Boots/pains

A snowHead

Hi guys, I am looking for some feedback. Here is the history…

Just back from a short break to Italy and managed to get 2 days skiing in. This was the “real” test for my new boots that I bought last March (towards end of season) from Ellis Brigham (when I say “real” test, I mean skiing on real snow, real conditions, etc not just wearing them about the house or at Xcape Braehead). I have had an ongoing problem with the left boot in that it makes my toes go numb and hurts me. The right boot has never given me any problems and fits like a slipper. I have had the boots back to Ellis Brigham a few times and they have ground down the insoles and stretched the outside of the left boot around the side of my little toe and the side of my foot (this was done just before I went away on my short break).

First day of skiing: New socks on (which are slightly thinner than the socks I usually use). Skied all day in perfect conditions with no problems whatsoever. Left boot didn’t give me any problems at all.

Second day of skiing: Different pair of socks which are slightly thicker than the ones used the day before. I wasn’t feeling very well this day and had something working on me (now have a cold), so not 100% and my heart wasn’t really in it. During this second day of skiing, very very sore legs and left boot playing up again.

Since I have come back, my legs are very sore to the point where I am waking up in the middle of the night. I also have sore knees and pain in the soles of my feet. The area of pain basically goes from the soles of my feet up through my calves, knees, thighs and into my hips. I had this pain a few months before I went skiing and went to see my GP who referred me to a Podiatrist. I seen the Podiatrist yesterday and she has given me insoles to wear for my “normal” shoes.

I am really at the end of my tether with these boots if indeed the boots are the problem. Although, I am mindful of the fact that maybe the boots are not the problem and this is what I need to ascertain.

I have given a detailed history because I basically need to ascertain:

1. It seem that the boots were better with thinner socks – does this mean that there is a problem with volume of the left boot and that it needs to be stretched more or will they “pack” down eventually? I deliberately started the first day with thinner ski socks to “pack” down the liner before using thicker ski socks.
2. Is there maybe a problem with the insole of the left boot in that it might not be sitting correctly? I have a feeling that this is what maybe causing the pains in the soles of my feet as maybe I could be stretching the muscles and nerves on the soles of my feet (gripping the piste with my toes consciously or subconsciously).
3. Are the boots causing these pains? I know that I had these pains a few months before I went skiing, so could it be that something else is causing the pains (underlying medical problem). I had a really anxious and stressful 4 months last year and was told that pain in legs can be due to a build up of adrenaline – maybe this is the tail end of the stressful period. I had these pains during my stressful period.
4. Technique problem?
5. Could it be that I am not as fit as I should be?

I know that the advice you can maybe give could be a bit limited but any help is appreciated. I know that this posting is all “ifs, buts and maybes” but any feedback would be appreciated.

I am going to Selva on 23 Feb for 2 weeks – help!

Thanks.

A snowHead

Two days isn't a lot of time for a new pair of boots to settle in. I'd give it a bit more time before working through your list of potential problems.

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jb1970, buy more pairs of "thin" socks? I've been wearing my new boots around the house; thick socks -hurt- but thin socks are fine. Maybe it's just a volume thing?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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If it is a 'volume thing' the liners will pack down a fair amount in time. Have you taken the liners out to check how much room you have in the shell?

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

jb1970, This is quite simple, what you need to do is email the tourist office and ask them to make some suggestions for shops in the resort which employ specialist boot fitters. Then when you get there go and visit each shop and decide who is the best and most knowledgeable and then tell them of your problem and heed their advice to the full.

This is give you the best chance of fixing your problem.

After all it is free

jb1970, Everyone has one foot which is bigger than the other, the only difference is by how much so it is not strange that it should only be your left foot.
How have you got on with the insoles in your "normal" shoes?
Is the pain in the sole of your feet constant or are there times when it is better or worse than usual?
Is the pain all over the sole of your feet or at the ball or the heel of your foot?

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

jb1970, When did you get back? If this was merely a volume thing with your boots I wouldn't expect you still to be waking in the night with pain in your legs. Confused

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jb1970, given that you had a whole day with perfect comfort in your boots, that does suggest that the stretching which Ellis Brigham has done did the trick, and that maybe the underlying problem is elsewhere. But also, all the experts on this forum and elsewhere insist that thin socks are infinitely preferable. I started off with thin socks in my boots for many weeks skiing, but now need thick ones and they still feel a bit loose; I may need new boots! Maybe as TallTone suggests you should just stick to the thin socks, at least till you have skied in the boots for a couple of weeks.

My husband has pain in the soles of feet, and sometimes ankles and knees, which are caused, at least in part, by "trigger points" in the two main muscles in the calves (soleus and gastrocnemius, I think they are called). We have done a lot of rather painful massage on those muscles, where some of the trigger points are really gnarly, and the problem has been eased a lot. He also rolls the soles of his feet on a massage thing before skiing, every time, and he finds that helps. You might find that if you visit a good sports physio, who does trigger point massage, he/she will pinpoint where the problems lie (possibly some way from where the pain is being referred) and show you how to massage the trigger points yourself; they can be very tough to shift if they've been there a long time. My husband tends to "jiggle" his feet a lot, and is unaware of it, so the muscles are under constant tension when they could be relaxed. If you tend to be tense, that will make things worse. If you went skiing when you were feeling out of sorts you maybe were more tense than on the previous day. Did you do a range of stretches at the end of each day? I try to do that, and it does make a difference.

By the way, I don't think it's at all strange that only the left boot causes trouble; I doubt if many people have perfectly symmetrical feet - I certainly don't.

You could always buy a job lot of Ibuprofen gel - it's good stuff. snowHead

snow reports

jb1970, What make/model and size are your boots, and how tall are you?

The focus on the thick/thin socks is valid but perhaps more importantly you mentioned the 'thin sock day' coincided with perfect skiing conditions whilst 'thick sock day' was accompanied by feeling ill and thus probably not skiing as well as you normally would. This can have an effect on the comfort of your ski boots, poor technique/not committing to turns etc can make normally comfortable boots feel painfull.

There are a number of potential reasons for the pain your are experiencing; these include a limited range of motion in your achilles tendon and problems with the alignment/canting of your boots. However, more information is needed before we can make any further recomendations (apart from getting yourself to a respected bootfitter!)

You know it makes sense.

First off, I am NO expert by any means on boot fitting but I just wondered what insoles you have in them. The reason I ask is that I've just come back from my first week on new Technica boots. I was a bit worried that I'd suffer from numb toes because they're affected by any pressure from the top of the boot. They'd both been stretched by the shop. Anyway, for the first day I used the crappy insoles that come with the boots because they are thin and God did the balls of my feet hurt! Numb toes, the lot - I wasn't happy.

The next day I thought I'd take them out and put in my thicker moulded insoles to see if that helped - and it was like waving a magic wand. No pain under my feet, no numbness..

Anyway I guess what I'm trying to say is that the proper support for my feet made a massive difference - just a thought! Smile

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

jb1970, Apologies for taking so long to get back to you, I was at Glenshee today.
I have to say first that while I am a retired chiropodist I specialised in surgery to ingrowing toenails so my biomechanics are far from great.
Seems to me that while the numbness and pain around the soles and toes could point to a volume issue I wouldn't expect you to have subsiquent pain in your legs several days after so I would tend to think it is more of a mechanical issue with your footbeds or the cant of your boots.

A snowHead

A snowHead

jb1970, Take the boots and the footbeds back to EB and see what they suggest. I know that EB don't have a brilliant name on here but I've always found the staff at Braehead really helpful.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Help!!

Boots/pains

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