How to Repair a Broken Nail
Nail glue is sometimes avoidable with filing
Medically reviewed by Casey Gallagher, MD
A broken nail is not only disappointing, but painful as well. Nails can become fragile and easily broken or chipped for a variety of reasons, including aging. Brittle nails from being too dry are also prone to chip or break.
Fortunately, fixing a broken nail can usually be done at home with a few simple materials and tools you likely already have. Sometimes, you may even be able to disguise the broken nail.
This article talks about four ways to fix a broken or chipped nail and how to help your nails grow back naturally.
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Steps to Fix a Broken Nail Without Glue
You can fix a broken nail without having to use nail glue. Below are four simple ways to repair your nail with everyday items.
Gently Trim Detached Parts of the Nail
Nail breaks can happen from common injuries to your fingertip or the nail itself. If you injure your nail and part of it is hanging off, gently trim the part that’s not connected to the skin of your fingertip. Trimming away the hanging part helps ensure the broken nail doesn’t catch on anything and cause more pain.
To promote healing after trimming the nail, soak the affected finger or toe in cold water for 20 minutes, then apply petroleum jelly, such as Vaseline, over the broken nail and cover it with a nonadhesive bandage.
File Snags
Sometimes nail breakage is minor, like snagging at the tip of the nail. Nails with snags or jagged edges should be gently filed into a rounded curve to keep them from breaking or splitting.
Since brittle nails are more prone to breakage than healthy ones, keep your nails moisturized if they’re dry and brittle, or protect them from damaging chemicals, such as detergents and cleaning products, if they’re soft and brittle.
Use a Tea Bag
With a little creativity, some nail breaks can be covered up and painted over so that your broken nail is disguised and protected. A tea bag can act as a bandage to cover the break or tear and keep it from breaking more. Follow these easy steps to try out the tea bag method on your broken nail:
Empty a tea bag and cut out a small square to cover the break in the nail.
Paint clear nail polish, like a base coat, on the break. This will act as a glue.
Place the tea bag square on the break so that it sticks to the nail. Cover with clear nail polish.
Repeat with more layers of tea bag, as needed, to give the broken nail coverage and protection.
Cut the tea bag around the nail so that it matches the shape of your nail.
Gently file and paint your nail over the tea bag to match your other nails.
Similar to the tea bag method, some people use tape over the break in the nail. However, the American Academy of Dermatology Association recommends not putting sticky products, like tape, directly on the nail to prevent irritation. If the skin around your nail is injured, it’s okay to use a bandage to protect the skin, try to avoid the nail itself.
Bandage Your Nail
Sometimes, all you can do to fix a nail that breaks from injury is wait for it to grow out and heal on its own, which can take weeks. During that time, you can use a small piece of gauze or bandage to provide padding and protect the nail from further pain and injury.
How to Encourage Natural Nail Regrowth
Helping your nails grow back means taking good care of your nails and preventing future breakage. As tempting as it may be to peel off the broken part, it’s best to be more gentle with the nail to encourage healthy, strong regrowth of the nail.
Consider these nail care tips to keep your nails healthy and help them regrow:
Avoid using your nails like a tool, such as to pop open lids or cans.
Trim your nails regularly and round them at the tip to help keep them from breaking.
File snags or chips in the nail immediately to prevent more breakage; file in the same direction as a back and forth motion can weaken the nail.
Avoid biting your nails as doing so damages the nail and prevents regrowth.
Moisturize your nails after you trim/file them as dry nails are more susceptible to splitting.
Taking care of your nails is important not only to make your nails look nice but also to keep them healthy and strong. Keep in mind that nail growth takes time, and the rate at which they grow may be different for your fingers and your toes, or even among your different fingers or toes. Be patient and gentle with your nails.
Chipped Nail vs. Detached Nail
A broken nail can vary in severity and pain level. A chipped nail, for example, is minor and generally painless. Small nicks at the tip of the nail can be smoothed out with a nail file or clippers.
A detached nail, on the other hand, is when the nail separates partly or completely from the nail bed—the part of your fingertip that the nail grows on—which can be painful. If the nail comes off entirely, keeping the area clean and dry while the nail grows back is critical to prevent infection.
Fixing an Acrylic Broken Nail
Acrylic nails, or fake nails, can break, too. You can fix a broken acrylic nail at home using similar steps for fixing a broken natural nail. For example, try the tea bag method to piece the acrylic nail back together without buying or using nail glue.
If the broken acrylic nail is still longer than your natural nail, you can cut down the acrylic nail and trim the rest of your acrylic nails to match. In the future, consider gel nails instead of acrylic nails as they are more flexible and less likely to break.
Summary
A broken nail can be disappointing at best and painful at worst. Fortunately, there are easy solutions to fix a broken nail that can be done at home, including simply trimming or filing the broken nail or getting creative, such as with the tea bag method. Bandaging your nail is also an option to keep it from breaking more.
Taking extra good care of your nails will help them regrow naturally. When in doubt about how to care for a broken nail, especially one that separates from the nail bed, talk to a health care provider or dermatologist.
Read the original article on Verywell Health.
