Red & Black Toenail? (kind of gross)

sarahliftsUP

I am getting ready to go to the gym for my next HIIT running session and decide to trim up the toenails only to notice that one looks funny. On further inspection, I notice that my big toenail is red/blackish.. It was hard to see because of my nail polish.

It doesn't hurt but a couple of days ago it was throbbing.. I don't know why I didn't have a look at it but I just figured it was from running and didn't think anything of it.

Has anyone ever experienced this? I figure it's from running in too tight of sneakers.. I really want to run again but am afraid that it will make it worse. What should I do? I don't have a family doctor or anything so I can't make an appointment. Just from browsing on the web on running sites, they are quite common for runners.. and the inevitable is that my toenail is going to fall off (ew). Just over half of it is red/black..

Any advice or past experiences with this would be great. Thanks in advance.

travelgirl96

sorry to hear about your sore toe. you may want to soak it in warm water with hydrogen peroxide. i had something similar happen to my finger nail and it sure did hurt! soak it several times a day and add mild pressure and massage it with your finger tip. good luck!

cmrich0511

You probably bruised it pretty good.. and that's never fun! I do that with mine quite frequently, and I started having problems with mine when I was running in old tennis shoes (I had them for over 5 yrs lol). I remedied that by buying new shoes specifically for running, and I got some tips online that suggested I buy them a little big so there's extra toe room so I bought mine 1/2 size up.

schobert101

Very common in runners. You may need bigger shoes and you may well lose the nail but it will grow back. Nothing serious and nothing to worry about. I lose about one per year, more common after longer races or it there are hills where your toes may be hitting the end of the shoe on the downhills.

sarahliftsUP

Thanks everyone. I guess it's just one of those things that comes with being a runner!

sprinkies

eek i don't like the sound of that! i have one toe that rubs against my shoe, maybe i'll go and buy new ones ASAP so i don't lose a toenail! that's one of my biggest fears hahaha

glfprncs2

As a previous posted stated, don't be surprised if one day that toenail falls off because a new one had been growing underneath. If you bruised it really badly, that's generally what happens. Lost both of mine one winter when I was fitted into ski boots that were TOTALLY not for my foot type. After 30 days of agony (and a new boot fitter), I chose new ski boots, but lost both big toe nails about 3 weeks later. They looked quite lovely!