Just over a month ago I hiked the Grand Canyon. Today my toenail fell off.

[Coventina]

It started coming loose several days after I got back from the hike, but I've been babying it, scared about what was going to happen.

I've never lost a toenail before!

My poor toe looks very naked without it, although it looks like something is growing back at the bottom.

Will it eventually grow back?
Will it ever look normal again?

[Tom_Foolery]

1. It should grow back...

I've lost many toe and finger nails, and they've always grown back. I've had only one grow back not looking normal. It's on my toe, so I don't really care about it.

[Aristus]

2. It'll grow back no problem.

It'll take a while, though; toenails grow very slowly. In the meantime, the nail bed will dry out and will protect the tip of your toe almost as well as the nail.

[A HERETIC I AM]

3. Yup. Exactly right.

I lost the nail off my left big toe a few years ago (Hit it with a sledge hammer, believe it or not!) and what you state is pretty much exactly what happened.

The nail will grow back completely. It will just take a while.

[Aristus]

4. I do four or five ingrown toenail excisions a month in clinic.

Same advice I give all my patients.

I love procedures. I love seeing same-day results, when so much of clinical medicine is "Here, take this and I'll see you in two weeks."

[Coventina]

6. Yikes! Did you break your toe as well?

That sounds really painful!

The odd thing about my situation is that I had no pain at all in my toe as I was hiking.
I felt just fine!

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. I was standing on a mobile stage we were assembling....

and the stage surface was in sections, maybe 4' by 6'. The sections were built out of 2X4's and plywood with a rubberized surface and each section weighed probably 100 pounds or so. A couple guys had just thrown the next section up on the scaffold like structure that supported them and I had walked over to knock it into place. By knocking it into place, I mean whack it with a sledge hammer along the face of it in order to move it backward and fit into the decking already installed. I was wearing sneakers and my left foot was over hanging the edge juuuuust enough, so that inside my shoe, just the tip of my big toe was overhanging the edge. When I came down with the sledge hammer, I whacked the tip of my sneaker and therefore the very tip of my toenail as well!

Another 1/4" of overhang and I would have broken the bone. As it was, all it did was knock the nail really good. Hurt like a mofo for a few days! Like you, it took a while before it actually fell off - maybe 2 or 3 weeks (this was in 2004.) It took easily 8 months before it looked normal again.

Once it fell off it was no biggie. By that time the skin under the nail had already hardened. It was kinda cool watching it grow back though!

Here's a tip....take a pic every day of it and make a time-lapse vid out of it growing back and share it with us in 8 months!

It's not gross! It's cool!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

12. We have the technology ...

[Coventina]

5. Thanks! That is really encouraging to hear!

[Wounded Bear]

8. The Grand Canyon causes disruptive toenail loss syndrome?

Well, that's off my bucket list.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

11. By the time you walk half-way out of that ditch ...

... you'd gladly exchange a toenail for a nice comfortable mule.

The weight of the extra water containers makes the walk tough. And the water is necessary.

But, if it's on your bucket list, go for it, it's worth it. Good footwear should reduce the risk of disruptive toenail loss.

[panader0]

9. I lost my breath climbing out of there.

[LiberalElite]

10. It will grow back -

exactly like it was. I've lost a toenail twice on the same toe. I was surprised both times because there was no pain involved. Funny thing was, the toenail is curved and at an angle and that makes it a little tricky to clip. The first time it fell off I was hopeful that it would grow back flat and straight like the rest. Nope! It grew back curved and at an angle. So, no one will know the difference.
P.S. It takes a LONG time to grow back. Months.

[magical thyme]

13. another reason to be grateful I rafted the Grand Canyon

instead of hiking it!

Stayed cool and moist for the entire week, dined like a millionaire, slept like a log, and got back home one piece

The only disappointment was that the trip ended. I could have happily spent the rest of my life -- or all eternity -- rafting the Colorado through it...

[petronius]

14. Congratulations on your hike! Those are some epic trails, in an amazing landscape

Like others have said, I too have lost a nail after long hikes, especially with a lot of downhill. I don't recall any problems or issues, just that it did take a really long time to grow back...

[cwydro]

15. I did that years ago, and had a blast.

We camped at the bottom with a bunch of people we met from so many different countries. It was great.

I had my toenail removed once (very painful), but it certainly does grow back.

[Dont call me Shirley]

16. Sorry for your loss, Coventina.

But hiking the Grand Canyon Rafting the river is next on my list

[Xipe Totec]

18. Nailed it! nt

[Coventina]

19. *rimshot*

[alphafemale]

17. Hiked into Havasupai and back.

Part of the Grand Canyon but Native land and not part of the park system.

9 miles to the village another 2 to campsites.

There are beautiful blue waterfalls there.

My big toenail on one foot did not fall off but it did turn black.

It grew out pink again over a few months.

[Enthusiast]

20. It will grow back but it will forever look grotesque. Sorry.

I kid.

[Kali]

21. it should grow back and will probably be fine

I lost two fingernails in a tire changing mishap, they came back better than original, if you can believe it.

[vanlassie]

22. When I was about 13 I was tossing a can of dog food in the air when it came down on its edge, right

on the nail bed of my big toe. Oh My God. Worst pain I ever felt. Including childbirth. Months later I remember pulling it off, finally. It was sticky underneath. Gross. But it grew back.