Bruised toenails

[Shimmer]

To all the knowledgeable people out there

 

I've never had any pointe-related foot problems but thanks to a significant increase in pointework (and a second toe that has mysteriously grown longer than my big toe despite them being the same length for the last two decades) I have got a bruised nail. It's just a little bruise at the base of the nail on my second toe and has got slighly bigger since I first noticed it a couple of days ago. It wasn't worrying me until I read that you are supposed push a red-hot paperclip through the nail to release the blood otherwise the nail will fall off. Do I need to panic and whip out my paperclips?

[Sheila Beelam]

I have no medical expertise but can offer bruised nail experience!

I've found that my bruised or damaged toe nails grow out in their own time and often another nail grows underneath, so if the damaged nail falls off, there's a fresh new one underneath - so no panic and no hot paper clips!

[FullContretemps]

Echo what Justballet said. I almost permanently have a little bruise under each of my big toenails but when I don't do pointe for a while it just grows out, occasionally with an extra bit of nail underneath. Panic not!

[Fiz]

I have a bruise on my big toe and am losing the nail but from nothing as glamorous as pointe work. My daughter's photo took a dive from the window ledge onto my foot while I was dusting it about six months ago

Edited November 10, 2012 by Fiz

[Anjuli_Bai]

Definitely no hot paper clips or anything else.

 

You can wrap a bandaid around it before doing pointe to give it some extra protection.

 

Having the second toe a bit longer than the big toe is not ususual. There are some teachers who feel this makes the student ineligible for pointe work. However, that has not been my experience. I've had a number of students dance sucessfully on pointe with this condition. You might try putting a bit of padding, such as lamb's wool, at the end of the big toe to take some of the pressure off the seccond toe. The padding would make up for the big toe being a bit shorter.

[Shimmer]

Thanks everyone, I will put the panicking on hold! I have always been proud of my perfect-for-ballet three toes of the exact same length but in the last few months both my second toes have somehow grown longer. I will try padding my big toes wih some lambs wool and see if it helps.

[Anna C]

Have your shoes been refitted recently Shimmer? Might be worth getting them checked if you feel that your feet have changed recently.

[Sheila Beelam]

Don't worry shimmer my second toes are longer than my big toes and I pad with animal wool as anjuli suggested.

You can also use the pads in a kit by Gaynor Minden called "totally toes". There are various different shaped pads and are specifically for a shorter big toe. You stick the tiny pads inside your shoe where the big toe ends to even up the toe line.

Longer 2nd toes don't need to mean trouble with pointe, I've had about 6 blisters in 20 years of pointe!

Sx

 

Edited to add there are a variety of gel pads in the set - not just the ones for shorter big toes, but other shapes for other toe issues!

Edited November 10, 2012 by Just Ballet