Thread: My left big toenail is so gross.

About 90% is disconnected. And underneath it's all black. Disgusting.

pics?

so no shampagne,strawberries and toesucking toninght, baby? eh?

Originally posted by ulty_guy
pics?

sicko

...and if thy right eye offends thee, pluck it out
and if hand offend thee, cut it off...
Jesus

Originally posted by SheRa
About 90% is disconnected. And underneath it's all black. Disgusting.

ouch! Make sure you take care of that thing and don't let it get infected. That happened to a friend of mine last year and he missed half the season.

Originally posted by Viva
...and if thy right eye offends thee, pluck it out
and if hand offend thee, cut it off...
Jesus

Hey! He's my favorite political philosopher! [/end political troll]

My toenail is finally all the way back- just in time to fuck it up again. And I can't wait.

tap has tried and true advice for dealing with the ol purple toe, but before you warm up that paperclip... use a little drill bit for better control.

go to your favorite hardware store and pick up a small drill-bit. take that little bit and sterilize it with your favorite lighter then wash it with rubbing alcohol or some 151. twist the bit between your index finger and thumb and slowly drill into your toenail. don't push too hard, let the bit do the work. relieve the pressure and clean up your mess. go out skiing again.

you have way better control with the bit and it doesn't need to be burning hot to work.

- bcf

Originally posted by BC-FLOW
tap has tried and true advice for dealing with the ol purple toe, but before you warm up that paperclip... use a little drill bit for better control.

go to your favorite hardware store and pick up a small drill-bit. take that little bit and sterilize it with your favorite lighter then wash it with rubbing alcohol or some 151. twist the bit between your index finger and thumb and slowly drill into your toenail. don't push too hard, let the bit do the work. relieve the pressure and clean up your mess. go out skiing again.

you have way better control with the bit and it doesn't need to be burning hot to work.

- bcf

BCF i am now seeing you in a whole new light.

"don't push too hard... relieve the pressure and clean up your mess."

how could this advice ever be wrong?

haha - bcf

What are you complaining about? Bode Miller turns all his toenails black in his plug boots that are 2 1/2 sizes too small. The poor boy. His mom should buy him some that fit right.

Did anyone catch that recent Viva La Bam episode where Don Vito's toe nail fell off?

They were smelling it and puking due to its nastiness? How does your's smell KQ?

Originally posted by BC-FLOW
"don't push too hard... relieve the pressure and clean up your mess."

No one asked for your sex advice.

Ahhhh...memories. This reminds me of my toenail last year after I mistakenly launched a gully in flat light and blew up on the other side. It was black for months from the scab underneath and I couldn't pull the damn thing off for some reason. So when it fell off 3-4 months later a shiny, mangled new one was growing underneath it.

I had a doc burn through both of mine one day with his little soldering iron looking device.
Skiing hard in borrowed boots, kind of felt wierd, then took them off in the lodge at the end of the day and both socks were a bloody mess, and i could barely use my clutch on the ride home.
I was about 18 at the time, and made a friend of mine drive me to the ER at this local middleofnowhere maine med-center.(actually it was called Med-Now, no joke), where this guy proceeded to burn through both of them and cover himself in my undernail juices. it stunk like a bastard.

most of the time when you drill a nail it will hold on for the better part of the season and a new nail will start growing under it.

and the sooner you drill the better. you don't want the blood trapped under there to harden into a scab.

word - bcf

Originally posted by BC-FLOW
take that little bit and sterilize it with your favorite lighter then wash it with rubbing alcohol or some 151. twist the bit between your index finger and thumb...

this is the part i was concerned about.
geez, BCF you must be getting with some dirty "bits"...
-b

I lost my left, big toe nail a couple of years ago after mistaking a volcano hit for a spine in the park - ten feet of air to 5 degree slope - tips, then face - broken pole, bloody nose, mangled toe.

It got black, then it got green. I thought it might be infected so I cut the pieces that were still holding it on, and pulled off about 90% of the nail. I washed it, and it was fine.

Until the new nail started growing back. Both sides in-grew (sp?), and it hurt like hell. I eventually had to have surgery. The doc cut out the root on both sides of the nail right where it grows out. Now my left toe nail is about 2/3 the size of my right (untouched) one. It looks funny, but it doesn't ingrow.

However, don't think that it doesn't get damaged anymore. I've lost the toe nail (and others) twice after trips up Mt. Whitney. It's actually growing back right now. Through all of this, I've come to the conclusion that toe nails are God's way of reminding you that you're just a smarter-than-average animal.

The advice about drilling/burning the hole is only good if it's recent (like 2 or 3 days). Since it's mostly off if sounds like it was longer than that. If is new and throbbing definitely go for the hole. I prefer the burning to drilling myself. The drilling is just to long and finicky and it's hard to keep commited when you know you're almost there. The burning..... phhht, through, spurt, release. I can only think of one or two other releases that compare for instant satisfaction.

I still think you have definite boot issues She ra. Too many threads with a similar theme that lead to the same source.

My boots have at least 200 days on them, so I am looking at new ones this year. Such a pain though. I'm thinking about that Salomon X Wave, the one with the heat moldable liner and optional built in heater. A couple of questions for you, while I have your attention:

1) Will the heater last, or is it a gimmick?
2) On the women's boot, can you unscrew an insert out of the calf? I can't get the top buckle closed.

Also would appreciate your comments on the liners. Is the molding good, will it pack out bad, etc. And any comments on the boot itself too.

Many thanks.

You talkin' to me?

I've never known a built in heater to last. Connections or wires always seem to break. I don't know Salomon's specifically though. I don't think they even bring that into Canada. You're better to install an after market one like hotronics.

Salomon liners have lots of padding that give you that snug feel when you try them in the shop. Flip side is they pack out visciously especially in the heel where the padding is super thick.

The X Wave boot has NO difference in the upper shell between the men's and women's boot just a little difference in the liner. I think we've covered that you have a largish LOW calf muscle. You NEED a lower cuff than a man's boot or XWave has.

The XWave is a great boot if you have a wide forefoot and/or high instep and don't need the lower cuff. There is an insert that can come out but I don't think it would make enough difference. If you can't close the top buckle than your calf muscle is way in there. That's bad. I still think your cold feet may be largely due to the boot choking off blood supply at the top of the boot squeezing the calf.

As long as your instep isn't too high you could try the Lange WC junior boot (it's lots of boot for most woman) as it has the low cuff and they have a much squarer toe box and roomier forefoot now. If you feel you need more boot the Freeride version of the men's 120 has a lower cuff. As well the woman's CRL is quite a bit of boot, has more volume than the first too and lower cuff than either of those. PM if you have any other questions.

Originally posted by L7
You talkin' to me?

Yes, I was. I think you know my feet better than I do. I wish I could just have you do the fitting.

I'm awfully disappointed tp hear what you are saying about the XWave. My foot felt pretty good in there.

All this boot cr@p is making my head spin. High instep, wide forefoot, low calf... sheesh It's much more fun to try out skis.

Ok, I should try on:
Lange WC Junior
Lange Men's 120 Freeride
Lange Women's CRL

You're not a Lange rep there, are you? And I hope these are warm boots. Because the cold just leaks into my Atomics. I'm using chem heaters already, with temps just in the 20s F.

A question about boot stiffness. I guess I'm an advanced enough skier to handle stiff boots. Maybe. My current boots are so worn that I can touch the ankle buckle to the instep buckle when I lean forward. But! The other day a guy was saying something about forward foot flex determining the stiffness needed. Supposedly someone that can flex forward can use a softer boot because they can engage the shin to the front of the boot. When I had a plumb line dropped from my knee as I flexed, it came out a good six inched beyond my toes, which I understand is pretty flexy. Does this mean I [i]should[\i] use a softer boot?

Thanks again. Always helpful.

Mir

I am gonna have to agree with what he said, all the girls on the team seem to love the junior boot, and actually there is a womens comp 120 and 100 this year, you'd probably want the 100, most of the girls on the team rip and feel like the 120 is too much. I know I have said it before, but larry at boudler ski deals knows what he is doing, and you get all the free boot work you want if you get it there. The langes have heat moldable liners and I feel like they have the most natural flex of all the boots, made my skiing change imidiately. Just don't let larry race fit you(generally 2 sizes under shoe) but go for the performance fit(usually one size under shoe) I promise, after about 2 or 3 days, you will love them.

Originally posted by L7

As long as your instep isn't too high you could try the Lange WC junior boot (it's lots of boot for most woman) as it has the low cuff and they have a much squarer toe box and roomier forefoot now. If you feel you need more boot the Freeride version of the men's 120 has a lower cuff. As well the woman's CRL is quite a bit of boot, has more volume than the first too and lower cuff than either of those. PM if you have any other questions.

So are you saying Lange has changed their toe box? I tried on a pair of Lange about 4 years ago and found them too narrow (I have a very high instep also). I was a little bummed because I'd heard such great things about them from friends. If they've changed their design to accomodate feet that a little wider than "average" I would love to know.

I ended up with the Salomon Equipe 9.0 - a boot I happen to love but I'm due for new liners. I didn't have any problems with them packing out in the heel (the heat molding is great!) but last season I did have to move the top buckles over to the second hole (however I've had to move my right one back since my accident).

KQ - Last season Lange introduced the comp series and yes it is a new shape. Much squarer toe box, slightly wider forefoot and maybe a little more room over the instep. Still not a ton of room for high insteps but probably worth another look.

SheRa - No I'm not a Lange rep. Our shop sells both Lange and Salomon. I actually ski on Atomic myself so I'm not being biased that way. They don't bring the woman's 120 into Canada so I always forget about it. The woman's 100 and WC juniour 100 is the same boot except junior has a better liner and is cheaper. No brainer there I think. The Lange can also easily have the rear cuff flared back the Salomon not as easy.

The XWave is a good boot but pisses me off that they market it woman specific but they sleaze in the same upper boot as the men's.

The Atomic's have sealed up the boot much better (more overlap and a soft silicone bead). This year they have introduced a wide shell that is 15% wider in the forefoot. I still say no squeeze the calf, much less cold problems.

If you can bend forward that much AND your heels stay on the ground (that is the proper test) then you have a lot of flex. People who are very flexible ofter do better in a stiffer boot. But it is preference and also relative to size, strength and weight. I'm not sure how tall you are but I recall you have not small feet for your size. This already means the cuff comes up high relative to leg length (assuming average leg length for size).

Do not make the mistake of going bigger because you want room for warmth. That puts the cuff higher and screws you again for squeezing the calf and cold. If you need width get a wider boot.

Keep me posted, I'd like to see you get squared away. You could always come visit and I could set you up.