Toe Nail Falling off-help

SimoneJ

Toe Nail Falling off-help

SimoneJ

I finished chemo 3 weeks ago and last week my toe nail starting hurting really bad, I had nail polish of it so I went home took off the polish and my toe nail was really black and blue, it hurt for 2 days and then stopped,  I thought I was in the clear, well this weekend I barely lifted the toe nail and it started bleeding. I have a bandage on it now. Does it take long for another nail to grow and will this one just fall off by itself? My nails are still brown, I'm was on TCH, but I dont think I am going to lose them.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this as pain free as possible?

 Thanks

crazy4carrots

Hi Simone:

I lost both my thumbnails so I have an idea what you're going through!  The nail underneath has already started growing, and is trying to push the nail off.  My suggestion is to treat the nail with tea tree oil or another antiseptic, probably about 4 times a day (since this is summer and you're probably wearing sandals) to keep any possible infection away.  Keep a clean bandage on it until the nail does drop off (it will probably come off with the bandage at some point soon).  But keep it antiseptically clean as the new nail continues to grow.  It should be back fully within a couple of months -- yep, just in time to start wearing shoes again!

My fingernails also discoloured and got rather "claw-like" but I didn't lose them.

I  started using biotin (5,000 mcg twice a day) after my last tx (a year ago this week!) and my nails have been super-strong ever since.

Best of luck,  Linda

bluedasher

I've had a couple of times post chemo when a toe hurt. It was a big toe each time. Mine got brown but didn't get black and blue. I soaked the foot in very warm water for about 20 minutes and did this a few times once or twice a day. One time, some yellowish stuff came out after I soaked it. After soaking, I put some double antibiotic ointment on the toe. The toes stopped hurting but not right after the first time I soaked it - it took a couple of days for the toe to calm down. I still have both of those toe nails. They don't seem quite as firmly attached in that they can be lifted a bit off the nail bed.Trimming the nails short so that they didn't catch on socks and other stuff seems to help but not too short.

Oddly, three other toenails have popped off without warning. This happened in the last couple of weeks about 5 weeks post chemo. None of them hurt at all. There seems to be a bit of toenail that had grown under the old nail before it came off and the part of the nail bed that is uncovered just is like regular skin rather than the usual sensitive under the nail skin. One other seems like it may be getting ready to come off. My toenails are growing really slowly so the ones that haven't come out don't have much normal toenail growth on them. My fingernails are much quicker growing. My fingernails are almost entirely normal nails except for about a quarter inch at the tips of the thumbnails and an eight of an inch on the others.

bettysgirl

i thought i had cruised past the nail problem thing and then about 3-4 wks post chemo nails and toenails all started to lift. Like mentioned above I tried to keep things clean but there was no pain involved. Fingernails were a little tender when i tried to use them so i kept them trimmed really close. In the end I lost all fingernails and toenails. Fingernails have recovered and are beginning to grow. Most of the toenails are back with the exception of the two big toenails that are much slower growing for some reason. It is aggravating but they will come back. I bought some Sally Hanson formula to help with the fingernail ridges and thinness..it has made a huge difference.