To wanna rush dd to a&e for a nail hanging off?

[mstumble]

My 2 year old fell right on her finger and her nail was partly hanging off, split right down the middle, how bad is this? My partner reckons we just wash and bandage it, but wont it just come off? Any advice much appreciated, this has totally freaked me out.

If he's damaged the nail bed he'll require surgery. You're best off popping him to the out of hours, or A&E if there isn't one. (This really does happen, and they really do operate).

sorry, she

I am with your oh, put some savlon and a plaster on it. Look at in again in the morning and maybe pop her to the gp for some reassurance but there is no need for a&e. It might be a good idea to give her some calpol too, it probably hurts.

Wash it, bandage it, leave the nail on as long as you can.She'll grow a new on underneath and the old one will fall off relatively painlessly. (Speaking from experience here...) Don't go to A&E!

It looks like LSC, knows more than me, so ignore me.

Stop consulting us, call NHS Direct who will tell you to go to A and E, they have never told me anything else.

I would take her to have it seen. Go to the minor injuries unit or A and E.

grow a new one... whoops!

May need to be removed. The nail! Give her some analgesia, wash under Tap water put on something that won't stick, ie wet gauze and get an ED or MIU to have a look. Could prob wait until morning if she's not distressed and finger pink, warm. Might just come off, difficult to say without seeing it, but aesthetically might look better if removed by med professional. Sounds like it needs to be seen.

I am assuming 'split down the middle' means split from top to bottom, not straight across??

Don't put savlon on, tap water is proved to be just as effective in cleansing. Savlon stings .

Not sure whether it being split down the middle means any different, but when I trapped my thumb in a car door, my nail was pretty much smashed to pieces and was bleeding from the nail bed at the time. I just kept it clean and bandaged and it ended up coming away by itself and another one grew in its place.

Personally, depending on how bad I thought it was, I think I would just leave it till tomorrow and just take her along to see her GP. If not, ring your doctors out of hours and get an appointment to take her along tonight. It is hard to say really without actually seeing it though.

yeah split from top to bottom, looks so painful. Well i've given her calpol and put a bandage on it, think i'll pop her to bed as she looks wiped out. Look again in the morning. A&e could be hellish at this hour. Thanks for all the advice guys.

Call NhS direct and get advice.

If it's not through the nail bed; it doesn't need repair.
If it's bleeding and/ or v. painful, an xray may be needed.
NHS direct?

Keep an eye on it, in the morning. DH had an accident like this as a child on his big toe, botched recovery means he lost the nail and now has a terribly disfigured toe with an odd partial nail that causes allsorts of problems.