Bruised toenails

[Guest mal89]

I get bruised toenails when I'm doing pointe work. My big toe and little toe nails are almost black!

It's only on my left foot..

Why does this happen? Are my shoes to small?

[Victoria Leigh]

They might be, mal. Or, you might have one foot larger than the other and need two different size shoes. What kind of shoes are you wearing?

[Dancer06]

I have the same problem, but on both of my big toes. I wear both Grishko Ulanova I's and Gaynor-Minden's, and the bruising happens only with the Gaynor's... do you know why this shoe does that? And how to alleviate the pain from bruised toenails?

[Guest xox DaNciNg in PiNk xox]

gaynor mindens cause bruising of the toenails on a lot of people i kno and i ahve heard taht it is becaus eof the fact that they cause pressure to the toenails if they are slanted and not flat across. i also hear taht it is becaus ethe gaynors dont work with your feet but you work with the shoe..which is backwards?....umm have any of your toenails fallen off yet?

 

you can alleviate the pressure by buying bunion pads i believe and wrapping them in tape, and when or if the toenail falls off you can apply second skin(sold at drugstores) and put that on and re-use the homemade pad(with the tape and bunion pads)placing them on top of your toenails.

 

this is all advice from dancers who have had the same problem...but i would still let the moderators comment since i am definitely not an expert on the subject like they are

[Guest DCWdancer164]

I had Gaynors and that is exactly what happened to my toenails. If you haven't gone to the doctors to get them checked out just in case, I would. They can sometimes help to alleviate the pressure underneath the nail if you being to experience pain. Because sooner or later you might really begin to experience pain. Try dancing with your other pointe shoes instead for awhile and see if that eases them, but they may eventually fall off not to worry you, it will feel better afterwards if it is painful.

[Guest mal89]

Thanks for all the answers!

I'll try that dancing in pink!

I'm not wearing gaynor mindens, and I never have..

It happened in my previous pair, which was bloch, and also now when I'm wearing Gamba.

It only happens on my left foot, which is slightly smaller.

[Guest xballetdreamsx]

Are you pointing your feet correctly, as this has been known to cause bruised toenails. make sure you're not curling your toes and that you're pointing through your ankle. when you're on pointe and you're curling your toes, it would be like you're standing on your toenails. Hope I helped!

 

-krissy