# Toenail crud **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 19, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058 "2008-07-19T17:14:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sovtawen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@sovtawen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sovtawen)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/1 "2008-07-19T17:14:14Z")
I get a yellowish, pungent smelling crud under my toenails, especially the big toes. I dig it out every once in awhile with that little tool included on toenail clippers, but it always grows back in a week or two. I don’t like it. Is it the result of some kind of fungus? Can I do anything about it? (Note: I’m probably not going to visit a doctor for this). ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/2 "2008-07-19T17:16:21Z")
It’s toe jam. I think everybody gets it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/3 "2008-07-19T17:17:03Z")
No. That’s toejam and it’s normal. It’s the accumulated dead skin, keratin (what your nails are made of), sweat and even bits of your socks that builds up between toenail clippings. Unless the nail itself becomes yellowish, unusually brittle, or otherwise discolored, or the skin of the toe becomes inflamed or starts flaking off in unusual quantities, you probably don’t have a fungal infection. [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_260a.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_260a.html) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/4 "2008-07-19T17:29:29Z")
Man…doesn’t a thread on toe jam merit a TMI warning? I know we all have it but still… ---
**Author:** ![sovtawen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@sovtawen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sovtawen)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/5 "2008-07-19T18:35:02Z")
I don’t know, I always thought “toe jam” refers to something that collects between the toes (and Cecil seems to agree with me). I’ve never found much there except for a little sock lint. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/6 "2008-07-19T19:10:47Z")
[QUOTE=sovtawen] I don’t know, I always thought “toe jam” refers to something that collects between the toes (and Cecil seems to agree with me). I’ve never found much there except for a little sock lint. [/QUOTE] Oh my God, can it be true? Cecil is wrong? I don’t know anybody who would agree with Cecil. The stuff between your toes is not nearly as disgusting and deserving of the term “toe jam” than that putrid shit under the toe nails. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/7 "2008-07-19T19:20:37Z")
Don’t you guys keep you toenails trimmed? There is no “under” my toenails. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/8 "2008-07-19T20:13:33Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] Don’t you guys keep you toenails trimmed? There is no “under” my toenails. [/QUOTE] I don’t know how common it is trim ones nails all the way back to where they’re welded to the flesh so that there is no gap under the end of the nail. I see people do that with their fingernails sometimes; the fingernail stops, and then there’s another fingernail’s-worth of flesh between it and the end of the finger (if that makes any sense at all.) Always looked weird to me, but maybe I’m the weird one. I tried finding some GIS pictures, but no luck. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/9 "2008-07-20T18:47:45Z")
[QUOTE=sovtawen] I don’t know, I always thought “toe jam” refers to something that collects between the toes (and Cecil seems to agree with me). I’ve never found much there except for a little sock lint. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Darryl Lict] Oh my God, can it be true? Cecil is wrong? I don’t know anybody who would agree with Cecil. The stuff between your toes is not nearly as disgusting and deserving of the term “toe jam” than that putrid shit under the toe nails. [/QUOTE] I’m with **sovtawen** , toe jam is lint between the toes. “Crud” seems as good a name as any for the yellow stuff. (And why should “jam” be a particularly nasty term?) ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/10 "2008-07-20T20:45:17Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] Don’t you guys keep you toenails trimmed? There is no “under” my toenails. [/QUOTE] Indeed! I have discovered that long distance running takes care of many toenail issues. TMI ALERT! DON’T CLICK THESE! [Before peeling](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/minor7flat5/1-before-peeling.jpg) [Almost off](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/minor7flat5/2-almost-off.jpg) [Job complete](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/minor7flat5/3-job-complete.jpg) [Both big toes without nails.](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/minor7flat5/both-toes.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/11 "2008-07-20T21:36:07Z")
Is it really possible that this thread could end up in IMHO? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/12 "2008-07-21T03:01:41Z")
[QUOTE=minor7flat5] Indeed! I have discovered that long distance running takes care of many toenail issues. TMI ALERT! [/QUOTE] I’m confused. Why did you remove your toenails? Wasn’t the removal process incredibly painful? I ask this because your nail looks perfectly attached in the first photo. What exactly necessitated the removal? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/13 "2008-07-21T03:10:00Z")
[QUOTE=robby] I’m confused. Why did you remove your toenails? Wasn’t the removal process incredibly painful? I ask this because your nail looks perfectly attached in the first photo. What exactly necessitated the removal? [/QUOTE] I could be wrong, but it looks to me that the long-distance running he’s so fond of had obliterated his daddy-toenail “glue”, and removing them would be more hygienic than keeping them thinly attached. God, I hope that wasn’t as painful as it looks. I have to barf now. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/14 "2008-07-21T11:35:08Z")
(Sorry for the hijack) The reason for them coming off is because if your shoes are not absolutely perfectly fitted and you go for a \>10mi run regularly, it is very common for one or more toenails to simply turn grey over time and eventually fall off. This can be caused by something as simple as a lumpy seam in a sock. The problem is that you are constantly pounding on it for two hours straight. You get the equivalent of a huge blister under the nail that eventually results in the nail falling off. No, it is not painful. It’s kind of like having a loose tooth when you were a child: you just keep messing with it and eventually it comes off. In the first picture, the nail looks nice, but there is absolutely nothing holding it on anywhere but the edges. The grey appearance is gone because the substance that made it grey is already …ahem… drained. ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/15 "2008-07-21T13:02:57Z")
I’ve always been rather partial to the term “Fumunda cheese”. As in, “You know that stuff you dig out fumunda your fingernails/toenails.” It’s available in light and dark varietys, depending on various factors. SC ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/16 "2008-07-21T16:55:54Z")
Yeah, crud gets under my fingernails but “yellow and pungent”?? Not under finger or toenails, even if I do let them grow out. Maybe my feet don’t sweat enough? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/17 "2008-07-22T00:24:21Z")
I couldn’t resist trying to see if there’s a definition that truly defines “toejam.” OED only cited it from 1934, and clearly stated that it’s the “between the toes” stuff. But, I just had to go looking. Traced it back to 1866, in an article on foot hygiene. So, at least M-W and OED will have the latest antedating. But the artilce really didn’t explain what it was. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/18 "2008-07-22T03:32:14Z")
Bah. I don’t care how old your citations are. The stuff between my toes is in no way jam-like. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/19 "2008-07-22T13:14:09Z")
[QUOTE=Stana Claus] I’ve always been rather partial to the term “Fumunda cheese”. As in, “You know that stuff you dig out fumunda your fingernails/toenails.” It’s available in light and dark varietys, depending on various factors. SC [/QUOTE] I’ve often spoke of frumunda, and I’ve never, not once, heard it in reference to nails. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058/20 "2008-07-22T17:24:21Z")
If you get enough toe jam to make a football, people will sing about you. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenail-crud/457058.md?page=2)