Don't nails need to 'breathe'? I remember Barbara Bush saying she was happy to leave the White House and stop wearing fake fingernails so that her own could heal.

Slippers make me a bit wobbly for some reason. I’ll let my toes breathe when these things grow off. It was nice last night not snagging the sheets for once.

Maybe you need some steel toed work shoes, just kidding.

Sue

I have a split big toe nail, going down the middle. I put super glue on the split while the nail grows out. Working. Been on for about 10 days. Mine is a small split and just put the glue on the split.

years ago, while barefoot, sorta shut foot in screen door. top of one big toe nail SCRAPED across the entrance (door jamb??) scraped a hole a little smaller than diameter of pencil clear thru nail. it was like the worst imaginable tooth ache until that area sorta "scabbed over" it didn't bleed with my "raw" toe under the nail was not happy with air or water hitting it for a week or so. then it took months for the toe nail to grow out past that hole. definite OUCH!

Get a pair of real shoes to wear in the house, for heaven's sake! Mules, clogs, moccasins, loafers, or other slip on styles can be extremely comfortable while still supportive. Treat them as slippers and don't wear them outside.

I don't understand why you wouldn't protect your feet after the first time you banged them. That would have been the only time for me.

We’ve never worn shoes in the house. I used to be able to navigate better. Usually happens when I get up to pee in the middle of the night.

I keep my toenails brutally short, have done so ever since my first ballet class wearing pointe shoes many many years ago to keep them from ripping off or splitting. I like slippers around the house but they need to have a back that comes up over the heel otherwise the instinctual clenching of the toes to keep the slippers on my feet is impossible to stop myself from doing. Same thing happens with flip flops, open backed high heels, and sandals without a back strap of some kind.

Thinking about looking for something with a good tread so it's not as easy to slip and land on my tush going down the carpeted stairs in the front entry and to the basement. Or I could just slow down. :P

Never wear shoes in the house. Cold weather, I'm sock footed. Warm weather, barefoot.

I keep my toenails brutally short, have done so ever since my first ballet class

I do too. Your post made me think. Neither my DD nor I can stand having our toenails grow. I even have gotten up in the middle of the night to trim them. If they get long they feel "heavy" to us. We both skated for years. Our boots had to fit tight. Your post got me to thinking maybe that's why we both have this quirk. Makes sense.

I wear Bear Paw fleece boots for winter slippers (can't stand mules or the short backs on so many slippers) and flip flops the rest of the year in the house. I need something under my feet to support other than the hard floor.

Glad you found a solution that works.

I can't keep shoes on my feet. I used to go barefoot all of the time. Now I wear socks. I find I kick my shoes off without thinking about it. I don't have a problem with the toenails, but I keep hitting my toes. I'm not picking up my feet like I used to.

If it happens most often when you get up in the middle of the night, and slippers make you wobbly, perhaps you need another style of slipper. There are many kinds. Or if the problem is that you can't see obstacles in the dark, maybe a night light in the hallway would do the trick. Prevention is better than any repair.

I can't stand anything on my feet while at home. No shoes, no socks, and NEVER slippers. Even as a child I've always been barefoot at home. Fortunately I don't really bang into things, but if your acrylic toenails solve the problem for you, I'm all for it.

if you have any nail problems get some Naitiques Formula 2,

its fantastic! Great for thin or splitting nails. The last bottle I got from Walmart (online) or I buy it off ebay its cheaper.

I am always barefoot in the house but I wish that I'd had steel toes on earlier. We were installing a new guest room bed and had temporarily leaned the side boards against the wall. I squeezed through the hall that had the head and foot boards on the other wall and knocked a sideboard down. Broke my pinky toe. I don't ever remember screaming so loud in pain.

With the amount of lotion moisturizing my feet receive post-showering, I'm not sure it would be terribly safe to go without socks and slippers, even if my feet didn't get terribly cold without them.

@watchmelol

Makes sense that you and DD would have similar habits for keeping your toenails as short as possible due to skating and the footwear requirements. My ballet instructors always told us these horrific stories, I'm guessing because they thought that it would ensure nobody took class or performed wearing pointe shoes with the ribbons safety pinned on, or without making sure they cut their toenails brutally short...unfortunately there were a few people who had to learn through experience. And I thought the blisters were bad enough, I have vivid memories of daily rehearsals for two weeks and after the final one before the weekend performance everyone was packing up to go home and get a good nights sleep...then seeing another dancer had been bleeding through her shoes; later the same year a different dancer ended up with the giant safety pin she'd used to attach the ribbons to her point shoe stuck into the Achilles tendon area. That was ample motivation to not follow that route, and why our teachers had told us those awful stories in the first place - they did have our best interests in mind. I'm certain that a major part of why I don't have much feeling in my feet (haven't had much for most of my adulthood either) is because of the pointe shoes. Even if I could go back and do things over I'd still get involved in ballet, but my feet have definitely been affected in not-so-awesome ways. :P

if constantly barefoot and banging into furniture... it's time to think about a change?!?

PK, how long did it take your pinky toe to heal? I’m going on four weeks now on mine and it hurts just as much now as it ever did. Dadgum coffee table leg!!

I hate broken toes. Not much you can do but limp & wait for it to heal & keep ice on it. Ouch!

My foot Dr said to always wear shoes. I am never without shoes unless I am on carpet at home. I broke both pinky toes. Going without shoes or wearing flip flops will destroy your feet. I also had planters fasciitis, no fun at all!

Littlebug, it just happened yesterday (the pinky toe break) but the last toe that I broke took a really long time to heal. It hurt for months if I bumped it.