Sophia Delgado
The nail bed is the layer of skin beneath your nails that supports and secures them as they grow. Nails grow at a slow rate of about 2.5 millimetres a month, so it can take a while for a damaged nail bed to recover. If you've torn or separated your nail from its nail bed, a new nail bed will form in around six months. Toenail nail beds can take up to 18 months to fully grow back. There are several ways to help your nail beds grow back and stay healthy, including keeping the area clean and dry, moisturising your cuticles, wearing rubber gloves when cleaning, and avoiding biting your nails.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Time taken for a nail bed to grow back | Minimum of 6 months for fingernails and 18 months for toenails |
| What to do if the nail separates from the nail bed | Remove the nail, keep the area dry to prevent infection, and wait for a new nail to grow |
| How to prevent infections | Cover the nail with tape or an adhesive bandage |
| How to promote nail growth | Keep the nail bed dry, clean, and covered with petroleum jelly |
| How to avoid damaging the nail bed | Avoid nail biting, picking or pushing back cuticles, getting acrylic manicures, and using nail products with formaldehyde |
| How to make nail beds appear longer | Avoid cutting nails too short, treat fungal nail infections, push back cuticles, and allow nails to grow longer |
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What You'll Learn
Avoid nail biting and picking
Nail biting is a hard habit to break, but it's important to stop if you want your nail beds to grow back. Biting your nails can hurt your nail beds and introduce bacteria to the edges, which can potentially cause an infection. Long-term nail biting can also result in scarring and damage to the skin around the nail, as well as damage to the teeth and jaw.
There are several ways to stop biting your nails. One way is to use a nail-biting deterrent, such as a bad-tasting nail polish or a clear builder gel, which creates a barrier and promotes nail growth and strength. You can also try keeping your hands occupied with a stress toy, fidget spinner, playdough, or a fidget ring. Keeping your nails short and neat can also help reduce the urge to bite them. Staying hydrated and maintaining a balanced diet can also contribute to healthy nail growth.
Picking at your cuticles can also damage your nail beds and make you more susceptible to bacteria. Instead of picking or pushing back your cuticles, you should moisturize them and leave them alone. Cleaning underneath your nails with a nail brush instead of metal nail tools can also help prevent damage and separation of the nail plate from the nail bed.
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Wear rubber gloves when cleaning
Nails grow at a rate of about 0.13 inches or 2.5 millimetres per month. Fingernails can regrow entirely in 3 to 6 months, while toenails can take up to 18 months. Nails grow faster in the summertime and on your dominant hand.
Wearing rubber gloves while cleaning is an essential step in the process of growing back your nail bed. Prolonged exposure to water or cleaning chemicals can weaken your nails, impeding their growth. By wearing rubber gloves, you create a protective barrier that helps maintain the strength and health of your nails. This is especially important when performing tasks such as dishwashing or using harsh cleaning agents.
Rubber gloves act as a shield, preventing water and chemicals from coming into direct contact with your nails. This is crucial because water can cause nails to become soft and more susceptible to damage, while chemicals can be abrasive and drying, leading to nail weakness. By minimising these negative impacts, rubber gloves create an optimal environment for nail growth and regeneration.
Additionally, rubber gloves can help you avoid the temptation of biting your nails or picking at your cuticles. Nail-biting and cuticle picking can introduce bacteria and potentially cause infections, hindering the growth and health of your nail beds. Wearing rubber gloves serves as a physical reminder to refrain from these habits, promoting overall nail health and supporting the regeneration of your nail beds.
Furthermore, rubber gloves can protect your nails from physical trauma. During cleaning activities, it is common to accidentally bump or scrape your nails against surfaces or tools. Such incidents can cause nail detachment or damage to the nail bed, resulting in pain and potential infection. By wearing rubber gloves, you add a layer of cushioning and protection, reducing the likelihood of physical trauma to your nails and nail beds.
In conclusion, wearing rubber gloves while cleaning is a simple yet effective strategy to support the growth and health of your nail beds. By minimising exposure to water and chemicals, deterring nail-biting and cuticle picking, and providing protection from physical trauma, rubber gloves create an optimal environment for nail regeneration and strengthen the foundation for healthy nail beds.
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Moisturise cuticles
Cuticles are attached to the nails and help keep them healthy by protecting them from bacterial and fungal infections. When the cuticle becomes dry and cracked, it can't attach to the nail to do its job. Therefore, it is important to moisturize them and leave them be.
Moisturizing your cuticles is a must, especially during winters when your nails and cuticles can become dry and cracked. Cuticle creams with citric acids are more effective moisturizers. You should choose moisturizers that contain petroleum, glycerin, shea butter, or safflower seed oil. These natural moisturizers do wonders for your cuticles as well as your hands. For detached cuticles, cuticle oil may be the best choice. Cuticle oils are usually made of a combination of enriched vegetable oils, flaxseed oil, or citric acids. The oil provides intense hydration, allowing the cuticle to repair itself and reattach to the nail. They should be used sparingly, though, as the cuticles could become used to such deep hydration, making it almost impossible to use anything else in the future. For cracked cuticles, try more intensive treatment with vitamin E oil, which you can find in most drug stores. Shea butter also works wonders on cracked cuticles.
If you are looking for a more intense moisturizing experience, a hot wax treatment may be offered at your local nail salon. Special oily wax is heated until it melts. People dip their hands into the warm, oily wax, then put on plastic gloves and a mitt to seal in the heat, which they wear for 10 to 15 minutes.
It is important to remember to not cut, nip, or trim the skin that makes up the cuticles. You can easily damage the cuticles, causing them to detach from the nail and leading to nail infections and nail loss.
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Avoid acrylic manicures
While it is possible to grow back a nail bed, it takes a minimum of six months for fingernails and up to 18 months for toenails. During this time, it is important to take good care of your nails and avoid certain damaging habits. One such habit to avoid is getting acrylic manicures.
Acrylic nails are a type of artificial nail that can cause serious damage to your natural nails. The process of applying acrylic nails involves filing the surface of your natural nails until they feel rough, thinning and weakening them. The chemicals used to apply acrylic nails can also irritate the skin around your nails.
To remove acrylic nails, you must either soak them in acetone or file them off, both of which can weaken your nails. Frequent touch-ups and maintenance appointments, which are necessary every two to three weeks, can also damage your natural nails over time.
Instead of acrylic nails, consider gel nails that can be soaked off. These are less likely to cause nail brittleness, peeling, and cracking, and they are more flexible, so your own nails are less likely to crack. Ask your nail technician to skip the cuticle trimming, as cuticles protect your nails and the surrounding skin from infection.
If you have already damaged your nails with acrylics, you can nurse them back to health with a nail repair kit or a DIY solution like olive oil. A nail-strengthening treatment can also help restore hydration to your nails.
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Treat fungal infections
Treating a fungal nail infection can help the nail plate reattach to your nail bed. It is important to act quickly to stop the infection from spreading to other nails or nearby skin.
Treatment Options
- Prescription antifungal medicines: Your doctor may prescribe stronger antifungal medicines in the form of oral medication or medication that you apply to your nail. Oral medication may be required for 2 to 3 months for toenails and a shorter time for fingernails. Your doctor will monitor for side effects, including potential liver toxicity.
- Laser treatment: Lasers offer a painless, drug-free solution for eliminating toenail fungal infections. These devices use monochromatic light, which penetrates the nail plate, bed, and matrix to target the infected nails directly.
- Over-the-counter (OTC) treatments: For mild cases, antifungal creams, ointments, and nail lacquers can be used. These target the fungal cells on the surface of the nail. However, they may not fully address more severe or persistent cases.
- Home remedies: Tea tree oil, vinegar soaks, or baking soda may have limited antifungal properties. Their effectiveness is often inconsistent and unproven, so they are best used as a supplementary approach alongside medical treatments.
Preventative Measures
- Keep your nails clean and dry.
- Change your socks often and wear sandals or roomy shoes made of breathable materials.
- Avoid going barefoot in public places.
- Do not share personal items like towels, nail files, clippers, or socks.
- Wash your hands after touching any kind of fungal infection.
- Keep your skin and nails moisturized.
- Avoid injuring your nail by cutting your nails too short.
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Frequently asked questions
A nail bed can take a minimum of 6 months to grow back. Toenail beds can take up to 18 months.
Keep the nail bed dry, clean, and covered with petroleum jelly and an adhesive bandage. Change the bandage if it gets wet. You can also apply nail oil and take hair, skin, and nail vitamins to support nail growth.
Avoid nail biting and picking, which can introduce bacteria and cause infection. Avoid getting acrylic manicures, as the chemical or mechanical removal process can weaken your nail beds. Also, avoid nail products with formaldehyde, which can cause onycholysis (separation of the nail plate from the nail bed).
Watch for increasing heat, redness, pain, tenderness, swelling, or pus around the nail bed. If any of these symptoms develop, seek medical attention.
