How To Fix A Broken Nail
Photo of nail polish and file on grey background with diagonal lines by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels
Updated 2024.08.07. This page contains affiliate links and this site earns from qualifying purchases made through these sponsored links.
Repairing a broken nail, when a nail has broken far down into the nail bed, is possible. Even fixing snags is possible.
First, take a moment to breathe, and remember that everyone breaks nails from time to time.
It could be symbolic, as each finger has a meaning in some symbolism systems, it could also simply be an accident we could attribute to the chaos of the Universe.
When it’s only a snag, it’s possible to use nail glue to hold the rip in place until you can treat the nail.
As soon as you have time or when you can get to a comfortable place, it’s time to care for the broken nail to prevent any further damage.
When you break a nail, below are a few things to do to repair, treat and prevent breaks in the future -
Vertical photo of white nail polish and file on white textured background by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels
1 - Stop the bleeding, if there is any
If none, move to #2.
How to fix a broken nail that’s bleeding -
Apply pressure to the bleed with a clean cotton pad, and at the same time, raise your finger above your heart until you feel the throbbing cease. After you sense the throbbing cease or a 2-3 minute time period has passed, take a peek at the bleed.
If it is still bleeding, continue to keep your finger elevated with pressure applied for a few more minutes continuing to check until the bleeding has stopped. When the bleeding has stopped, wash your hand, and then apply an anti-bacterial sanitizer.
2 - Apply an oil or salve
Apply a light coat of your nearest oil or salve. Any cuticle oil or butter will do. This seals the wound, and provides the skin underlying the nail with restorative ingredients to begin the healing and regrowing process.
3 - File or trim the nail edge evenly
Nails often break and create a jagged edge.
This jagged edge can further rip down into the nail bed, creating more suffering than necessary.
To prevent any further damage, once the salve has dried and soaked in, clean the nail with an alcohol solution, then with a 180 grit file or finer, or with a nail trimmer, file or trim the remaining nail back very gently so that the edge of the broken nail is smooth.
If your nail split in the middle of the nail, using a 180 grit file, file the top of the split, and then file the nail down to where the split begins.
To prevent middle splits this from happening in the future:
Sometimes nails split in cold weather or with harsh ingredients. If you think your breaks can be attributed to this, simply cover your nails when they are in these conditions.
If you use metal nail trimmers to cut your nails, avoid using nail trimmers to cut your nails in the future.
The curve of the trimmer often does not match the bend of the nail, so when pressure is applied to cut the nail with a nail trimmer, this angled pressure can create a split.
For this reason, if you are prone to splitting nails, try to keep your nails at your desired length with a file only - and save the trimmer for only when the nail is severely damaged and filing off the damage is more painful.
Opt to file down your nails to their designed length, rather than cutting them outright. This is more gentle for the nail and can reduce center splitting and side breakage in the future.
4 - Paint a treatment polish over the nail
Using nail polish remover, gently remove any existing polish on a broken nail, if any, then, clean the nail bed using an alcohol solution.
Now grab any nail treatment you have. Select any nail treatment geared to repair, grow, or strengthen.
Paint this nail treatment over the remaining nail. Many nail treatments are also pain relievers; doing this can both soothe the skin and protect the remaining nail.
Once the treatment is dry, apply oil or salve to the cuticle and around the base of the nail bed.
5 - Give it time
Some nail treatments, like used in the previous step, can speed up nail growth, so your broken nail returns to its original length more quickly.
Without it, though, your nails grow naturally everyday and you’ll notice return growth within a week of a broken nail.
In the meantime, you may want to file down your other nails to match the broken nail’s length, or just leave the non-broken nails as is, and wait for it to catch back up.
Vertical photo of person filing their nails with polish in background by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels
How to prevent broken nails in the future
There are a few things you can do to prevent broken nail events in the future. These are:
- When you need your next polish refill, switch your base coats, top coats, and polish removers to formulas advertising they have hardening and strengthening qualities.
- If you do not already have a cuticle care routine, adopt one. If you do, consider upgrading your cuticle care routine, as strong nails start at the cuticle.
- Keep your nails always covered when doing chores that require using pressure with your hands and cleaning solutions.
So to recap to fix a broken nail -
Nail care / Vertical photo of person filing their nails with polish in background by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels with text overlay How To Fix A Broken Nail
Stop the bleeding, if there is any
Apply an oil or salve
File or trim the nail edge evenly
Paint a treatment polish over the nail
Give it time
How much time does it take for a nail to grow back?
Give it about a week to start seeing regrowth.
The benefit of broken nails is they give us time to slow down, a chance to evaluate our nail care routine, and apply self-care.
They can also be a great opportunity to explore what’s new in the nail treatment world of hardeners, strengtheners and growth solutions.
Whatever the reason for a broken nail, the good news is that nails do grow back, and the steps above can expedite the healing time so your nail is growing again healthfully.
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