I generally suffer some toenail trauma after running a marathon. Ironman Zurich was no different, and the nail on my right big toe was going to require something more than just waiting until it turned black and fell off. Out with the tools for a bit of DIY!
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tools for the job
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the painful nail - note the swollen bottom left indicating not all is well
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loosening under the nail
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loosening under the cuticle
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already coming away nicely
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a fair bit of nail-bed visible
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out with the pliers (cue Pulp Fiction quotes where Marsellus Wallace is in the pawn shop basement)
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left side of the nail has popped out nicely
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right side will require a little more work
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a bit more loosening around the edge
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almost there but still hanging in
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quite a bit more pulling and prodding
Just need some phenol to stop it growing back again - might employ the services of a medical practitioner for that bit 😀
Might also be worth sticking a bit of iodine on it too before it becomes horrible infected 😯
Cheers, Rich
😯
I don't know what to say.
😯
*picks up sandwich*
Clinging onto my chair like I'm on a roller coaster here.
I have seen many things on the net and even sights of peoples popped noggins under heavy truck wheels etc have never made my stomach twitch like those pics did 😆
My Mrs lost her two big toenails from lots of dancing at a club in questionable shoes a few months back 🙄
Your toes have their own fringes, coooooool.
BEJEESUS !!
One has to ask, why did you feel you needed to share that with anyone? Let alone with teh interwebz?
I've had a colonoscopy and had my haemorrhoids banded, would you like see?*
* I've had a number of other procedures too, all available on subscription, for a one off price of £10. One offer per household.
Glad to have been able to provoke a reaction 😀
Cheers, Rich
I was tempted to point out that iodine on an open wound will smart a tad. Then I realised that YOU'VE JUST PULLED OUT YOUR OWN TOENAIL WITH PLIERS. Frankly, iodine on that to you will feel like being tickled gently with a feather.
There seems to be a bottle of whisky missing from your kit. Everyone knows that amateur surgery always involve a bottle of whisky.
Oooft... 😯
Good effort .
Enjoy your infection.
Enjoy your infection.
Oh for once, can't your glass be half full, George?
I am always glass half full. I did tell the guy to enjoy his infection after all. 😀
OP, congratulations on a truly original and riveting post. I applaud you, sir.
My 2nd toe is longer than my big toe so when I do any serious walking the toes bruise & the nail eventually drops off- I generally wait for that to happen though & only pull the nail off when it catches a lot-Man, that must smart!
What multi-tool for DIY surgery?
Words escape me, but I did go back for a 2nd look. 😳
Eat it! 😀
Paging Dr P for a professional opinion
Do you offer any other types of surgery - appendectomy, hernia repair ?
Nice! 🙂
Surely it will grow back?
As a nipper I had terrible problems with in-grown toenails 🙁
I had an op back in 1995 to remove mine, got em both done - one at a time.
Had the nail beds removed so they wouldn't grow back.
It was freeking agony when the anesthetic wore off, couldn't walk, had to keep it elevated for ages.
But look now - thing of beauty! 😉
Eat it!
That has now been seconded by my nephew, with tomato sauce.
😯
I've lost a few big toe nails through playing football and always thought it hurt, but shit me, looking at that's made my eyes water!
That's the best thing I've seen on here for a good while.
I've a running mate who's had all of his removed, though not by his own hands.
Rocketdog has it right
That's just wrong
Mara was 7 April, so this is nearly 4 months after?
It's the use of a Leatherman that gains extra man points.
Does beg the question of what the hell the point in toenails is?
Mara was 7 April, so this is nearly 4 months after?
[url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/ironman-zurich-review ]Zurich Ironman - Sunday, July 28, 2013[/url]
When ever anyone asks "What multi-tool for...." the answer is always Leatherman, accept no substitutes or imitations.
Back on topic though i cant believe you did that, when i think of some of the months i have spent in pain with ingrowing toenails lol
Jesus h. goddam mother ****ing christ.
Noooooooooooo
No, and thrice NOOOOOO!
Reaction acheived, now delete ffs.
TRIM THE FRIGGIN PIGGIES - the toe hair is the most shocking thing in this thread.
You are one sick ****......
I feel ill.
Lordy.
*applause*
There's something about toenails, I used to work for a very successful outdoor shop and the most popular blog post we ever did was the boss losing his toenails after his Bob Graham.
YOUR BOSS LOST HIS BOB GRAHAM??!!!??!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!! (did he have to work it off with a Gerber?) 😀
"cheers Rich"
Threads that end like that turn my stomach...
Top quality post!
I had to pay to have the same job done by "professionals"! Paid in advance too.
And then on the day the chap had to have an older more qualified woman with him as he had never done this before and so wasnt allowed to do it on his own!! I nearly keeled over.
Anyway - I wish I'd saved the cash and just done it myself.
So chapeau! If it happens again, I'm going diy.
Christ on a bike, that's gross.
You sir are a wrong 'un.
Why did you DIY? Were you pausing mid extraction to take the photos? Just planning to take photos seems rather confident. I'd want both hands. No scratch that, I'd want a doctor. I had one when I accidentally half ripped off a big toenail myself, and it was still a bit uncomfortable. Then there was the pain and not being able to walk afterwards.
I can't help thinking your perspective on pain has been altered from normal! Perhaps through becoming able to complete an Ironman?
I skipped the photos because I'm not keen on anything like that, but I wanted to see the responses, and some have been very funny.
Ahh, IM not mara.
Mine take weeks to get to a stage where they want to fall off, that's why I asked.
My most controversial thread to date 😀
It is the running aspect of the IM that does this to my feet, although it has improved a bit since last year!
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This was about a week after my first marathon in August last year, and as you can see one of the nails has fallen off naturally, and the big toenail is just a horrible mess, probably a combination of running and a fungal infection.
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This was just after my first half Ironman, feet generally not looking too happy. I made a rookie mistake of racing in brand new shoes which turned out to be a fraction too small, and without socks. Needed quite a bit of superglue to get my feet into a usable state 😮
The reason why I wanted to whip this one off pronto was the pain. It wasn't a case of waiting it to turn black and fall off of it's own accord; I had given it such a beating that the root of the nail was fully detached from the growing point, hence why it was so inflamed. It needed attention pretty soon, and as I have another marathon in 3 weeks time, and the 70.3 World Champs in Vegas 2 weeks after that, this seemed like an appropriate time window in which to operate. Subsequent to the procedure I doused it in iodine and wrapped it up, and will get the whole thing cauterised with phenol at the earliest possible moment, hopefully ending up with a nice functional thing like Alandavidpetrie79 showed us on the first page 🙂
Sorry to disappoint, but Jamie, none of the others are in quite such need for a repeat performance, and JoeG, even I draw the line at something 😆
Cheers, Rich
Nice one, do you do amputation's too when your foot gets infected?
Yep, not doing a marathon, idly considered it, not any more.
It was snowboarding that did for mine, 3 maras and a 70.3 and toenails not fallen off!
I resisted reading this thread, clearly my inquisitive nature lead me back to it.
I wish I was a dumb ass 😆
Bravo, proper man behaviour.
silly enough to run bike and swim till you bleed internally and then rip parts of your body off with pliers.
I am sure yorkshire would accept you as one of their own now.
Imagine how long you could chew on it for...
It would last days.
i saw this thread title when it was created and thought, yeah, i'm not gonna open that one....
yet here i am... looking into a pandora's box 🙁
stupid curiosity 😐
Looked like a nice tidy job - it appears to have come out pretty cleanly.
I've got a couple turning black and lifting a bit, but I just leave mine to biology / evolution and wait for them to sort themselves out.
My feet seem to cope really rather well with running (other than from the occasional bruise / bruised nail-bed from coming down on something loose/sketchy), but I spend as little time as possible on tarmac (although the trails are pretty much like concrete now, after weeks of hot sun).
+ 1 robgclarkson! Ugh I feel sick. I have beautiful feet which have never, ever had any issues. Thank god!
Suddenly this mornings crunchy nut cornflakes have lost their appeal.
However, I doff my cap to your planning and fortitude.
Very interesting thread... Thank you.
Did the nail have a fungal infection?
Some of my nails have had a history of being pretty crusty, so quite probably some fungal infection in addition to the major running inflicted trauma!
Cheers, Rich
What has been seen cannot be unseen...
I'm talking about the guy who had his nailbed removed by the way. That just looks strange. The toenail removal just looked cool in an "I didn't know you could do that!" sort of way.
I bet you'll have Mi6 (or 5 or whatever) trying to recruit you now as you'll be torture proof to a large degree! 😉
Badguy: "Reveal the names of the double agents or we will pull your nails out with pliers!"
Turboferret: "Pliers? bit last year don't you think, would you like to borrow my leatherman??"
😉
Having had ingrowing toenails and self removed the nasty sharp bits at the edges of the toenail myself with the same sort of kit, I take my hat off to the OP!
This thread is better without pictures.
I'm sure you are all desperate for an update 🙂
Just been to see a podiatric surgeon, he confirmed that I've done a very neat job of the nail removal. Booked in to have the remains burnt on Thursday to prevent any new nail growing back.
Sorted 😀
Cheers, Rich