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Butcher's Dog! Regular
outdoor fitness tips from the canine on creatine. Cold wet
nose and glossy coat guaranteed.
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
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