After endless issues with a big toe nail I had it removed by a podiatrist who also destroyed the nail bed with phenol. Might not look the prettiest but no nail means no problems and I have never missed it.
@stunted - so it never grows back? That sounds like a plan, if so.
Well - returned from 4 wonderful days in the mountains and just had a most enjoyable 10 minutes reading this post and pissing myself laughing at wayno's response to it all.
Hey, I'm 69, and fortunately still know how and when to laugh.
Woops - I've gone off topic! Sorry teacher.
Back to topic - had sore soles over last few days for the first time. Insoles seem to be what I need. I made moulded seats for my kayaks by heating closed cell foam in the oven then sitting on it (with shorts on, for obvious reasons) in the kayak, until it cooled. I'm going to try the same thing with bits of an old ccf sleeping mat to make insoles. Will let you know how I get on. Even un-moulded ccf might work, anyone tried it? (I use it in my slippers.)
Still want to know how keeping toenails closely trimmed is hazardous to a thu-hiker...
If I forget to trim my toenails before tramping i will be in agony going downhill. Fortunately my wife always reminds me to! lol
I don't find I have to trim my toenails very short, unless I've got boots that aren't big enough then I get the problem going downhill, i'll check my toenails before a trip if I remember and give them a trim if they are looking a bit long to reduce the likelihood of something going wrong, biggest problem is a long toenail that might cut into a longer toe next to it if I have let it grow to long... my big toe gives the least problems even if its not trimmed short
I run so I basically have to keep toenails short or the repeated impact with the ground pushes the end of my toe into the end of the nail, or cuts up neighbouring toes. I do trim them before every tramping trip though, I do get a bit of rubbing on adjacent toes if they arent kept short. It never really seems to be the big toenail thats the issue though. normally the smaller ones that give me trouble.
@madpom - yep theoretically doesn't grow back if all the nailbed is killed, actually a little bit of mine did but it is so small it doesn't give me any grief. I would get the other one done but never seem to have enough down time to allow for the recovery.
People talk about nails giving protection but I have never had any problems with not having one on my big toe or from any of my other didgits that have temporarily lost a nail.
@deepriver: pretty sure the podiatrists have some sort of oven thing for moulding ccf.
You need to do it exactly right or those insoles will give you a problem. A girlfriend of mine presumptiously put insoles in her boots without her gait/footfall being analysed by a podiatrist. Lo, she developed sore knees on an extended tramp just after this.
At the next food drop, she replaced her insoles with neutral ones and the knee pain went away. A take-home lesson. I got my gait analysed before my planned South Island traverse and was told standard insoles were fine for me.
