# Toenails? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 12, 2000, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenails/25277 "2000-07-12T05:52:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fnord1966](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ad7895/32.png) [@fnord1966](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fnord1966)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenails/25277/1 "2000-07-12T05:52:05Z")
What are the use of toenails? What would you do if one day you woke up and they were gone? As if they just skipped off to the place that all the missing socks hang out and play golf? Ewww, what if all the missing socks are filled with runnaway toenails? ---
**Author:** ![Bluemonchichi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@Bluemonchichi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bluemonchichi)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenails/25277/2 "2000-07-12T05:54:01Z")
**fnord** No offense meant, but I think you have too much time on your hands. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![fnord1966](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ad7895/32.png) [@fnord1966](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fnord1966)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenails/25277/3 "2000-07-12T05:55:29Z")
Your just jealous of my post count. Any whoo, this thread was my sisters idea. ---
**Author:** ![tshirts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@tshirts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tshirts)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenails/25277/4 "2000-07-12T05:55:48Z")
I always liked it when my ex-wife painted hers, to wear open-toed summer shoes. And Iā€™m not even much of a leg man. ---
**Author:** ![Niggle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Niggle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niggle)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenails/25277/5 "2000-07-12T05:56:00Z")
Missing toenails? I think youā€™d spend a lot of time jumping up and down holding a freshly stubbed foot (still attached). Nails are great protectors. Iā€™m not going to get into the logistics behind a sock-and-nail golf tournie. -niggle ---
**Author:** ![JimmyNipples](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb9ed0/32.png) [@JimmyNipples](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyNipples)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenails/25277/6 "2000-07-12T15:02:51Z")
I hate the freekinā€™ thingsā€¦ Iā€™m having my big toe nails removed this fall I think. I have rather large feetā€¦wide (EEE) and longā€¦12" I spent my youth cramming my feet into combat boots. Iā€™m pretty sure thats the reason Iā€™m having trouble with ingrown nails now. I feel kind of ashamedā€¦you know, I failed at personal hygeneā€¦blah ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenails/25277/7 "2000-07-12T22:35:28Z")
I guess Iā€™m the resident expert on ingrown toenails - I spent half my childhood with one foot or the other in bandages. And then a while back I crippled myself by not clearing a curb as I ran for the bus, and that nail just dropped off the other day. (The new one is growing in.) The tendency to get ingrown nails is genetic. Instead of being nearly flat, the nails are curved from side to side, enough that the edges ride in slots in the flesh. So far, no problem, but if you cut them short enough for the corners to be back in the slot (or if you wear tight shoes), they tend to dig in and get infected. Once the infection gets under the nail, the easiest treatment is to take the nail off and let it regrow. In my case, my parents and the doctor decided to take the nails off both big toes and kill the down-curved sides of the root, so the nails are now more or less flat. (The doc didnā€™t do a great job - both have little misdirected strips of nail in odd directions, but at least theyā€™re manageable.) So a workaround is to keep your nails long enough that the corners donā€™t dig in, and make sure to wear shoes that are big enough. If you feel like you must go for the permanent fix, talk to your doctor about the root-killing option. (And the first little while after the surgery is not fun!) ---
**Author:** ![tubagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b77776/32.png) [@tubagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tubagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenails/25277/8 "2000-07-13T01:12:29Z")
I donā€™t know what happened to my when I was 12-14 years old. My parents house has a huge brick fireplace that the end forms the hallway to the rooms. I must have been growing or something, because for two years staight I hit my right footed little toe on the edge of the brick. I kept splitting my poor lilā€™ toe every day. I bled sooooo much!!! I was sure my whole damn toe was goign to fall off eventually. Or at least my toenail. But I didnā€™t and my fiance loves to kiss my feet. No scars anywayā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![tiggeril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tiggeril/32/7234_2.png) [@tiggeril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiggeril)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenails/25277/9 "2000-07-13T01:14:42Z")
elbows? ears? knees? Ohā€¦ I thought it was a word association thingā€¦ donā€™t mind me. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![rundogrun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5daacb/32.png) [@rundogrun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rundogrun)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenails/25277/10 "2000-07-13T13:28:50Z")
Having lost a number of toenails running long races, I can tell you that surprisingly enough, you donā€™t miss them! I have a friend, who while normal (?), had a strange tradition with his roomates in college of clipping his toenails and passing them around the room so everyone could smell them. I guess it must have been like a ā€œtoad-lickingā€ thing or something. ---
**Author:** ![JimmyNipples](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb9ed0/32.png) [@JimmyNipples](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyNipples)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toenails/25277/11 "2000-07-13T13:36:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjk \* > **So a workaround is to keep your nails long enough that the corners donā€™t dig in, and make sure to wear shoes that are big enough. If you feel like you must go for the permanent fix, talk to your doctor about the root-killing option.** > Yupā€¦he ā€œkilledā€ the edge of the nail bed last time I went inā€¦now the nail is very high and roundedā€¦not flat. > > \*\* > (And the first little while after the surgery is not fun!) > \*\* Yippy