My wife is training for a marathon and she just lost a toe nail due to the running. Is this normal, should she be concerned, does anyone know any common reasons? After chatting with a couple other runners and IM finishers, a few others have lost toe nails as well. Any insight is greatly appreciated!
Although some will say that toenail loss is not normal, others will say its just part of the game. I personally lose the toenail on my second toe of each foot pretty regularly when I’m putting in lots of running mileage. They seem to alternate. Just as the left one is healing up, the right one falls off.
The second toes on my feet do protrude slightly beyond my big toe, which is potentially the reason. Even though I size up my running shoes, it still seems to happen.
Also, tell her to make sure her toenails are cut short.
My rule of thumb is one toenail lost per each 10 miles running a week.
I had two left after my last marathon.
common and no big deal. As mentioned, cut nails short. Make sure her shoes aren’t too small OR too big. Either can make this worse.
Good timing! Check out my blog…
Jodi
ps. Are her shoes too small? Might want to size up 1/2 size because feet swell during long runs
Here are my feet after the marathon at Ironman Kore duh Lane:
I’ll probably lose 7 of those little piggy covers, and lost 1 in my build up. Enjoy your lunch.
Yes! This is normal and fun! Watch it go black and then a few weeks later it will just lift away revealing the new toe nail underneath. Wake up the kids and call the neighbors and show them!
No, it’s not normal if you know what you are doing and can be completely avoided. I lost three nails my first marathon and none on my last one or the last IM.
Just keep them cut short - especially in the corners. No need to go through losing nails and risk the pain or infection.
With all due respect, your shoes don’t fit. I have done 12,000 foot descents with 80 lbs. on my back and my feet didn’t look like that. Seriously.
Lost a toe nail after my first marathon. Got a bigger pair of shoes for IMMOO and was fine. I think people have a tendency to get shoes that are a bit too small for them.