*allows people to laugh*

Okay today I was trying to beat the heat while swimming in a friends pool. My toenail got caught on something and I tore some of it off. I went inside my friends house and got some stuff to take care of it. I taped it up and all and went back swimmming. It's sore and all right now. Question is, what should I do for it when I skate tomorrow. Just tape it up and go with it. Or not tape it up and go with it.

I'm not a barefoot skater. I wear tights, since it will be a 105 tomorrow I will more then likely wear my thin ones. So....any ideas?

__________________
Check out the sites I run
http://www.joelisi.net
http://www.charlieday.net

Put a band-aid over it would help to protect it a bit.

Oooo, not laughing, that sounds very painful!!

That's probably what I was going to do. I know it will effect my skating, I just hope not too much.

__________________
Check out the sites I run
http://www.joelisi.net
http://www.charlieday.net

It hasn't been fun at all.

__________________
Check out the sites I run
http://www.joelisi.net
http://www.charlieday.net

Ouch Mercedeslove! That really sounds like it is going to hurt skating tomorrow... or be very uncomfortable to say the least. Hope it wasn't your landing foot.

It's my left foot in which I do all my one foot spins on and such. I land on my right. But when it comes to spins, I'm more comfortable on my left.

__________________
Check out the sites I run
http://www.joelisi.net
http://www.charlieday.net

ow! I dropped a can of soup on my big toe once and lost my toe nail. Hurt to skate something wicked and my coach couldn't even believe I tried. I don't give up easy! If you have any old Bunga's cut a section off to fit over your "toe nail" and tape it on. The white first aid tape works good. Band aids do help but not enough in my book. Check out the first aid section at the drug store, you might find something that will work if you don't. Good luck.

Chico

__________________
"I truly believe, when God created skating, he patted himself on the back."

I hear your pain. A few years ago, I had icky toe nails, took lamisil pills, and when the big toe nail grew back, it grew right into my skin. I've had the corners cut out so many times, now I just clip it down before they reach the corner.

First, get some pain-killing Neosporin and put a bunch on the exposed area. Then put a big bandaid over it. Take an ice pack with you to skating, and ice the toe for a few minutes before you put your skates on.

Get some lambswool and cram a whole bunch in the toe of your boot. Try to get it completely surrounding the injured tootsie, especially on top. It's best if you have a small amount of constant pressure, because sudden pressure is way more painful. Good luck.

OMG ouch! Now my toe doesn't seem as painful, holy ouchieness. Yeah I'm a first responder so I have plenty of that around the house. That's what I have been using.

Thanks for the advice.

__________________
Check out the sites I run
http://www.joelisi.net
http://www.charlieday.net

I'm really nervous about it and when I hurt my toe it was the first thing I thought of. After I felt the pain. I'm so worried, but I really want to skate tomorrow.

I'm gunna give it a try, if it's too painful I'll just have to get off the ice.

__________________
Check out the sites I run
http://www.joelisi.net
http://www.charlieday.net

Could just inject some local anaesthetic in there.

Right I've had very recent experience of this! My daughter stubbed her little toe a couple of weeks ago and ripped part of the nail off. She had a skating lesson the following evening and I put a plaster (band-aid) over it to protect it. Did take forever for her to get her boot on because of the pain but she was OK once it was in place.

Anyhow one of the mums at the rink is a nurse so she offered to take a look, and her advice was this - keep it covered while in shoes and skates, but try to keep it uncovered as much as possible while at home in order to let the air get to it etc. We took this advice and it healed up just fine. The remaining part of the nail came off two days ago and the nail bed beneath has toughened up.

It was sore for a few days after the injury but is fine now.

I hope it heals up soon for you. I know how painful such injuries are.

Nicki

__________________
www.myspace.com/insatiableskater

I think you'll be OK for skating. I'd stay away from pick jumps that involve that foot - it was my right toenail, so flips and lutzes were uncomfortable. I was still able to do most other jumps, spin and moves.

Also, take some Advil about an hour before you skate.

Must be a time for toenail injuries... I went to skating today, and my coach was wearing her sneakers instead of her skates because she caught her toenail on a wooden plank at her relatives' cottage and it pulled it away from the skin and folded it back. Ow.

Yeah I definitely was planning on taking something before I got on the ice and all. Hopefully it will be okay and I'm making a bigger deal out of the idea of the pain, then it will be.

As for your couch. OMG ouch.

__________________
Check out the sites I run
http://www.joelisi.net
http://www.charlieday.net

oowwweeee,

I realise its not exactly the same thing but my toe nails fall off on a regular basis, its obviously not raw the way yours must be having been ripped off but I've never found it a problem once my skates are on. If the toe is particularly tender then I will put a bit of lint on it and tape it up with zinc tape.

personally I'd say, avoid band-aid (plasters to me!) like the plauge, they tend to move around rubbing the skin and making the problem worse and causing blisters.

Hope you manage to get some pain free skating in.

The times in ballet that I had to dance on pointe (on my toes) with injured or bruised toenails, I just grit my teeth, padded up the toe really well, and danced through the pain. There are these awesome gel toe covers "Big Tip" by Bunheads that you can put over your big toe and that will absorb some of the impact... lambswool or foam tape wrapped around the toenail may help, too. A trip to a dance store might help, since ballet dancers deal with this a lot.

And, I hate to say this, but if you REALLY have to skate and can't deal with the pain, you can use an old trick that dancers still use sometimes-- ambesol (used to numb a baby's gums when she/he is teething) on the achey toe will numb it for a while. Buuuuuuttttttt... like my ballet teacher once said-- by numbing the toes, you run the risk of injuring them even more-- IMHO, unless you're performing or competing and really really need to avoid the pain, I'd stick to the padding.

I'm curious, did you try and how did it go?

Chico

__________________
"I truly believe, when God created skating, he patted himself on the back."

Yes. Sorry it took me so long, I've been distracted by other stuff and work.

I didn't do any toe loops as they were to painful, but I worked on my entry and just did the jump in my head. of course in my head it was a triple landed prefectly everytime.

Though I did run into a bad spot. I was skating and got a sudden rush of pain in my toe. Next thing I know I ran into someone and landed on my wrist. Now that's all bruised and ugly. I can't win lately.

The toe today is feeling better, But i figured I'm just gunna stay off the ice until Monday, for safety sake.

Thanks everyone for your tips and all. My big toe is slowly feeling better and says thank you too.

__________________
Check out the sites I run
http://www.joelisi.net
http://www.charlieday.net

OOO Ballet. I'm going to possibly start taking classes in Oct or Nov. Maybe one day I'll make it to pointe. Though I'm kind of tall, so it might hold me back. Least I feel tall. I'm 5'8" 1/2. Everyone around be is like 5'5" and under. I'm the tallest one in my groupe lessons and have been since the start.

__________________
Check out the sites I run
http://www.joelisi.net
http://www.charlieday.net

Unless you plan on being a pro, height will never hold you back-- and there have even been exceptions to the rule pro-wise, like Patricia Barker of Pacific Northwest Ballet (http://www.pnb.org/company/bio-barker.html), who I think is 5'8". Height is mostly a factor because of partnering (pointe shoes add another, oh... say 4-6" inches to your height... so it you're 5'8", your partner would need to be over 6 feet to be taller than you) and because many companies still look for uniformity in the corps de ballet, so tall dancers, short dancers, busty-er dancers... all of them might find it challenging to get into a company unless they really shine and stand out as possible solists. And there are a lot of non-traditional companies that are emerging where dancers who don't "fit in the box" can shine.

Of course, us tall dancers usually have a bit of trouble with the speed on the petit allegro (small jumps and fast footwork), but on the other hand, it's usually balanced by beautiful extension and lines during the adagio and jetes while the shorter dancers marvel about legs that "seem to go on forever".

And whenever skating or ballet class might make you feel "too tall"-- remember that there are some really peeved short dancers who wish they were taller because the Rockettes wouldn't take anyone under 5"7' (unless that's changed recently)

So have fun!

Oh, it was your BIG toe?? That's completely different from injuring the pinkie toe!

[QUOTE=doubletoe]Oh, it was your BIG toe?? T

Hehe. I have big fat toes too, so it's really guh. It's way better now so next week skating should be fine. Which is good. I felt so useless out there.

__________________
Check out the sites I run
http://www.joelisi.net
http://www.charlieday.net

I'm not planning on going pro. I just want to do it, to do it. Also because it helps with skating. When I was in gymnastics my height got in my way. This past springe I was in an ice show and my strides were much longer then the shoter girls and it took a lot of working with to make it fit in. I'd take two strides and be like ten feet ahead of them, or so it seemed. Hopefully I can manage to figure it out in ballet.

__________________
Check out the sites I run
http://www.joelisi.net
http://www.charlieday.net