'd obviously need to be glued on with something. Nobody I know has ever had any, and I also don't think I know somebody even painting their nails, except my small nieces. *g*

[grundyscribbling]

Ah. I did know about nail glue in a vague sort of way - there are plenty of folks in my area into nail art and I love looking at the amazing/shiny/pretty.

[ysilme]

That's good to know, thank you! I didn't even know nail glue exists.