Half of the big toenail just broke off.. beach holiday in 4 days!

[catbasilio]

I varnish my toenails about once in a month. I noticed my big toenail looks somehow lifted, so removed the varnish and omg, one half of the nail was just flapping like a leaf. I cut it off with scissors (that bit was yellowed and brittle). I have half of remaining toenail and maybe 3mm at the base where the nail has come off.

Firstly I wonder why??? My are week but no obvious fungus. I can’t remember if I injured it. Is that from using varnish non stop?

Secondly my beach holiday starts in 4 days! I can’t seem to get a nail technician that quickly and also worried there is nowhere to stick a fake nail on, plus risk of infection if you only stick it to the remaining half of nail?

My best idea is to wrap the toe in a plaster. Can’t think of anything better... What would you do?

Isn’t there a trick you can do with tissue paper and nail varnish to kind of glue the nail back on?

Or do what some of my running friends do and just paint your toe! No one will notice unless they get really close

‘ No obvious fungus’
‘Yellowed and brittle’

‘Yellowed and brittle’ is the appearance of a nail with a heavy fungal infection.

As long as no broken skin or injury to the nail bed just paint your toe as Cauliflower said. I have a nail missing off my little toe for years and I just paint the toe. Nobody seems to notice

I can’t imagine how varnish will keep on a toe skin but I guess I can try..
Yellowed and brittle could have been because it stayed there dead under the nail varnish for a while? Funnily enough when I varnished the nails about 3 weeks ago there once no sign of yellow or brittle...

Just paint your toe, I've done this before in an emergency,

You could put one of these on it to get you through the holiday but I think you need to treat it as a fungal infection.

I’d leave it well alone and hope the sun and sea will help whatever it is heal! Do you really care what it looks like abroad surrounded by people you’ll never see again?!

Really truly don’t try sticking anything over it and until you’re sure it’s not fungal don’t paint the skin..

Yellow and brittle is clearly a fungal infection and nail polish will worsen the condition. Best to see a chiropodist who will file the nail and recommend a treatment.

There's a few chemicals in nail varnish, one being formaldahyde which, if nails are varnished over and over for a a long time without a break, can cause a yellowing of the nail.

You're allowed onto the beach with a missing toe nail. Just enjoy your holiday!

I wouldn’t do anything, not for vanity anyway. If it needs something from the chemist I would get it, but if it’s just a leave to heal thing, I would leave it

Meh.

I’m a long distance runner and have had missing/semi broken toenails at various points in my life. I just cut all the bits that can be cut off and slop some good nail varnish on the rest and try to sort out the dry skin on my heels!

Definitely hasn’t ruined an overall groomed/glam look (still get asked out on holiday and all that fwiw)

Don’t do anything that might give you an infection, treat the medical problem not the aesthetic ones.

Ps like pp’s said no nail varnish though if you think it’s an infection rather than a “banging injury”

I lost many toenails back in a previous life when I ran marathons. There's usually a kind of thinner, softer nail underneath and i would just paint that. If it could be fungal I would leave it polish free though- the sun and salt water should probably sort it out. Just file and buff your other nails so they still look nice and go for the natural look!

Does it not hurt?

I didn't know you can lose nails to running.
I cycle and walk a lot (not jogging though), I varnish my nails non-stop, I am still hopeful this wasn't a sudden fungal infection, just tired or weak nails. I do feel they need a break and more nurture... will do that after my holiday.

I am now looking at liquid plasters (waterproof and germproof) at Boots, maybe that would be easier to paint on than on toe skin directly!

Thank you lovelies.

ThePink no it does not hurt and the rest of the nail seems in tact, although I cannot see any "back" nail.

Honestly - people will not notice. When I did ballet (it was a while ago), my toenails were awful due to being en pointe. Runners and skiers have awful toenails, I can't say I have ever in real life looked at anyone's toenails and had an opinion on them, especially on holiday.

Really. Don't worry. Leave it as it is and the sun and sand will probably help it heal.

Tea tree oil is a good treatment for fungal nail infections.

If you had a ridge across it before it broke, you probably injured it in some way before the ridge even grew up to where it was visible. It doesn't take a massive agonising injury at or just below the cuticle to leave a weakness in the nail.

I think I probably wouldn't paint my nails if one of them looked like that, not because of infection, but because it might make it much more noticeable. Better to leave them natural and wear something eye-catching higher up!

My result with liquid plaster and varnish on top. Not level but looks better than bare. I’ll have to take it off after the holiday though and give my toenails some tlc.