Tuesday 8 May 2012

The importance of cuticles...

...or why Helly has been in a foul mood since Friday.

Before I go on, I am just going to warn you that there are pictures in this blog post that aren't pretty. If you are half an hour either side of a meal then come back later!

You may remember me moaning on about a bad finger a while back. I had an infection under my nail, and it was so sore. I have no idea how it got there, all I know is that it was so painful I wanted my finger cut off. Slight exagerration, ok. But it was sore. It took two lots of strong antibiotics to clear it and I few weeks after the infection healed I realised I was going to lose my nail. Well, on Friday, after sporting a rather attractive bit of medical tape wrapped around it for the last few weeks, I manned up and got Mr NN to pull it off. It didn't hurt as much as I thought, but I was still gutted. It looks disgusting. I thought I'd share with you what went on.

I noticed that on one side of my nail there didn't seem to be any cuticle, and then it started getting sore. I never ever cut my cuticles, so I don't know what made it recede. I can only speculate that it was something to do with the horrific gel nails I had done just before Christmas. You can just see in this picture that the cuticle is missing on one side of my nail.


It got worse and worse and I eventually went to the doctor. The first set of antibiotics didn't help so a few days later I got some more, by then the nail looked like this. Beware:


 
Once the infection cleared, all was well again, apart from the absence of cuticle. Until I noticed the nail was lose at the bottom. It got loser and loser, and the nail came away from the nail bed from the infected side.


You can see in this picture that the root isn't attached to the bottom and it is just growing out at the attached side.

It's been coming off for weeks, getting loser and loser with less and less nail actually attached to the nail bed. Until last Friday night...


 
Ew! So, moral of the story? Look after your cuticles! Unless you happen to think deformed ET-esque fingers are attractive... I just want to emphasise that I NEVER cut my cuticles. They get gently pushed back with cuticle oil every once in a while but I never cut them. So they really are delicate things, and very important in keeping your nails healthy!

Now, I am going to ask for quick-new-nail-growing vibes please, because I am not digging going around like this:

Barry M Magnetic Blue on the other fingers, post soon!

A girl in Superdrug grimaced when she saw it the other day, and after she'd served me she got out the alcohol gel hand rub stuff! I know it's not pretty but I'm not a leper!
Hx
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17 comments:

  1. @Helly - May I send you some TIPS Nail Conditioner to help promote healthy, new nail growth? If you would like to try this amazing product as a gift from one blogger to another, pls contact me. My blog is Lisa's Nailcare Blog and you can find my email there.

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  2. I smashed my finger in a door a few months ago and my nail fell off just like that. I was devastated. Don't worry, it will grow back before you know it. :)

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  3. Aww...it will grow back soon, and Biotin works wonders for fast nail growth.

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  4. How can that happen? Have you ever had acrylics? Poor you!

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  5. Awww, Helen, it doesn't actually look THAT bad. Ok, so it's not it's usual pretty self but I hope it grows quickly, I think new nails often do. On the upside, your other nails look very pretty!

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  6. Awww, Helen, it doesn't actually look THAT bad. Ok, so it's not it's usual pretty self but I hope it grows quickly, I think new nails often do. On the upside, your other nails look very pretty!

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  7. I don't have any tips for you sorry as i've never struggled. But I'm glad it seems to be getting better for you!

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  8. Sorry about the nub, I hope it grows out fast. The blue magnetic is awesome!

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  9. Sorry about the nub, I hope it grows out fast. The blue magnetic is awesome!

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  10. aw hope you are ok, was it painful? hope it feels better soon x

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  11. oh honey you are so funny. I was giggling at "i'm not digging this look" and your little drawing, but the leper gel finished me off :) love you LOTS Helly x

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  12. ahh! I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm actually waiting for a toe nail to fall out (jammed it while working), it's so annoying!

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  13. Sorry about your nail! I don't know if anything that can make nails grow faster. That girl that made a face at you is super lame. She's stupid. Lol!

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  14. I think you were brave taking the plunge and pulling it off, but imagine the pain if you caught it oww!

    Hope it grows back quickly, and it never happens again either!

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  15. Ouch! Don't think I'd be brave enough to have it pulled off, I'm such a wuss.

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  16. It doesn't look that bad. How about I have three toes that look that way. My big toe on my left foot was ripped off when I was 6 while riding a big-wheel down a hill. The second toe nail on the left toe comes off due to me smashing it with a work out weight. And the final toe, the big toe on my right foot, keep getting ingrown nails so I had the doctor fix it. The nails grow back but they look like yours and then they fall off again. So I just paint the skin..LOL...I know stop laughing. Be glad that your is growing back...

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