Anyone ever have toe issues?

[Shawn]

Well, a few days ago, I landed a bit backseat off a jump and my big toe slammed into the front of my boot. I skied the rest of the day on it without issue. Fast forward to yesterday when I went out for an inline skating session. Immediately felt unwelcome pressure and dull pain upon putting on my skate. I didn't risk it and went back home. Today I felt the same thing immediately upon putting on my ski boots. I skied for about an hour and went home.

It's actually pretty hard to locate precisely where the pain is coming from in my toe. There's no bruising, swelling, or discoloration anywhere on my toe or nail bed. The toe is not really tender to the touch anywhere— except when it's in a tight place like a ski boot or an inline skate. This happened to me before, several decades ago, much more severely. That time, blood pooled in my nail bed and the toenail eventually fell off after a few months.

What time frame am I looking at for this to heal? It'd be a shame to miss the rest of ski season and the early part of inline skating season.

 

[Paul Lutes]

If there's no obvious toe nail damage but still painful ...... get thee to a radiograph.

 

[Andy Mink]

Trim the nails back some if there's room. I had a similar hurts but not quite sure where thing. Nails were short but still could bump the front of the boot.

 

[HardDaysNight]

It sounds as if you might have sprained ligaments around the big toe joint. The jamming of the toe into the front of the boot is classic for this injury. It typically worsens over a period of 24 hrs or so which is consistent with your description. How long it takes to resolve depends on how badly you sprained it but I would guess you’d be okay in a few weeks.

 

[scott43]

So not to scare you.... I split-fractured my big toe by basically stubbing it head on very hard. Injuries to the big toe are a big deal. Don't ignore it. My toe issue has really buggered up my foot over the years. Go to a good foot doc and get imaging and do whatever they tell you. If it were one of the other toes, I wouldn't worry as much. But take care of your big toes folks.

 

[cantunamunch]

. Don't ignore it. My toe issue has really buggered up my foot over the years. Go to a good foot doc and get imaging and do whatever they tell you. If it were one of the other toes, I wouldn't worry as much.

Heh.

 

[Wilhelmson]

I learned the true meaning of pain when I was 15 and broke my big toe in a jv soccer game. The doctors recommendation was to tape it up to the adjacent toe. So I practiced 5 days a week with 2 or 3 games a week with a healing fractured big toe. They wouldn’t put kids through that these days.

 

[Scruffy]

Could be a stress or hairline fracture to the met head. Are your boots too roomy ( length and/or instep ) for you that your feet have room to move forward to slam your toe?

 

[scott43]

Heh.

Really they are all important. It's not like a finger where you go meh. It affects your gait, your balance. I never appreciated how important toes are until too late.

 

[Shawn]

Could be a stress or hairline fracture to the met head. Are your boots too roomy ( length and/or instep ) for you that your feet have room to move forward to slam your toe?

The shell fit is correct but the liners have probably packed down a bit. The boot is a Head Vector with about 7 seasons of use.

 

[Scotty I.]

Both of my big toe nails look like somebody took a hammer to them. I bought new boots this year but haven't been able to get in to see the people that sold them to me. I have never had this problem before. I hate to think that I spent $900 for something that isn't going to work for me. Also I am not convinced that there's a good cure for the problem I hope that some of the boot people here can advise me about toe bang cures if that even exists.

 

[Jim Kenney]

If it's just the start of a classic black toenail situation you can probably ski through it for the rest of the season as your nail turns black and is eventually grows out and is replaced. Many of us have had this in the past, for me it was when I was young and did a lot of jumping on the slopes in boots that were too loose and my toes would jam against the end of the boot when landing.
I'm nearing age 70 and in July 2020 I was jumping across a creek, landed on a rock and blew out the pad under the second toe of my right foot. Huge black and blue spots top and bottom of foot, could barely walk for a week. Think I tore a ligament. Podiatrist told me many months later that I did not break anything, but foot still weak in that area. I also have big bunions on the side of each big toe and just got custom Daleboots which seem to be treating my feet a lot better than my previous ten-year-old Lange boots.
Yes, feet are one of the weak links in my ski-chain.

 

[KingGrump]

Both of my big toe nails look like somebody took a hammer to them. I bought new boots this year but haven't been able to get in to see the people that sold them to me. I have never had this problem before. I hate to think that I spent $900 for something that isn't going to work for me. Also I am not convinced that there's a good cure for the problem I hope that some of the boot people here can advise me about toe bang cures if that even exists.

If the boot is not long enough, punch the big toe area on the boot to get a bit more room.

If there is enough length, the toe banging can be related to the foot bed and/or excess volume in the boot.

 

[Living Proof]

A good friend is a Podiatrist, he tells me nothing can be done for broken toes. Also, never, never remove a toenail that is becoming black, the pain will be unbearable. Put a bandaid on it a let nature take it's course. It will fall off, nail regrows. I am a member of the club who have big toenail , both pain and black, due to ski boots.
As always, never rely on internet medical advice.

 

[Marker]

Like KG said. I have some old Lange RS 130 in 30.5. These puppies were extremely tight out of the box, but initially not painful. Left foot needed just one small punch at the big toe joint, no problem with toe length. After the liners packed out with normal break in, lost the right toenail. I've lost this one several times before from basketball. The right toes were blown out to the max to make room for that longer foot, no more or the binding operation would be affected. Also, switched from an OTC footbed for a custom to properly support the foot. Now, toes just brush the front of the boot when not actively skiing and no discomfort when skiing.

 

[François Pugh]

A good friend is a Podiatrist, he tells me nothing can be done for broken toes. Also, never, never remove a toenail that is becoming black, the pain will be unbearable. Put a bandaid on it a let nature take it's course. It will fall off, nail regrows. I am a member of the club who have big toenail , both pain and black, due to ski boots.
As always, never rely on internet medical advice.

"Do nothing that is of no use" - Miyamoto Musashi. Don't remove the toe nail; it will fall off on it's own if it needs to.

I got a black toe nail pushing against my ski sock to get my foot through the boot's throat (sock was damaged too). The nail seemed to be about to fall off in early January, but now it's still hanging on. It's a lottery as to whether a black toe nail will fall off or not. I've had more than my share.

My first broken toe (big toe) was big deal. Happened sparing the night before a tournament. Sensie said I should tape it to the one beside it. I said that would give it away. I enjoyed the fact that while every oponent was worried about my killer twist kick I was nailing them with the left hook. - got 2nd place brown belt fighting. I was limping severely for a week. Doctors did nothing for it. 2nd broken big toe was less dramatic, barely even limped (although it was a while before I was not hesitant to use that kick).

Swelling is a tricky problem. My feet and toes have been having swellen isues the last two years. Movement helps, but not too much movement.

 

[scott43]

A good friend is a Podiatrist, he tells me nothing can be done for broken toes. Also, never, never remove a toenail that is becoming black, the pain will be unbearable. Put a bandaid on it a let nature take it's course. It will fall off, nail regrows. I am a member of the club who have big toenail , both pain and black, due to ski boots.
As always, never rely on internet medical advice.

I did drill a hole through my nail to relieve the pressure once..it was satisfying and much less painful afterwards. I did let the nail go away on its own though and that is good advice I think.

As for the broken toe, no help..that may be so. After the x-ray the doctor told me it was broken and walked away. I don't know what that meant. I suppose it meant nothiing can be done! The wear pattern in my footwear is shockingly different between the busted toe foot and the other. I hope they can do something for some of these fractures/injuries.

 

[MarkP]

Couldn't resist the ultimate Bit Toe reference.

 

[Marker]

Swelling is a tricky problem. My feet and toes have been having swellen isues the last two years. Movement helps, but not too much movement.

Since breaking my right fibula while skiing a few years back, I've had swelling issues off and on in that foot and lower leg. When I strained my calf earlier this season, it came back. I could get my foot into my boot fairly easily using some lace-up liners, then lightly buckle my boot. I'd tighten the buckles over the next hour or so as the boot squeezed the excess fluid out. No pain and I kept skiing, and by the Taos Gathering I was able to just use the regular liner that came with my new boots. Looking at my feet today, I can still see some residual swelling as it seems to take forever to completely go away.

 

[scott43]

Couldn't resist the ultimate Bit Toe reference.

RIP John Candy. Would have been 72 today.