Black toes - eeww

[Sarah-A]

My toes (one on each foot) have been feeling sore over the last few days and today the nails are black

I thought it may have been my nails being too long - checked- nope.

Perhaps with the heat my feet have swelled and some extra pressure running has caused it? Or maybe it's my steelies that I have been wearing in the office instead of when I just popping into the factory?

I'm not sure, but they are mega painful

As a kid I remember my Dad having black toe nails from running and I used to think "eeew - gross" and now I am the gross one. Ha ha

Thank goodness I can can cover them with some pretty nail polish - but any advise on treatment/pain relief?

[Steve_L Graduate]

I've got one of those - it came during my run last thursday in new running socks. They somehow felt a bit more constricting than my others. I'm just waiting to see what happens to it!

[Sarah-A Graduate in reply to Steve_L]

I actually have been wearing some new socks too....

They are a lot thicker than the others (thin wicking) i'm used to. Perhaps related?

[Steve_L Graduate in reply to Sarah-A]

Quite possibly!

[Zev1963 Graduate]

Eeeek that sounds like a shoe problem. runnersworld.com/tag/black-...

[Zev1963 Graduate]

and running.about.com/od/common...

[Zev1963 Graduate]

Have you been running down hill ?

[Irishprincess Graduate]

Your shoes might be too small. Running shoes should be a half or full size bigger than your everyday shoes. Or you might be doing a lot of running down hills?

I had the same thing once from skiing not running but there's not a lot you can do in the meantime. The pain does go quite quickly and they look worse than they feel! My biggest gripe was I couldn't wear stroppy (oops strappy) shoes all summer.

Look on the bright side. Black toenails are a real badge of honour for runners.

[TurboTortoise Graduate]

Ow, I've never had a black toenail and never want one! It does sound like a shoe issue, with the correct fitting shoes this shouldn't happen at all. As for treatment I think you just have to wait for the nail to grow out, unfortunately.

[AncientMum Graduate]

Definitely sounds like your shoes are too small OR too small when you wear your new thicker socks. I'm afraid you're going to have to wait until they fall off *winces*

[Sarah-A Graduate]

I did have my shoes fitted when i bought them albeit a few years now (due to long period of non-running).

They are half a size larger than my usual size - so maybe I need a full size then really?

[rmnsuk Graduate]

If it's down to shoes this may help the problem in the short term

youtube.com/watch?v=1CaG_P-...(Not working as expected?)

just a way to re-lace your shoes to relieve a little bit of the pressure.

I imagine it's because your foot is slipping forward and banging on the toe cap, so make sure your shoes are snug enough to prevent it happening.

[Sarah-A Graduate in reply to rmnsuk]

Thank you - i'll give that a go.