NAILBED INJURIES
Nail bed injuries are common in the manual labour setting and less so in the broader community (mostly weekend DIY). The nailbed is the skin which lies underneath the nail plate (the hard part of the nail structure). Nailbed injuries often appear really quite nasty but often give a very satisfactory cosmetic result.
The principal problem with nailbed injuries is that the skin upon which the nail sits is often injured, leading to delaminating of the nail (separation of the nail plate from the skin underneath) or the creation of fissures in the nail plate (the hard part of the nail structure).This can lead to problematic splitting of the nail or capturing of dirt/debris underneath the nail.
The aim of surgery is to restore the anatomy to as close as possible to that which was there prior to the injury. We use very fine sutures in the nailbed and magnification (special high power glasses) in order to restore the anatomy as close to normal as possible.
Occasionally a fracture underneath the nail is associated with the injury. This may require simple splint treatment or sometimes a wire inside the bone to stabilise the fracture for a period of six weeks.