In September 2024 I was getting regular, hard gel manicures and noticed the tip of my fingernail was cracking right down the center, all the way through the white part of my nail. 

I took a break from manicures and saw that there is a thin, red line the entire length of my nail bed continuing under the cuticle. I went to a natural nail salon and the tech said since it’s continuing to grow with the line, I could have damage to the matrix (likely from a nail drill). 

Saw my derm in March 2025 when the nail had not improved. She said she was not concerned with melanoma, suggested keeping it clipped short and applying Genadur daily. No improvement. The red line has continued and the split has traveled further down the nail bed and on at least one occasion, has turned into a “hole” mid-nail bed. 

Since then, I have been doing at home semi cured gel strips or press ons because the nail is very sensitive and snags on everything (and it’s ugly). 

A few months ago, around February 2026 a noticed a small growth coming out from underneath my nail at the tip. Went to dermatologist yesterday (April 2026) and she said it’s not a nail like I thought, but a wart. She trimmed my nail back as far as she could and froze it. 

Here’s the thing, it doesn’t look like a wart. It looks like a fingernail and feels like a fingernail. I have been trimming it back because it grows like a fingernail. I have a follow up in 6 weeks. 

1) Has anyone has a fingernail that grew out from the tip of the nail bed? It’s directly under the damaged line. Or a wart that looks like this? 

2) Has anyone successfully healed nail trauma? Derm suggested trying high potency steroid on the proximal nail fold to reduce inflammation, but didn’t sound too hopeful. I have been dealing with this for 18 months and just want it to heal. 

What is happening to my fingernail? 2 issues - trauma and growth