?I did my first half last weekend (Disneyland half) and now I have two toenails hanging on by a thread. Basically just the nail bed holding them on. I really want to start running again, or at least put regular shoes on! How long does it hurt, is it much better after the toenail actually falls off?
I had absolutely zero issues while training, and I have shoes that are a 1/2 size larger, and I wear moisture wicking socks. I think I will try buying my shoes a full size larger next time. Part of the issue too was the fact that I live in Seattle and the race was in Southern California. I’m not used to that heat and my feet and hands swelled a ton! My fingers looked like sausages.
I’ve had many many toenail issues so I feel your pain. Was the race downhill? Those can be murder on the toes, even if they are sized properly. I have used aquaphor on my toes before instead of bodyglide since it was easier to get it on. I’m not sure if it helped much, maybe a little. My second toes are longer than my big toes, so I almost always have black toenails no matter what I do, but things did improve when I was fit with new shoes at a local running store. Have you had your gait analyzed? I also wear shoes with a larger toe box and they sized me up 1 1/2 sizes . I would say go to the experts at your local running store and have them make suggestions on shoes for you. Good luck!
I will wrap my toes with medical tape, the fabric kind that you use for gauze. I have problems with my second toes as well. I cut a small strip of a cotton face cleaning pad (you know, the circles, for removing makeup or whatever) and run parallel with my toe and over the tip. Then I wrap with the fabric tape, just one layer of tape, most of the length of my toe. It feels a bit funny at first, but it cushions the toes enough that they don’t hurt, and prevents them from bruising more. They are truly awesome. They are silicone caps you jsut slip over your toes. You can use them both for prevention if you are prone to the black toe, or for buffer/cushion when you are running with a fresh black toe. I always wear them on long runs when my shoes are nearing replacement time.
After my back injury and the subsequent shifts in my biomechanics, I wound up in a size 9D shoe because of how my toes splay. (I measure a 7.5 on a shoe chart, and all my non run shoes are a regular width.)
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