Anyone have a fix for a broken nail?

Emily

Removed pic because eww and also forgot that they show up on the mobile app by default.

I hella broke one of the nails on my left hand just now, almost all the way across. Anyone have experience with repair? I have heard you can apply a bit of tissue and clear polish, but never tried myself... usually I would just trim and file the other 9 to match, but that isn't a viable option in this case because the split is a few mm below the edge of my finger. Euggggh.

11 years ago

Urgent

12 replies

Latest reply was from

Anonymous

possibly could try the otc skin glue

11 years ago

Anonymous

PS - ouch!

11 years ago

Freckles

Veteran

Not really, sorry.

The tissue and clear polish does not work. You might try bandage type material and super glue but it will still be fragile.

I break/split nails constantly and there never really is a good fix if you are hard on your nails and they are in and out of water a lot.

11 years ago

Emily

Veteran

Thanks guys. I googled a bit and have applied a bit of tea bag (emptied of tea) with my orly bonder basecoat. It looks awful, but feels better. I figure I'll try buffing it smooth and polishing in the am. I'm not expecting much in terms of longevity, but we'll see.

11 years ago

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

Ouch, I have very short nails so I generally never have had this problem ... and I don't know much about nails ... but aren't there plastic nails you can stick on top of the ones you have? Maybe I'm imagining things.

11 years ago

Peri

Veteran

That sounds painful! My husband has patched broken nails with super glue. You have to reapply every two days or so until it grows out but it seems to work.

11 years ago

always trying

Veteran

On Wednesday I broke thumb nail too far down to trim and have also in the past tired glue and tissue. This time too far down under nail thumb. I think the glue will be painful. Just keeping bandaged. Lets see who grows out first. Had similar happen to big tope last summer, but not as far down. Was not painful, and was able to trim it down, but not happy as it was sandal weather, and I always try to keep toes nicely polished. But I had to go to more neutral polish so it was not so obvious. Took way too long to grow out.

11 years ago

Deborah

Veteran

Currently I have a slit that runs down one of my nails and doesn't seem to want to grow out. It's painful if it gets caught on something so I have had an acrylic nail on that nail. It looks natural, and hopefully as it grows the split will grow out. It's inexpensive and an easy fix, and your nails will all look the same:)

11 years ago

cuffcat

Active Member

Agree with Peri. Super glue does the trick for me. I break my large toenail once a year and it helps.

11 years ago

Linda

Active Member

I've started taking a Biotin supplement because I've had nails tear or split a lot. I've used the tissue-and-polish mending approach a couple of times, and it worked at least long enough to be able to painlessly grow the nail out some. Ouch! I hope it heals quickly, Emily!

11 years ago

Nebraskim

Veteran

Tea bags, coffee filters, a bit of interfacing...apply with super glue. Let dry, buff a bit with a fine-grit file, then more glue over the patch, buff, reapply, dry then buff smooth. All these patch materals are similar to those used in salon fixes. Nail splits and breaks can be so painful...The patch will be thick and bumpy but with luck, it will hold until the tear grows past the nail bed. (can you tell I've had experience with this? Actually, since I started doing salon manicures and worn shorter square tip vs. rounded nails, this problem has greatly reduced for me.) Good luck.

11 years ago

Anonymous

I've had very good results with super glue and plain white tissue paper (the kind used for packaging or presents). Nail polish does not seem to harden the same way when it's been applied over paper, and regular tissue (Kleenex) is too soft. I kept a nail intact for several weeks with tissue paper and superglue after slicing part way through it with a razor. It does need to be reapplied every few days, and did get fragile once it grew out past the quick - but by then, I was tired of maintaining it and ready to cut it off.

11 years ago

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