Runners often lament that they get black toenails. I’m not sure anyone’s pinpointed the exact cause of black toenails, the painful blood blisters under the nails. Ill-fitting shoes, downhill running, anatomy, swelling in the heat, lack of nail trimming, plain bad luck, some combination thereof? I do follow the advice to prevent black toenails: getting fitted for a proper size running shoe with enough room in the toe box, wearing wicking running socks, and trimming my toenails to the point they don’t look fantastic in this Southern California flip-flop wearing culture.
Still, I think the main reason I haven’t fallen victim to the dreaded black toe is that I simply haven’t reached a high enough running mileage. I don’t think I’m immune to it, and I like to tempt fate with my own little inside joke for runners:
Tempting fate by painting my toenails black
I used my 10-year-old’s non-toxic Piggy Paint to paint my nails black. It makes me smile every time I slip on my running shoes!
Do you get black toenails? What have you done to treat and/or prevent them?
Fit Fun Mom 