(#) How to prevent losing toe nails from running

[secretlyevil]

Nothing S&B about breaking toe nails. I have weak nails in general but the working out plays havoc on my toe nails. As in, they tend to fall off and break horizontally, very close to the cuticle, which hurts! Does anyone have any nail strengthener they use and love?

ETA: Changed title per WaWa's suggestion.

[wawa]

I've never had much luck with nail strengtheners. But...my nails were the strongest they've ever been when I was taking prenatal vitamins.

I'm not anymore, because they make me gag (so I'm just taking folate), and my nails have started going back to their usually peely/breakey selves, so it's not just super preggo nails. I have no idea which ingredient it was in the prentals that made my nails awesome, but something in there sure helped.

[ringstrue]

ooh good idea the PNVs might work long term. I have brittle nails and they were beautiful when I was KU!

I've heard eating gelatin is good for your nails too??

My stepmom used to have the same thing happen with her nails but she made it sound like a shoe shock absorption issue? Like literally "I walked in the mall all day with these bad shoes on and 2 toe nails fell off."

[secretlyevil]

Aug 10, 2012 9:11:35 GMT -5 ringstrue said:

My stepmom used to have the same thing happen with her nails but she made it sound like a shoe shock absorption issue? Like literally "I walked in the mall all day with these bad shoes on and 2 toe nails fell off."

I normally wear a 7.5 and my running shoes are an 8.5. I have terrible form, this might be part of it. The actual falling off happened twice, after a half, on the same toe. It seriously freaked me out the first time. My nephew thought it was "so cool."

[wawa]

Aug 10, 2012 9:16:15 GMT -5 secretlyevil said:

Aug 10, 2012 9:11:35 GMT -5 ringstrue said:

My stepmom used to have the same thing happen with her nails but she made it sound like a shoe shock absorption issue? Like literally "I walked in the mall all day with these bad shoes on and 2 toe nails fell off."

I normally wear a 7.5 and my running shoes are an 8.5. I have terrible form, this might be part of it. The actual falling off happened twice, after a half, on the same toe. It seriously freaked me out the first time. My nephew thought it was "so cool."

I think this is pretty typical for runners. typical enough that I've heard of it and I'm certainly not a runner. You might get good advice if you change the title to pull in your fellow long distance crazypeople.

[SallyJ]

I've heard of it being an issue with runners. Also make sure you are just simply eating enough. If I don't eat enough calories and workout really hard I notice that my hair and nails suffer.

[secretlyevil]

The consensus on H&F is keep them really, really short. I guess this is a good excuse to get regular pedicures since I can't seem to get them short enough on my own.

pandce.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=hf&action=display&thread=42934

[Michelle]

I've heard sitting yo ass on the couch and not running also helps.

[StrawberryBlondie]

My dad is a baker and says that handling a lot of yeast dough makes his nails super hard. I'm not sure how you could make that happen with your feet, though.