loose injured toenail

I would think you'd want to go to a podiatrist to see about the nail. If it just hangs there, it could get caught on something and rip off and that would probably be painful for your son. Good luck.

 

First of all, get him a pair of shoes that fit his foot properly. Actually, shoes that are too long or wide and which allow the foot to slide in the shoe and cause the nail to continually bump against the upper during sudden stops like a passenger in an automobile who is not wearing a seat belt. are probably more likely to cause such problem, but I suppose shoe which are too narrow could also. In any event, the etiology of the injury is more than likely the forcing of the toenail against the shoe during running and stopping. It's impossible to say, probably even with an examination, whether he merely loosened the nail through the trauma or whether the toe will grow normal nail again, but 5th toe nails commonly are deformed from the constant irritation of a shoe. Taping it down was a good idea, not because it will necessarily encourage the nail to reattach to the nail bed . . which it probably will not, as the nail is held to the nail bed by a layer of cells known as the hyponychium, which, once breached, often does not reattach or reattaches abnormally, but to prevent a traumatic avulsion which could be both painful and, more importantly open the toe to infection. If the nail is merely detached and loose and you are capable of doing it safely, the loose areas could probably be carefully trimmed down just like any toe nail and allowed to grow to see what happens. But if you are not capable of doing this safely or there are complications, such as an irritated or traumatized or punctured nail bed, or if there is any doubt, he should see a podiatrist for evaluation and treatment.

 

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Thank you so much for your response. I spoke with his pediatrician this afternoon, and she told me pretty much the same thing. Also, I've been giving him Motrin for the pain, as needed.