Black Toenail

catbrand
catbrand Posts: 227 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I want to start by saying that I have seen a Dr about this, it's fine, but I just wanted some other people's experiences.

I injured my toe kickboxing a few weeks ago and my big toenail turned black and my part of the toe has gone numb. I understand this is quite a common injury for runners and it's likely my toenail will fall off :sick:

So my question is, do all black toenails fall off? Mine feels firmly attached and it's been injured quite a while (I don't know how long it's been black for as I had nail varnish on it) So I've got my fingers crossed that it might just heal on it's own.Has anyone had one not fall off?

Replies

  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    I remember from another thread and also my friends thumb that it doesn't always fall off and can just grow out. its much better that way so you dont have all that tasty toe meat exposed for craps and seagulls and the like.

    I think if it feels a little detached its better to tape it up to make sure it stays on. I think. lol.
  • bufger
    bufger Posts: 763 Member
    I injured my toe but the nail didnt go black or show any signs of injury, a couple of days later it completely fell off! Its really weird having a toe without a nail but they grow back really quickly. It doesnt hurt either, i was just putting my sock on and was like 'oh wow, theres my whole toe nail!!!' The wife wasnt so impressed when i showed her
  • pabscabs
    pabscabs Posts: 61 Member
    Hi,

    They have always fallen out for me. It can take months and it doesn't hurt. Also it grows back stronger and nagrier than ever !!!

    Pabs
  • titanium96
    titanium96 Posts: 153 Member
    I have two from running and both have remained but started growing thicker and almost like two layers.
  • catbrand
    catbrand Posts: 227 Member
    Haha, this thread has made me feel loads better!! Nikilis: 'Tasty toe meat' :laugh: I'm still giggling!

    It completely freaked me out, I thought my toe had gone numb from working on my feet all day then I was taking my nail varnish off the other day and I was like WTF?? That's not right!! It took me ages to remember what I'd done to it lol. The thought of losing a toenail is not pleasing me at all, I'm not bothered about the pain, it just sounds gross!
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    I've had black toe nails before. They don't always fall off, more often they just grow out, although it seems to take forever!
  • CarsonRuns
    CarsonRuns Posts: 3,039 Member
    If it's going to fall off, a new nail will start to grow underneath and that will push the black, dead toenail up and off the nail bed.
  • LoosingMyLast15
    LoosingMyLast15 Posts: 1,457 Member
    i have one now from running my last race. even though the black is gone i'm still waiting for it to fall off. oh well. that's why we have dark nail polish.
  • drusilla126
    drusilla126 Posts: 478 Member
    My toenails turned black just from wearing a pair of heels that were too high I guess. I'm still waiting for them to grow out or fall off (I hope not) and it's been months.
  • Christine1110
    Christine1110 Posts: 1,786 Member
    When I ran....this happened to me. A new nail was growing under the black one...and one day it started coming off. There was a brand new shinny clear nail under....but it took about 6-8 moths for it to happen : )

    Good lck
  • NicolaMapp
    NicolaMapp Posts: 27 Member
    I have two from running and both have remained but started growing thicker and almost like two layers.

    ^^ This. The same from running for me, although I think shoes the wrong size were to blame!!!!
  • fatboymax
    fatboymax Posts: 90
    I've had black toe nails before. They don't always fall off, more often they just grow out, although it seems to take forever!

    ^ this... my last toe nail hung on for dear life and had to pull it off (TMI?). I stubbed it on a post playing beach volleyball. It was quite gross for awhile!
  • umer76
    umer76 Posts: 1,272 Member
    In my experience it will take time to fall off but it will sooner or later. New toe nail will come healthy as before and you will never know the difference.
  • kellehbeans
    kellehbeans Posts: 838 Member
    They can fall off, but they can definitely grow out too! I had a black toenail for a very long time (my toenails take forever to grow), it took like a year to grow out! I don't even remember how I done it, but it definitely didn't fall off!
  • larosita57
    larosita57 Posts: 60 Member
    I get this problem a lot when I'm marathon training. The whole nail won't fall off - more like the top layer. It takes forever though!
  • dare2love81
    dare2love81 Posts: 928 Member
    I injured my toe but the nail didnt go black or show any signs of injury, a couple of days later it completely fell off! Its really weird having a toe without a nail but they grow back really quickly. It doesnt hurt either, i was just putting my sock on and was like 'oh wow, theres my whole toe nail!!!' The wife wasnt so impressed when i showed her

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    It'll probably fall off. But it depends on how much of the toenail bed is black. If it's only a little bit, you might be okay. But when it happened to me from a volleyball injury, it was about 50% black and it fell off, but it took awhile - quite a few weeks if I remember right.
  • ekz13
    ekz13 Posts: 725 Member
    here's what I read when I got mine.. seemed to hold true..

    http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/injury_archives/black_toe.html
  • SuffolkSally
    SuffolkSally Posts: 964 Member
    Mine just grew out - it did take a very long time though. I'd dropped a building block right on the nail bed, which I think slowed things up more than a runner's injury might do.
  • hummus40
    hummus40 Posts: 72
    If it's going to fall off, a new nail will start to grow underneath and that will push the black, dead toenail up and off the nail bed.

    mine had done this three times this year...and that is exactly what happens...its actually going thru that process right now...the new one is growing under and pushing the old black nail up...it will come off...(it was firmly attached at the start of this process)...since i have been long distancing again it is a common occurrence; hence doesn't:laugh: freak me out anymore
  • ryrob1721
    ryrob1721 Posts: 6 Member
    I had a similar prob. It was not due to working out though another reson but both my toenails turned black I didn't realize it until I took my nail polish off but if its fresh you can take a paperclip, heat it and burn a hole through your nail it will drain all the dead blood out and that should help. It sounds painful but I heard its not. I injured mine in march and they did not fall off until the beginning of summer. They are now just about fully grown in.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    Black to falling off, 3 months. New toenail grown in, a total of 6 months. It will fall of when the new one grows out enough to push it off. Keep the empty nailbed clean and wear soft socks ( I was lucky it was summer) under soft shoes. Don't try and paint it. It it gets dry, use lotion or oils to add moisture (suggest Berts Bees foot cream). It was a total of 6 months from injury to the time I needed to clip my nail again.
  • MireyGal76
    MireyGal76 Posts: 7,334 Member
    My toe and toenail were hurting for the longest time, but the toenail never went black. I kept feeling like it wanted to come off, but it wouldn't. About three months later it let out a massive ooze (ewwwww), and then the top nail separated. It was bugging me, so I clipped off the top layer and the bottom is coming in.

    Sadly though, even a pedicure won't make that puppy look nice.

    I LOVE RUNNING! haha
  • Lisah8969
    Lisah8969 Posts: 1,247 Member
    I lose a toenail or two (once even three) after every big race. They don't turn black, but basically as others have said, just one day it will come off in one piece. it feels "wrong" until then, but not painful. I always have my toes polished or I would probably notice sooner that it was going to come off. They grow back...it just takes a LONG time...especially the big toe. Most likely your new nail is already growing in underneath and when the old one finally comes off, you will already have something to put polish on so it isn't a big "void" of color on that toe.

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