Black Toes And What To Do With Them

Black Toes...

Poor humans, poor paws... We're not by the way, talking about frost bite here, though the latter stages of that will involve the previously frozen extremeties of your tootsies turning black and falling off, nope, this is about those ugly black toe nail effects familiar to long distance runners, walkers and climbers who've taken their rock boot fitting a size or so too small.

What causes it?

Generally it's impact or overtight footwear. With walkers it's often a direct result of a boot with insufficient toe space allowing your toes to bang into the end of the boot when going downhill, with climbers it's often down to overtight rock boot fitting. The impact or pressure causes bruising and bleeding under the toe nail with no escape route for the trapped blood, which leads to sometimes painful swelling and the discoloration of the underside of the toe nail.

What can you do?

If you're having problems with swelling, the classic answer is to sterilise the end of a paper clip, heat it with a lighter flame - straighten it out first - then carefully make a small hole in the nail to allow the trapped blood to escape and stop the swelling. Afterwards treat the hole with antiseptic ointment. If you're queasy about making holes in your toe nails with red hot paper clips, go and see a chiropodist. Alternatively, you may be able to release the fluid by probing gently under the nail.

If the toe was left for longer than around a day and the discoloration covers most of the nail bed, the chances are that the nail will fall off within the next couple of months. Don't panic, a new nail will grow in its place, but may take around a year to fully form. In less serious cases, the discoloration will simply grow out with the nail.

Prevention

With walking boots and running shoes, make sure you have enough toe space that your toes don't contact the front of the shoe when going downhill. If you're a rock climber, don't be tempted to go overboard on snugness and remember that in hot weather and late in the day, your feet will swell, so what feels comfortable in cool, autumnal England in the morning may be unendurably tight on Spanish summer afternoons.

If your feet are still sliding forwards - many good boot fitters now have simulated indoor slopes to check this - it may be that your foot isn't being held securely by the lacing system. A volume adjusting insole or, more likely, an insert under the tongue may be enough to hold your foot better, alternatively, you may have to try a different boot. If you're lucky though, simply lacing the boot more firmly or even altering the lacing pattern may be enough.

Anything else?

Some podiatrists believe that tightness in the calf muscles is a contrinutory factor in some cases and suggest calf-muscle stretching may help. Some black toenails may also be due to a fungal infection. If it's frostbite, chances are that you'll know all about it.

Happy paper clips...

The Butcher's Dog