Getting My Foot Fixed

Tips For Preventing And Treating Runner's Toe

If you've started long-distance running or training for a marathon, you want to protect your feet and ankles as best as you can to prevent an injury. Foot injuries are common in runners. All it takes is the wrong shoes or rolling your foot on a rock to put you on the sidelines. One common injury that you're likely to encounter when you run frequently is called runner's toe or jogger's toe. Here's some information about the condition and what you can do to prevent and treat it.

Runner's Toe Causes A Black Toenail

Runner's toe is a condition where your toenail turns black due to bleeding under the nail. This usually happens to your longest toe whether it's a middle toe or your big toe. It's common in runners because of the way athletic shoes are made and because of the way your feet shift in shoes as you run. Your longest toe may bump into the tip of the shoe constantly.

If the situation goes on long enough, it causes the toenail to lift a little and bleed. By the end of a long race, your toenail could be black. You might heal without difficulty from runner's toe, but the risk is that a loose toenail allows fungal and bacterial infections to grow underneath it. You may require treatment from a podiatrist, especially if you intend to keep running.

The Toenail May Need To Be Removed

Once the toenail has lifted away from the bed, it's probably a matter of time until the nail falls off. This might be a painful happening if you rip the toenail off when it catches on a blanket at night, so your podiatrist might recommend removing the toenail in the office to prevent problems later. Removing a loose toenail also helps prevent infections.

If your toe is already showing signs of a fungal or bacterial infection, your podiatrist may prescribe medication to control it. When you run, and your feet sweat, it creates the perfect environment for fungus infections to thrive when they are protected by a toenail. Nail infections can lead to more serious problems that can distract and irritate you when you run, so removing the nail could be the best way to prevent infections from developing.

Proper Shoes May Prevent Runner's Toe

Buying the right athletic shoes is important for the support of your feet and ankles when you run. When the muscles in your feet get tired or if you have a gait problem, then your feet may not stay stable when you run if you don't have proper shoes. If you can't seem to find shoes that protect your feet well when you run frequently, then talk to your podiatrist about measuring your feet and analyzing your gait. A podiatrist that specializes in sports medicine is aware of how shoes and foot mechanics interact during long periods of running and can help you choose shoes and inserts that give plenty of room in your toes while keeping your feet from slipping.

Another tip for preventing runner's toe is to keep your toenails trimmed, so they don't bump against the shoe unnecessarily. And when you shop for new athletic shoes, go after you've been on your feet all day or after running when your feet are swollen and tired, so you get shoes that will fit well for the conditions your feet will be in during a race.

Check out a website like http://www.elmhurstpodiatry.com for more information and assistance. 


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