Pre-Summer Foot Care – Part 2 – Toenails

Summer means sandals and flip flops, and going barefoot. All of those means your toes are in full display – which means your toenails should be well cared for. By that, I do not mean they have to be polished, but clean and trimmed.
     How hard can it be to trim your toenails? In all the years I have been patching feet, I have observed that untrimmed toenails are the number one cause of problems leading to toe blisters and black nails. Socks will catch on nails that are too long or that have rough edges. This puts pressure on the nail bed, leading to blisters under the toenails, at the tips of the toes, or painful toenails as they are pushed back into the cuticle. Nails that are too long are also prone to pressure from a toebox that is too short or too low. The toenails in this photo belong to an ultrarunner who successfully completed the Atacama Crossing, a seven-day foot race in Chile. Even at the end, here toe looked great.
     Toenails should be trimmed regularly, straight across the nail—never rounded at the corners. Leave an extra bit of nail on the outside corner of the big toe to avoid an ingrown toenail. After trimming toenails, use a nail file to smooth the top of the nail down toward the front of the toe and remove any rough edges. If you draw your finger from the skin in front of the toe up across the nail and can feel a rough edge, the nail can be filed smoother or trimmed a bit shorter. Remember though, the shorter you trim your nails, the greater the likelihood that you will experience an ingrown toenail. Conversely, nails that are too long can rub against the front of your shoes and catch on your socks, which can lead to a black toenail, wear holes in your socks, cut into other toes, and crack the nail when you run downhill. Shoes that are too tight in the forefoot or too short can cause the nail to press into the sides of the toe.
     Use a regular nail file or emery board from your drug store, you know, those cheap “use it a few times and toss it” file. Better yet, invest a few bucks in a nice metal file that will last a long time and serve you well. If you need clippers, there are regular large clippers and for thick nails, and nippers and scissors made exclusively for toenails. If your local drug store or pharmacy doesn’t have them, check out FootSmart.com for a great selection.
     A little bit of care in toenail trimming goes a long ways in preventing toe blisters and black toenails, which means they will look good in sandals, flip flops and barefoot.