Tennis Toe YUCK!!! How to protect your pedi 101 ~ Keep it pretty girls!!!!

        I'm a girly girl~ I like to look good.  I also like to play hard, and my feet and toes have paid the price big time.  Some time ago, as the summer season was in full swing, I got the worst case of tennis toe nail that I have ever seen.  It was so disgusting and quite hilarious actually.  All of my friends couldn't help making fun of me, and I'm here to tell you… if it wasn't for the chardonnay and the lunching laughter (at my at my expense of course), I would have entered a real tennis depression . 

        All of my friends and I had been battling bruising under our toenail, toe nails braking and cracking but never before had any of our toes turned green, oozing puss and so painful I had to quit playing until my toenail grew back.  At this point, this is where my quest for the ultimate pedi~protection began.  I received several opinions from different tennis pros on the size of shoe, type of shoe, none of which solved my problem.  I bought smaller shoes, for a tighter, fit so my feet wouldn't bang the top of the shoe, WRONG!!!  (Stupid young pro, obviously knew nothing about proper feet care.)  Then I tried bigger shoes, more roomy, that just made them bang more (I think that was my husbands suggestion and his feet are not pretty, still wondering why I listened to him).  Another older pro suggested that I tie my shoe laces differently, "lock lacing" is what they call it.   I did find this helpful at the time, cause my feet were swimming in my shoes cause they were way too big.  But this ultimately did not solve my problem, it kept my laces tight but I still needed serious help!!!  (I mean I had the ugliest feet on my entire team, entire league for that matter!)   Green toes and white feet were simply not working for me for those Friday and Saturday nights out with my hubby and friends. 

        But there is a happy ending to this saga, after much trial and error, I developed a system that cured my 'ugly toe' syndrome for good.   Here's how to do it girls:

Top five pedi~protection tips for the pretty girl tennis player!!!!!  

1. TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF IMMEDIATELY AFTER YOUR MATCH !!!

        I'm a healthy sweater, and my socks are usually wet when I am finished with a match or practice.   I used to go to lunch with the gals after a match and my feet would just sit in my tennis shoes wet.  This ended up making my toenails soft and fragile.   One day I stole my son's adidas slides that he had out grown, and threw them in my tennis bag thinking this might help.  It made a huge difference  Now, I don't even put my shoes on until I get to the court.  Then as soon as I'm finished… SHOES and SOCKS off~ before I leave the court!  Slides on!!! In the summer- bare foot, in the winter- bring an extra pair of dry socks to put on.  My feet are dry and my toenails stay hard!! My kids make fun of my socks with slides but it's better than green toenails!    

Every girl needs to have a pair of slides or flip flops in there tennis bag.  This is my #1 trick that keeps my toe nails strong. 

2. WONDER GUARDS

Toe guards are not just for the hardcore runners!!!  These toe protectors saved my seriously competitive ladies doubles tennis career and gave me my pretty feet back!:)  When the gangrene-esque hue set in on my toenail of my big toe, I thought I would never be able to play without pain again, not to mention… I was too embarrassed by this extremely gross looking toe to wear open toe shoes and closed toe shoes put too much pressure on it.  Bare feet and chardonnay is how I ended the summer at the beach that year.  During my quest to solve this problem for myself  is where I found this wonderful product… called WONDER GUARDS (www.wonderguards.com)  This guard, which just slid over top of my big toe, allowed me to play with minimal pain and allowed my toenail to grow back out without breaking again in the process.  I wore these on both big toe nails for an entire season, until both toenails were strong again.  I still keep them in my tennis bag and if I start having an issue, they are right there to put on.  Toenail/life saver!!!!  heehee!!! 

3. KEEP YOUR TOENAILS POLISHED

I prefer OPI polish and in particular their nail envy strengthener to keep my toenails strong.  I keep this on hand and apply regularly in-between pedicures!!!  This works~ love OPI products!!!

(http://www.amazon.com/OPI-Nail-Envy)  I also never let the nail tech cut my toe nails, I do that at home myself, the nail file is my friend.  You have to keep your toenails short and groomed, if they are too long they will bang in your shoes and crack and break~ this is where the trouble begins.   I've also started to test out different types of polishes and techniques, like gel polish, to see if that makes a difference.   The quest continues…

4. PROPER SOCKS

I'm a frugal girl~ I don't' like to spend $14 on one pair of socks, it just doesn't seem right.  I just couldn't do it!  Until my entire toe almost fell off of my foot!  But here it is… I will now pay any amount for a pair of socks that is going to keep my feet 'cat walk' ready!!  (And my husband can buy them for me and put them in my Christmas stocking, cause he is always looking for the latest tennis gear~ two birds with one stone.  It's better than the electronics isle, things sure have change since our first christmas together.)  Oh, and I also recommend that you get the no-show socks, it is better for the tan line ladies!!!  White feet in heals just looks plain silly!!! 

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Thorlo_TMM_Level_3_Micro-Mini_Sock

5.  PROPER FITTING SHOES

Notice this is not my #1!!!  I have found if I do all of tips 1-4, the actual shoe just doesn't matter as much.  Seems like I aways end up with Nike shoes, which I find to run more narrow than most others.  Once I had my bunion ectomy (to be discussed in another post) this has not been a problem for me anymore.  I do like to use the lock lacing technique though, this keeps my laces tight.

Oh and I almost forgot…Tip 5 1/2.  Buttery Chardonnay of Course!!  My particular favorites at this time… Graton Ridge Chardonnay from Graton Ridge Cellars (www.gratonridge.com) and 2009 Heintz Vineyard Chardonnay from Suacci Carciere Winery (www.suaccicarciere.com)  both of these vineyards are located in the Russian River Valley, one of my favorite places in the world.