so i have done 6 IMs but never had a toenail injury ever. i had my sock too tight and binding the toe and didn’t deal with it until the 3rd lap of the run (stupid i know). so the top of the toe is super swollen and discolored. the top of the nail seems to be coming away but bottom looks good. dr. google says both do nothing and have nail removed. it hurts like a motherfucker. i live in the tropics so per dr. google infection seems to be a concern?
advice?
oh, also i need to ride home today (about 15km). should i just tape it? i can’t imagine the pain of removing the tape though, so halp. maybe i can just try riding in chanclas instead of cycling shoes…
Use a band aid to hold it on. Put the gauze portion on the nail and it wont stick. Life will start to get easier as soon as it falls off. And it goes with out saying, keep it clean and dry.
If it’s hurting, chances are there is some fluid build up. You can ‘lance’ it with a clean needle, which will reduce the fluid and pain. After a while it will just fall off and you’ll be better off.
I wish I didn’t have toenails on my big toes as I go through this process after most IM’s or marathons - have changed shoes, sizes, socks, etc, but it still happens.
Go get it removed. It’s inexpensive and it will heal much faster.
In the meantime you can by “hurt free” tape. It sticks to itself but nothing else.
It’s even cheaper to just pull it off yourself. It will hurt like a son of a gun but if you grit your teeth it will be over soon. The exposed raw skin will be agonizing for about a week after but it will toughen up and then you will be good to go.
Go get it removed. It’s inexpensive and it will heal much faster.
In the meantime you can by “hurt free” tape. It sticks to itself but nothing else.
It’s even cheaper to just pull it off yourself. It will hurt like a son of a gun but if you grit your teeth it will be over soon. The exposed raw skin will be agonizing for about a week after but it will toughen up and then you will be good to go.
I would just leave it as it is (do nothing). It’ll stop hurting in another day or two. Just wear flip flops rather than closed shoes til it stops hurting, and be careful putting socks on, so you don’t snag the loose part of the nail.
Re riding home today, put a band aid over it so it won’t catch on anything. The next time you shower, the band aid will fall off on its own. Voila – no need to remove tape.
I have a recurring issue with one toenail (the other 9 have never been an issue), where I damage it, it hurts like hell for up to a week, then it dies or scabs, then it falls off, then it regrows and then the cycle repeats every 3 or 4 months. I’ve never tried to address it - it’s only that one week a few times a year where it’s painful.
I had the same issue this year and in my case the nail got dislodged from the root (or whatever it’s called) and eventually started to show signs of infection. I got it removed and I was back to running in 3 days. At that point it was really just attached to the skin at the base so the removal part was easy. If the nail is still attached at the root the pain will probably go away and it will eventually fall off on its own… it could take weeks or months. I had one that fell off after 8 months.
thanks everyone! youse guys are a great help! i’m going to see what happens in the next couple days. Eileen - the only time i wear shoes here is for running so no problem there! I have a surgery tomorrow so i’ll see what that doc thinks too.
Your doc can put down some stuff to kill the nailbed so it never grows back. I had it done on one of my my big toes 10 years ago and haven’t had problems since. The whole thing takes about 10 minutes and you can walk home.
yeah, i think its a type of carbolic acid they use to prevent regrowth. I know some ultrarunners have toenails removed permanently, but I’m not there yet
Trust me, go get it removed. Especially since you said it is pulling away from the skin. The nail is probably already shot anyway so all that it will do is continue to irritate the area.
As other mentioned, there are a variety of ways to deal with it but getting it removed (professionally) is by far the best IMHO. I just had this happen 2 months ago. On one foot I had a toe nail that was separating from the skin and on the other foot my big toe nail was still connected but black underneath. The one connected was good to go with no treatment. The one that pulled away caused me incredible pain for 4 weeks…walking was hard enough, running was out of the question. I finally gave up, went and had it removed, was back running 2 days later.
maybe i can just try riding in chanclas instead of cycling shoes…