Missing Nails

Hi Everyone,

Has anyone got any tips for protecting sore toes after you have lost nails? I parted company with one of my nails back in April, it's about 2/3rds grown in again but I noticed that it can be quite sensitive when running very steep downhill sections as the exposed skin gets pressed against the tip of my trainer. I was thinking maybe a padded plaster or one of those foam toe protector things might help - has anyone tried them?

I've got a hilly 14 mile race coming up in August so would like to find a solution before then

Thank you!

Have you tried Savlon on your toes? I lost my little toenail at london and since then - i've used savlon to keep the nail soft and supple whilst it's growing back and i dont have any issues with it hurting.

I haven't but will give it a go, thanks Emmy  It's my big toenail so there's a lot of tender skin that isn't usually exposed now taking a battering.

Yeah - I had the same issue a few years ago. I can't remember where I read about savlon but it seemed to work a treat. I hope that it helps!

Make sure your trainers are a half size larger then normal, it is annoying when trainers look huge and you have to learn to adapt to them but the fact is your feet swell when running and at least a half size is needed to adapt for that.

 Also wear padded sports socks. This will help prevent rubbing which can cause blisters and also blood blisters which lie under toe nails which ends up with your nails falling off (though not the only reason for black toe nails it is a very common one).

When I lost my toe nails I wore padded plasters but ended up distorting my foot (I had one toe on each foot raised due to being wrapped in a few padded plasters) which resulted in a knock on injury elsewhere so be aware how subtle changes can be to make things better or worse for yourself!

**winces** You lost your big toe nail? That must have hurt like a bugger! 

If I was in your position, I think I'd buy a new pair of running shoes a size bigger than the ones I normally wore before I had the nail problem. And make sure I laced them up nice and tight. That way there'd be no bumping or rubbing between my toes and the inside of the shoe.

And maybe make sure I was running in decent trail shoes with toughened toes to make sure tripping over roots or stones didn't bump the nail through the shoes either. Or is it just a hilly road race you're running?

I never lost a nail yet, but I did have a horrible blister that took up the whole end of my 2nd toe, and a bruise under the nail. It's healed now, but the nail is still extra sensitive to bumps and the new skin is very quick to blister up again.

jennn and runs_with_dogs - sorry about the lack of response for months, for some reason I took off the email notifications on this thread.

The nail has FINALLY grown back all the way, so I can wear open toe shoes again (how practical in November!)  I ended up getting trainers half a size bigger and avoiding hills for a while, I needed sooo much convincing to leave out hill training So far, no repeat bruised nails.

It wasn't too painful actually, just a bit tender when pressure was on it. The worst thing was the kind of sick feeling I got when the nail first came off, it's really unpleasant to witness