Most of my fingernail fell off

Well its been a couple of months since my injury to my ring finger and a part of the nail was "dead" so I had it cut real short-well today while swimming at my SIL's it must have gotten soft enough that all the injured part just came off-so the remaining nail is only about 1/4 long. Yep it looks and feels really weird too. So I guess I'm going have to cover that area when working until the nail grows out more or the skin toughens up.

Sheesh, sorry to hear that! Maybe you could get one of those leather thimbles they make for quilters and tape it on under your gardening gloves... flexible, but it would give you some protection...

That happened to my mom once. I would imagine that would feel really wierd, when I cut my nails even a little too short I cant stand it. So that short would be odd. But at least it'll grow back.

Eeeep, I hope it grows back normal for ya

I know how that feels kinda. I've ripped off my nail about half way up before. I think I mostly kept it covered with a bandaid, but this was back in my school days, not when doing so much 'real' work with my hands. Hope it grows out quick for you!

keep it covered so you keep infection out. same thing happened to me when i was younger- i was getting out of my mom's car for track practice and when i hoped out i turned around quickly (hand still in door) my bag flew around and slamed the door shut on my left pointer finger. It broke it from the nail down. (painful! but i bet not as bad as yours though ) Anyways after a few weeks the nail fell off and it looked and felt REALLY weird- my doctor told me to keep it a big layer of neosporin on it at all times and to keep it bandaged to try and keep infection out. (once the nail started to grow back enough he said i didn't have to keep it bandaged all the time and could let some fresh air get to it.) It took several months for it to grow back -but now it's all good and you couldn't tell it ever fell off! I'm sure yours will be just fine in a couple of months! Also- one thing i noticed- the longest part that took to heal was the cuticle- it got really damaged when it happened- so that took the longest to grow back right/heal- but it finally did! Now i can paint that nail and do everything with it that i can with the other ones.

Is the nail bed sore or just sensitive? I had that happen with my big toe nail once. It had gotten too long and I caught it on something and it basically ripped the nail away from my toe. It hurt like a ! But, once the nail started growing back in, it just forced the old nail off, since it was still attached at the base. I asked the doctor if it needs any protection, but he said as long as it wasn't sore it would be ok. It sounds like your fell off naturally.

Of course, toes and fingers are different. You may want to check with your doctor to find out how much that needs to be protected.