Ouch my big toenail!

[TrekJeni]

I've decided to put this in the cycling forum but I guess it applies to my everyday life too.

Facts


Every pair of shoes I own - dress, athletic, cycling, steel toes, etc wear out first on the inside top where the big toes goes.
When I run or walk, my toes swing upward creating over time, holes
I have tried to consciously think about scrunching my toes when I walk to retrain them, but I don't seem to be able to


I've got somewhere around 1000 miles in for the year (which I think is less than last year actually) and am starting to expereince toenail pain. My friends and I whipped out a decent 100 miles on Sunday. I also had women's crit practice on Saturday followed with mens/womens 40 miler aftewards and then did an easy 25 mile recovery ride Monday. I skipped last night's ride, which I never do because my stupid big toe on my left foot hurts. If you press on the nail, it feels almost like a bee sting. As soon as you stop applying pressure, the pain goes away. The pain hasn't gotten any better either since being off the bike.

Obviously, I'm going to look at some new shoes as I've had these going on two years now but really, it's never hurt like this before. I'm sure it was attributed to the fact my big toes must have been pointed to the sky for those 165 miles! But again, why didn't I feel this way last year?

Anyone else have funky issues when they walk? I haven't been able to find the magic words on google to tell me how to correct it or if there is something special I can do about it. Guess I'm a freak! :D :eek: :D

[li10up]

Maybe your toenail has thickened over the past year and may be rubbing more than before. You could try making a doughnut out of some thick moleskin (may need a couple of layers) and placing the cutout over the nail to prevent rubbing. Could be worth a try. I lost a toenail once to a backpacking trip...that hurts! Hope you get it worked out.

[Trek420]

Maybe your toenail has thickened over the past year and may be rubbing more than before. You could try making a doughnut out of some thick moleskin (may need a couple of layers) and placing the cutout over the nail to prevent rubbing. Could be worth a try. I lost a toenail once to a backpacking trip...that hurts! Hope you get it worked out.

Disclosure: absolutely no medical training background or knowledge, zero, zilch, nada .... see a podiatrist or sportsmed I guess.

I lost a toenail in a martial arts training. Dayuhm that hurt. :(

It grew back just much much thicker. The injury also caused thickening at the big toe "knuckle" don't know what that part's called.

For cycling I've always worn ATB shoes. Room at the toe was not an issue.

Smartfeet "berry" insoled work well for me. I also tried to keep the nail clipped but it still was thicker and hard to keep short.

Then I got Sidi MTB shoes, roomier than their road shoes they are narrower at the toe than my trusty ol' Shimanos.

Now whadoIdo?

First both Spazzdog and Knotted advised that I not "clip" the toe unless I have an industrial power sander (just kidding TE REALLY) instead use a nail file to gently gently file it down a little each day.

That helps.

Next your Dr., PT, sports med can show you how to gently stretch the joint.

IMHO I don't think you want the toes clenched....or pointy....toes should be more or less relaxed. Again, no expertise other than the 2nd degree black belt but just movement theory.

Just like riding with your hands clenched or upper body tight wastes motion I think your whole body should be as relaxed as you can be.

If feet are tense your muscles may be "protecting an injury".

You don't want to mess with something that effects your natural gait, movement. While you can get by now in time you start walking or running different which causes muscles to over compensate which causes overuse which....

[VeloVT]

As a runner I know this pain too well :).

You are probably buying your shoes a bit too short (even if it's the size you used to/have always worn, and/or it seems to fit fine in the shoe store, and/or you have other shoes this size that fit).

Remember with running shoes, sizes are all over the map (they're as bad as dress sizes in that regard), and dress/street shoes are only a little better. I have 7.5 street shoes that fit well, and 8.5 running shoes that give me black toenails (they seemed like a good fit in the store...). I also have street shoes that fit well across that whole size range.

Another thing to keep and eye on -- toebox shape and volume. Some athletic shoes either have a pronounced curve, or are extremely straight, and either of these can cause toe problems (for either the smaller toes in the first case, or the big toes in the second) if the variation from your foot shape is too great. Some shoes -- curved or not -- taper significantly in width from the ball of your foot to the toe, which can lead to toe issues. Some toe boxes taper excessively in height/volume (that is to say, the height at the very end is MUCH smaller than the height over your metatarsal area), and this can be a problem too (usually is for me).

Sometimes a badly placed seam or overlay in otherwise well-fitting shoes can cause tremendous grief as well...

A good rule of thumb for running shoes is that, standing or sitting, you shouldn't feel the edges of the shoes or any overlays on any of your toes, and you should have at least a thumb's width of distance between your longest toe and the end of the shoe (if the toebox is low volume you'll need more than this, and may want more anyway). For girly pointy shoes with heels, well, you just have to decide how much discomfort you're willing to bear (I think it's a hard line to find :) )...

Good luck!!!

Oh, are your cycling shoes causing discomfort? I wasn't sure from your post, it sounded more like your cycling shoes are just exacerbating pain from other shoes... But that's something to think about too. Even though cycling shoes can be much tighter/shorter than other shoes, toebox volume is still important.

[F8th637]

Is it possible you have an ingrown toenail from the pressure your shoes seem to be exerting on your big toe? Those things hurt like the ****ens! I have wide feet and before would stubbornly ignore toe/toenail pain. Funnily enough, it wasn't until I got my first pedicure and the woman actually cut my toenails correctly that I stopped getting ingrowns. Maybe wider shoes will give your big toe a bit more room. Let us know when you find something that works for you.

[Python]

I was going to mention ingrown toenail too. I injured my toe at Karate a few years ago (did a very bad kick...ouch!) Didn't think too much of it at the time but ended up getting the pain you describe - like a sharp sting when you put pressure on it. Discovered I had an ingrown toenail. The side of my toenail had curled right under and it has been the very devil to try and straighten out. What I do is keep my toenails really short and gently ease the curled bit out (it does hurt), then trim it off. I've been doing this for a few months now and my toenail is gradually straightening out again. I don't get the pain anymore. Sometimes it was so bad it kept me awake at night.

Definitely see a chiropodist (podiatrist) as they will know what to do.

[KnottedYet]

My toenails just naturally angle up.

So, my shoes all got the hole over the big toe until I started buying 1/2 size larger than before, and buy brands with larger toeboxes. (now they get worn, but I haven't put a hole in a pair of shoes in a long time)

I also wear sandals a lot.

[TrekJeni]

First, thanks for all the replies.

I took my toenail polish off my left big toe, expecting to see some sort of bruise or something. Nothing. Poking, prodding, looking for an ingrown toenail (which I've never had so I thought some of you might be on to something). Again, nothing. Still hurts though.

While walking into work this morning I tried to picture where my toes were in relation to my shoe and foot. I have narrow feet always fit comfortably in my ballet shoes when taking dance. I wear a 7.5 in Nike and an 8 in some other shoes. There is always enough room in the toe box for all my little piggies.

Maybe I'm like Knotted, they just point up naturally.

It's still hurting though, if it hurts after this weekend's century I WILL call my doc for a referral!

Jeni

[KnottedYet]

Sometimes if I don't keep up with my toes and the nails get just a smidge too long the pressure from the shoes will make my nail hurt like you describe. Sometimes it even acts like the edges of the nail bed are very irritated (they'll even get red and a little puffy)

I trim the nail and file it smooth and wear sandals for a couple days, which fixes it just fine.

Is your big toe longer than the toe next to it? (i guess that'd be the pointer toe). I had a shoe guy explain to me that I had size 9.5 big toe, but size 9 other toes; and he told me to buy size 9.5 shoes so my big toe would have the room it was meant to have. That also helped with the nail thing.

[Python]

Just a thought. Last year I had a sharp pain in my other big toe. As the day went on it got worse and worse so I decided to investigate. I saw a tiny black thing just under the toenail so got the tweezers out. To my surprise I pulled out a HAIR just over an inch long:eek: It was one of my dog's hairs:eek: After I removed the hair I didn't have any more problems. Seemingly, hairs getting under toenails is quite common among hairdressers. Just a thought because they can be difficult to spot.