Two weeks ago, I needed to roll (push) my motorcycle into the garage. I would normally put my riding boots on for this, mainly for better traction, but I was only rolling the bike a few feet, so why not just stay barefoot instead of stopping to put boots on, just to take them back off a minute later. Well, a moment of inattention and the side-stand (like a kickstand on a bicycle) caught my left big toe, taking out a big chunk of tissue from the tip and slamming the nail. 15 days later I still cannot wear shoes (which would normally be okay I guess), but it means I can't ride my motorcycle or bicycles. I'm wearing socks and sandals to work, which is technically not allowed, but so far no one has said anything. The wound is slowly healing but still ugly and the nail bed still dark. I have to change the dressing daily. I don't know if the divot of missing tissue is going to look normal after it heals. And if the nail eventually comes off, I've read it could take up to 18 months to regrow and may be thicker and prone to becoming ingrown. So a moment of laziness has cost weeks and months of pain and hassles and possible deformities and continuing problems down the road. We like to think our bare feet are tough, but against a piece of steel, they are as fragile as an eggshell.
Yep, flesh never stands up to steel, or else we'd be bulletproof. Always weigh the risk vs. reward. Wrong choice could lead to losing your barefooting opportunities for a long time.
Yep. I will definitely be more careful now. Last year I came within a hair of stepping down hard on a 2" long deck screw. That would have been a horrific injury, far worse than this one. I guess I didn't learn my lesson about temporarily putting on protective footwear in certain situations.
It may help to know that it will heal. 2 years ago I was volunteering to move pallets of food around a warehouse and rolled the front wheel of the pallet jack fully loaded with food over my big toe nail (i was wearing normal shoes). Without going into detail, I did loose the toenail and fractured the tip of the bone. The good news is that it did heal and the toe nail grew back (fully in little less than 12 months) without being ingrown. It is thicker on the very tip of the nail so the nail bed is not as long as the other toe but otherwise all is normal now. Hang in there.
Thanks for the encouragement. The nail is still there, but sore if touched, so still cant wear shoes And no barefoot hiking or shopping, which is unfortunate as the weather has been perfect.
That sucks. Kicked into the vacuum cleaner in the middle of the night last year walking to bathroom in the dark thought I broke a toe. Its almost like minor stubs are necessary to keep situational awareness running efficiently as it keeps a bit of watch your step fear in place but the big injuries suck. Months ago my injury and still my awareness where my foot is going more on guard. The fear of stub in me. I do know the more I wear shoes the more I am at risk of an injury barefoot as I think the automated watch you step system kinda goes to sleep cause in shoes you can kick into things without much worry. Shoes on tripping over that vacuum cleaner would not have hurt at all. Oh well enough science, hope you heal soon, it sucks that saying pain is the best teacher totally applies to barefooting.
Thanks for the well wishes, appreciate it. I was getting too careless around the house Except for one small cut I got on a hike, all of my foot injuries and a couple close calls have been at home/my yard.
I used to ride bicycles barefoot. An unpleasant accident that happened to my sister put an end to that for me.
Yes! Most of my foot injuries have been in the home. Cuts, stubbed toes, you name it. I guess we're more careless in the home.
I've missed out on some good mud hiking. We had a couple inches of rain recently and then it warmed up nicely. Would have been perfect for a muddy hike on my favorite trail, but I don't dare get my foot dirty yet. The flesh wound has healed but it is still completely black and blue under the nail. I guess one good thing has come out of this. I painted both big toes with matte black nail polish (to hide the discoloration) and it actually looks decent. I think I may keep using polish even after the bruising clears. I played with polish in the past, but didn't like the glossy look or the work it took to do all 10 nicely - 2 is easy. And the matte looks much better than glossy. I'll spare you a pic, guy feet just aren't that great, even with anklets, rings and polish, lol
I ride my dirt bike shoeless. sometimes i had to put a foot down, once i dragged it across coarse gravel and thought i had scraped it bad... wrong. then one day while pushing my bike around the house in a cramped place i lost my balance and to avoid falling forward along with the bike i managed to rip a sizeable piece of skin from my big toe. nothing serious but it is funny that i managed to hurt my foot without even actually riding it lol.
