Fungal toes or bruised? (With disgusting photo )

[redfacebigdisgrace]

Just in getting my shellac redone and this is the state of my toenails when the old stuff was removed! Eek! I’m a keen runner/hillwalker and I really hurt my feet skiing in February when my boots were too short. My toes were so sore. I have had bruising before but it was more black. Help!

That's what my toes look like and my chiropodist said it was hikers nails.

My husbands big toe nails are similar, like you he’s sporty and plays squash which is really harsh on your toes. He recently saw a podiatrist because like you he wasn’t sure if it was trauma or fungicide. The podiatrist confirmed it was trauma due to sport, he played a lot of football in his younger days. The podiatrist gave them a good filing, I joked with an angle grinder 🤪. He recommended using almond oil and tea tree oil on his toes as it may help with the appearance.

He became so self conscious that he wouldn’t wear sandals in the summer if his toes were exposed, he wears trainers which become far too warm when on holiday and your feet and nails need to breathe. I managed to get him some sporty type walking sandals that happen to have a strap that covers his big toe, he loves them. I did suggest he could have a fake nail on there for the holiday, gel or something similar, his look said it all, he ain’t going there 🤣

I walk a lot and mine are similar underneath my gel. Gorgeous isn't it.

Oooo that looks painful especially the second pic, the nail looks ready to pop off the wee soul 😆 definitely trauma. You can see the black bruising of your nail bed. X

I did a lot of walking around London in December and my trainers felt a bit tight. I had/still have a bruise under the nail bed on both big toes. The nails weren't discoloured just a dark patch under the nails.

Trauma - you've got Beaus Lines ( the right one is more noticeable ) where it is growing out clear from the base ( eponychium) cuticle
Left one there's a narrow margin at the base where it looks like its lifting a bit .

Good news is it;ll grow out but it can take months .
Bad news is a damaged nail is more likely to be affected by an fungal infection because you have a portal of entry .

You can try some Tea Tree oil on the nail plate ( its a clear liquid so it;ll run round the nail easily ) do a patch test first .
Tea Tree is anti fungal

Thanks so much everyone. That’s reassuring. I think it was the skiing. God my toes were so painful that week. My own boots so I don’t know what happened. They’re back covered up in Shellac now but I’ll get them done more frequently and definitely cut my toe nails more. I’m not always good at clipping them really short for longer walks/runs. I did 35km last weekend so I am hard on my feet!