QuestionQUESTION: I must have had a vertical split in one of my middle toenails and when putting on pants it tore off half the nail. So now half the nail is gone. When that half grows back, will there be a serious vertical split or will the 2 halves somehow blend back together? I don't see how. Thanks
ANSWER: This very much depends on why there was a split in the nail before the tear and how badly the nail matrix was damaged in the tear. There's a very good chance that the new nail will grow out perfectly normal, but it takes nearly a full year for a toenail to regrow completely so you probably won't know for sure for quite awhile.
Keep good care of the new nail as it grows back and avoid catching it on anything to give it the best chance of returning normally.
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QUESTION: Thanks. I wouldn't be concerned if it was the whole toe nail that came off and not just one side. But since it's just one side of the nail, can the half that grows back actually fuse or blend with the half that's already there and become one?
AnswerNo. But as the new toe nail grows in, the old one-- that is now only half there-- will grow out. So the new toenail will push the old one out of the way. Keep trimming the toenail as usual, it'll be pretty bumpy and weird looking for several months, but eventually the new toenail will replace the old one and things should go back to normal.
