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Black toenails: how to avoid them?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I cannot remember a season without them. Last season I was lucky, only one toenail and it is just about to fall off with the new nail ready to get a bruising this season.

My boots are the right size and I do properly fasten all buckles. I have quite a bit of horizontal room in the front of the boot and can wriggle my toes quite a bit (which I thought is good for circulation).

However I ski mostly off piste where I need to constantly make some fore and aft adjustments (some more major than others Very Happy ) which then feed through to the feet resulting in the toes hitting the top of the liner/shell and getting bruised.

I spoke to one of the bootfitters at S&R today and he first suggested to reheat the liners (zipfit) which I did not think made any sense as there is no plyable material in the front of the liner. Then he suggested that he could put some foam filler on the bottom of the liner near the toes to reduce space in the front of the boot, but this I think will affect the forward angle of my stance so probably not good for skiing.

In the end I bought some neoprene toe warmers (kind of sock which only covers the front of the foot), apart from keeping my toes toasty, I hope they will also function as a space filler and cushion for my toenails.

Has anyone used these before? For a bit of fabric they are not exactly cheap (£Cool but if they keep my toenails safe then I will be a very happy skier indeed.

edit: should be £eight not cool smiley.
Laughing


Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Wed 7-12-05 20:24; edited 1 time in total
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
snowman, This may not help and I am sure there will be many posts that do but..... switch to boarding!! Razz Razz
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
snowman, firstly cut toenails short so that they do not project foward of the soft fleshy part of the toe, next check how well your ankle is held in the boot, toenails break when your fin thoot slides foward which is often due to the ankle not being properly retained, the neoprene socklets might help a little but in the end it may be easier to find a good bootfitter in the resort and explain the problem to him
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snowman, If you can fit the neoprene 'toe warmers' in your boots then your boots are too big...

If you're determined to get these boots to fit then there are a couple of options that I can suggest, SZK might have more.

Describe the rest of the fit of the boot please. Is there any areas that have room? Do you have any discomfort. Can you feel how the toe nail is being put under pressure.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
snowman, do they take that long to drop off? I made the mistake of playing touch rugby the other week in boots I bought when I was 17 (which is a while ago) and now have four lovely shiney balck toe nails.

I can cope with them through the winter inside my atomics, but us Brighton boys do like to wear our Birkenstocks in the summer. Cool
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black toenails? going for the gothic look? hell yeah!
LOL
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parlor
The boots are Lange Banshees, the stock liners were replaced with the ZipFit liners at the time of purchase (Footworks in Chamonix).
They are a good fit, my feet do not move inside the boot, except for the toes as described above. it is def not a question of long nails and them hitting the front of the boot ( I always cut them before I go skiing).
I am pretty sure that I get the black toenails whilst recovering from the backseat postion, then I put a lot of upwards pressure on the forefoot and the nails bang against the top of the bootshell.

Steve Sparks, I got it back in early February. this year it took longer (normally it's about 6 months) b/c I tried to save the nail (and relieve the pain) by piercing a little hole into the nail and draining the blood....great entertainment for the other chalet guests! You need to do this asap after the bruising happened in order to save the nail.
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
snowman, this happened to me last season in Whistler. I've had many problems with my right foot and been diagnosed by a podiatrist with Morton's Neuroma (an inflammation of the metatarsils) Anyway, I found that without any linings I didn't get the cramp in my foot from that. However, I did find that I sat back quite a lot (I think I do quite a lot anyway). So because my boot was much looser the toes were pushed up and this gave me bruising of my big toenail. The nail had grown in quite a lot until it dropped off about a month ago and I got through the summer with my toenails intact and nicely painted!! Laughing So it sounds like your toes have a bit too much freedom.

I'm working my way up to getting new boots this season but I'm not looking forward to it as I know it's going to be a long haul.
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have them removed ? best thing I ever done.......... apart from the 6 weeks or so of changing the dressings Evil or Very Mad
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Timberwolf wrote:
have them removed ? best thing I ever done.......... apart from the 6 weeks or so of changing the dressings Evil or Very Mad


Indeed, I have had this done because of continual problems with my big toe nails, so I've had them whipped off!!
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Don't wear tight rock climbing shoes for long gully descents Twisted Evil
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Timberwolf, SammyQ,

Yes, I heard about permanent nail removal....could you please give more info. how much does it cost? I take it that the NHS is not providing this service?
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snowman, removal of the toenail with ablation of the nail bed tends to be used for recurrent ingrowing toe nails, rather than poor fitting boots.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
snowman, I was seeing a Chiropodist for a while through my own choice ( who worked for the NHS part-time ) and she referred me to the local practice where she worked. The procedure itself didn't cost a penny. As I said, it's a bit of a faff for the first few weeks, changing dressings etc but now............ oh, the painfree bliss

FYI, I suffered with permanently bruised nails on my big toes from sporting injuries ( resulting in a 'thickening' of the nail ) so they just whipped them off
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
snowman, they do but it's the cut-price procedure using lots of cheap whisky and some long nose pliers
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I can't believe your boots can be fitting properly as I have incredibly sensitive feet, ski hard but yet have never had blisters or black toenails!
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I used to get black nails, which was due to my skis and boots outskiing me, and part of my attempt to control was to lift my toes. By softening my boots, and getting more appropriate skis, I haven't had the problem since.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Wear The Fox Hat,

Thanks for that - It probably explains why I had bruised toenails two years ago, and then less so last year. Maybe this year I'll catch up with my kit. (well I can live in hope!). Smile
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Wear The Fox Hat, Interesting theory - I also get just one bruised toenail and I bet bet my boots and skis grumble to each other every night that they are wonderful at skiing and its just me that holds them back! wink
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Wear The Fox Hat, Dumb question alert. When you say 'soften your boots' are you talking about the flex?
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By a curious coincidence there is an identical thread on T tips. Must be a start of the seaason thing.

Some other solutions here
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Tippex.
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
geetee, Yeah, my bootfitter (Bud Heismann from Reno) skiied with me, and he then "modified" my cuffs so I could flex them forward easier.

For "modified" read "took an angle grinder to them".
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geetee, here's pics of what was done... in this thread
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Wear The Fox Hat, hmmm interesting. A guy at Profeet removed the thingy that controls hard/soft flex from my boot so they're completely soft but I also had the shells blown out by George McC in Whistler when I first bought them as they were like vices on my feet (Rossignol Free Rides - the black and white ones) I think the combination of all that plus removing the footbed has made them far too soft and loose. I think because of that it's encouraging me to fall into my toilet stance rolling eyes and so pushing my toes up. However, I didn't get foot cramp once, just a black toenail. I'm in Whistler this season so I'm psyching myself up to starting from scratch and getting new boots. Wish me luck!
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Wear The Fox Hat, I've done that to people's boots (and mine) on a number of occasions. Works well - but most people don't like the idea one little bit! rolling eyes
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
geetee, my boots still fit me very snugly indeed (ask any of my friends who I sometimes have to recruit to help remove them at the end of the day), but by being able to flex forward more, I can use my feet and legs to work the ski, instead of curling up my toes.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
easiski, you know it's a bad day when YOU are doing the same thing as ME! Wink

As for getting modifications like that done to your boots, well, put it like this: people drill holes in the walls of their houses and put up shelves, etc to get the right feel/look in the house. Why not do the same with a pair of boots that cost 1/1000th of the price!
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