broken nail - advice please

[jazzactivist]

Hi all. I have just broken one of my nails - at the side and right at the point where the upper part of the nail attaches to the nail bed. I don't want to pull it, as it looks as if it might tear into the nail bed and be really painful. I don't know if I can even cut it that far down either. Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do to solve this problem? Thanks X

[Crocus]

Oh goodness me Jazz, that's going to be painful if you were to pull the nail. Can you perhaps cut it a tiny bit shorter and perhaps cover with a plaster? It's going to catch on everything otherwise. I can't think of anything else at the moment. Or perhaps if you go to one of these nail bars and ask them to perhaps glue it together with a tiny drop until it has grown enought in order to cut it again? I'm not sure whether it will work with natural nails, but perhaps they have a solution. xxx

[franbee]

Jazz, I get OH to put a dab of superglue on my splits, it doesn't last very long, but enough to get a bit of growth on. Cut the nail as short as you can first, and smooth any edges.

[TIGGYWINKLE]

Crocus, this has happened to me recently. I use a thing I have for yonks called Nutra Nail Fix, to glue the split. Cut or file the nail down as much as you can. A plaster is a pain. I use the fine white tape they use in Hospitals. I buy it in the US, but I think you should get it in your pharmacy. It is great, as you hardly know its there, and it is waterproof. Its amazing how quickly the nail will grow.
Good luck

[Clunkshift]

ever since my chemotherapy my nails are brittle and chip very easily. Just before the holiday I had a nail that chipped and then tore down to the flesh (and bled).
Plasters really are a nuisance and if I had been at home, I would have used superglue with a small piece of magic tape over it - just to keep the glue there longer.
This is a modern version of the old drawing office remedy of shaping some masking tape to the mail profile.

We do have a classic character at work that uses sellotape on cuts (with toilet paper pad for home-made elastoplast) and he wears glasses with one arm heavily bound with sellotape. This has nothing to do with poverty as he must earn more than £75000 p.a. This makes me feel positively stylish by comparison - as long as I'm wearing the jumper without the egg stains.....

Elegantly chipped,
Clunk x

[dinger]

You could always try fixing a false nail over it jazz untill it has time to grow and it would stop it tearing off any lower . xxxx

[jazzactivist]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I opted for a small piece of sellotape as a temporary measure then got some Nail Fix from the chemist. So now my nail is all nicely glued up and I am hoping that it will grow quickly so that I can cut it. I am not a girly girl so am not bothered about how the nail looks, but am feeling pleased with myself as last year this couldn't have happened, as I bit my nails, and I have resisted taking the biting option with this split!

[Crocus]

Hi Jazz, glad you could could save the nail, and save yourself from a painful situation. xxxx