For those not in the know, runners who wear shoes often get bruised toenails from the mechanics of running while shod. The forces inside the shoe cause the nail to eventually bruise, turn black, die and fall off. I've never had it happen, but I've heard it can sometimes be very painful.Dear reader, toenails dying and falling off are another indicator that shoes may not the best thing for so many runners -- "well-fitting" shoes or not. You shouldn't have to struggle to find just the right shoe to avoid getting black nails. You shouldn't have to compromise parts of your body for a sport. It's WRONG.
And by the way: No, ladies, painting your nailless toes with nail polish isn't a good way to mask it either. That polish usually contains nasty chemicals that should never make contact with your skin.
Interestingly enough, barefoot runners don't get black toenails because there's no shoe to screw up the nails in the first place. Add to that the scientific evidence showing less forces on the body via a forefoot strike and anecdotal evidence of less injury, and barefoot running looks more appealing all the time.
Have you ever gotten black nails from running? Was it with regular shoes or minimalist shoes? What are your thoughts on black nails as a side effect of running shod? I welcome your comments below.
Photo: Bijak.org
I have personally never got them myself, but because I work with a ton of athletes, I've seen it a few too many times.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely from their shoes/cleats. Always banging their toes up against the top. It can get quite ugly. Blood blisters underneath the nail. Yeah, not pretty.
Shoe-wearing-people... such silly folk.
My wife and I ran our first marathon in November. She wearing her high-priced, super-supportive Asics and I in my VFF KSOs. She's a much faster runner than I with greater endurance. Overall, her finish time was far ahead of me; but I walked away with sore legs for 1.5 days. She walked away with a week of soreness and 2 black toenails (the respective "big" toes). She only lost 1 of the nails (so far). The other is still very charcoal and we can't yet determine its ultimate fate.
ReplyDeleteI've tried time and again to reason with her on the logic of barefooting; she simply responds that it is not for her.
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ReplyDeleteI am currently training for my first barefoot marathon and have been running barefoot for a year and a half now. Loosing toenails continues to be a problem for me. The picture above could be my feet as I loose the same toe as the unfortunate person in the picture. By taping the problem toes I am hoping to reduce the frequency of lose. Zola Bud had the same issue and taped her toes. It is the length of the toe that is the problem. My second toe is slightly longer and takes a pounding being out front, an common problem for many runners shod or barefoot. I believe by going barefoot I have reduced injury but I have not been spared from black toes :)
ReplyDeleteI run and play beach flag football. I play beach flag football barefoot and don't understand why I still get black toenails even when no one steps on my feet or runs into me, etc?
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