 Poster: A snowHead
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Skiing in Tignes in early December ended on day two with an excruciating pain in the sole of my foot, which I put down to my new boots not quite fitting properly, which were possibly squeezing my toes together and crushing my toe next to my little toe. Sorry to sound like a complete wimp, but 5 weeks later and the 'cramp' feeling I have had since it happened just wont go away.
Is this a normal skiing injury and if so does it rectify itself ..... the toe itself looks perfectly healthy???????
Advice anyone?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Go for an xray - 5 weeks sounds too long.
Ski boots (like all other footwear) are not meant to hurt (even when new)
Most fitters will be able to change the shape of the outer shell by a small amount, so go and see a desent boot fitter. But, ??, if they are too small you may need to just bin them and get a new pair - but I'm NOT an expert on boot fitting, so go and see a boot fitter after you have been for an xray.
The boots I'm using for this season (skiing avg = 7 to 8 hours per day) are from Précision in Val D'Isere (I do pop over the border now and again). When I bought them, I skied for a day then went back and the heated them up and bashed em around, did the same the next day and now they fit fine.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Ouch! Go see a chiropractor, they can do x-rays in the clinic and many of them will also offer a gait analysis scan which may help. Did you wear your new boots to pack down the lining a bit before you skiied in them?
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Bluemoon, welcome to snowheads!
Not exactly the same situation as yours but several years ago I returned from a skiing holiday with a 'numbness' along the upper outer forefoot. It lasted for quite a few weeks and then it did go and full sensation returned to the foot. The GP said it was due to bruising/swelling around the nerves in the foot and when this settled down the feeling would return which it did.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Bluemoon, I had a totally dead foot for about 6 weeks after using a pair of Salomon SX90s back in the day. They just squeezed a nerve. The feeling did come back, but better to get it checked out.
sarah, I've been using my thermo inners the last few days and have had 'dead' toes as per our discussion. I think they're just too tight there. I definitely have no wriggle room with these inners, just like you. It's worth it though (dead toes don't hurt), to be warm in the rest of my feet. 
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A couple of years back following a ski holiday I had a similar numbness in the ball and small toe of one foot for a good while after coming home. Can't remember how long, but it was certainly quite a few weeks. It eventually disappeared and I haven't had the problem since. I had rental boots at the time, have my own now and haven't had the problem again. I remember being a bit worried and searching all over the Internet ... but finding nothing helpful!
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I had the same issue as easiski, squashed nerve and no sensation in my foot. At the time I thought it was frost bite and was a bit concerned. Doctor in the mountains said it was relatively common injury due to boots being overtightened and crushing the nerve which runs down the foot. I felt as though I was walking on a golf ball. Injury cleared up after six to eight weeks. I now do not tighten the boots as aggressively as I used to.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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sarah, If they're 'dead' they don't hurt - coming back to life hurts though! I frequently find I can't bend my feet at all and/or feel my toes at the end of the day, but it's more regular with the therma-fit inners. The foam injection ones fit much better, but are not warm. 
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To all, thanks very much for all your good advice ... its obviously a great deal more common than I thought.
I am back out in Tignes on Weds morning (20/1) to give it a test out!
There is no pain with the 'dead toe' nor discolouring, so I guess I'll do what we all do ... grin and bear it ... but perhaps be less aggressive with the tightening of tghe boots. I think I was little paranoid of the boot being loose having not skied for a couple of years.
Hope to be able to write from Tignes, assuming the potential snow does re-appear at Gatwick and delay me getting out there!
Anybody else out in Tignes this week?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I had a dead little toe for about 3 months. All fixed when I changed boots. The feeling is totally back to normal now. Must have trapped a nerve or something.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Don't know about dead toes, but when I returned to skiing 8 years ago after a 15 year break (don't ask crazy I know, spent all my cash taking the family to Majorca  ) The first week I had was in rental boots, I endured this for 3 days then on one particularly cold day I was in absolute agony. That evening I bit the bullet and went out and bought some boots, they (what I thought then) faffed about in the shop for a couple of hours fitting them. I used these boots for another 3-4 years until my level of skiing dictated I needed a higher level of boot.
Anyway back to the point, for about a year the tips of my toes were tingling after I took my shoes off at night, it wasn't really uncomfotable but was noticeable. This sensation gradually got less intense as time went by. it finally went away and has been replaced by the tips of my 3 inner toes having virtually no feeling at all. I feel the catalyst to this was the ill fitting boots I wore all those years ago.
NEVER EVER BE TEMPTED TO BUY BOOTS OFF ANYWHERE THAT DOES NOT HAVE A TRACK RECORD. My current boots were purchased and fitted with foot beds at Ellis Brigham in Manchester and I have never had any problems whatsoever. I remember going into EB and wanted some Atomic's with thermic liners, the fitter took one look at my feet and said they wont fit you, but I insisted and tried them, He was right. He then put me into My Technica Diablo's and I knew instantly they were right. He then spent a couple of hours fitting them.
Anyway back to Your point, my wife also had a pair of ill fitting boots which rubbed at the top of her big toes, after returning from a ski trip it took about 3 months for the bruising which had occured to appear growing out at the cuticle of the toe nail, this eventually grew down the nail until her big toe nails were completely black (some 7-8 months after wearing the boots) The nails then eventually just droped off, leaving a new nail underneath.
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You know it makes sense.
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Hurtle,
Agree I clip my boots up using one finger, after a couple of runs I will crank the top 2 clips up a couple of turns. I NEVER have to release the clips at lunchtime, no need. I am a bit of an equipment junkie and always manage to spend a few hundred quid every year on stuff I dont really need, but I will not replace my boots until I really need to, they have had about 14 weeks use and are still in A1 condition.
Bluemoon, I see you only have 4 post's, so new on here. I am presuming (rightly or wrongly) you are new to this skiing game, so please take this advice and use it to your advantage. £50 saved on Ebay boots can ruin a £4k family ski trip.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Kel,
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I NEVER have to release the clips at lunchtime, no need.
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Me neither, the boots are a perfect fit and this was just a really stupid mistake. I think a sock got ruckled, or something. Still, never mind, as everyone says, the feeling will come back eventually.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Kel, I hope the hi yellow Oakleys solve all your flat light problems. Can't honestly say that they've solved all mine, although they're an improvement on others I've tried. Luckily, I got them very cheaply.
Certainly agree with the proposition which has been stated many, many times on here, that boots are the most important bit of kit to get right.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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My instructions from expert bootfitter was that the clips on top of the foot are just to stop snow getting inside, and should be done up very lightly - one finger job. I was told by a different bootfitter that my cold feet might be because the blood vessel along the top of foot was being crushed - again, boots too tight at the top.
I suspect a lot of us do our boots up too tight, especially when just cruising around or skiing in powder. How much time do you really spend doing very twitchy turns on moguls? the answer in my case is "none.
In really poor vis conditions you just can't see. End of. No matter what goggles you've got on. Go for a vin chaud instead. When it's just foggy then fine, the right goggles, and/or skiing on tree-lined pistes, make things much easier.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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pam w, none of my clips was done up too tightly. The problem was inside the boot around the ankle area, probably a ruckled sock or bottom of long johns getting in the way.
I agree about goggles and really poor visibility eg white-out, but Kel was referring to 'flat light' ie a lack of definition rather than visibility.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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bottom of long johns
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Hurtle, you might remember a thread a few weeks ago about that...... chop them off!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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pam w, thanks for the advice. They aren't full length, so it was more likely to be a sock problem, or even the Zipfit liner being a little askew. The real moral of the story is that, in a very well-fitted boot, any unaccustomed discomfort, even if temporary and slight, shouldn't be ignored. I shall be more careful in future - though, just at the moment, I wouldn't be able to feel any discomfort anyway!
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Ski boot compression syndrome!
Persistent numbness or pain is NOT GOOD and could lead to lasting damage.
I have had this on top of my foot for the last couple of trips. New boots coming next week, but I do have 'problem' feet. Very high arch.
The most important interface (imho) in skiing is the boots. They have the uncanny ability to be able to turn things bad quickly and ruin a holiday if they do not fit well.
As for the googles. I feel that a rose tint is the best in flat light. My other half kept nicking mine on our trip and they are certainly not an equipment junky but could tell the difference. The Oakley lense certainly are very clear, but I think the tint helps the most.
Good luck with all your foot related issues.
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gryfon, yay, it's got a name, then! I too have had it more than once, and also have high arches. It's always gone away eventually, though it's taken months. Here's hoping that neither the OP nor I have got lasting damage... The annoying thing for me is that this was self-inflicted - just a few moments of discomfort ignored and now I've got a numb foot. Really stupid. 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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for some reason my right big toe was uncomfortable yesterday - and last night. But today, though I was a bit apprehensive after all these tales of nails dropping off (and mine's not in good nick as it is) it was absolutely fine today. Bizarre. We had a long skate yesterday, and that might have done the damage.
One good thing about having a sore big toe is that it absolutely keeps your weight forward, so the toe doesn't bash into the end of the boot! No slacking.
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FAQ
Maybe mine weren't dead enough! One is still black 
. But only with experience that you and I have do you really know what makes the difference. And if there is anything down at the bottom of the scale that needs to be right above ANYTHING ELSE it is boots that fit and I am sure you will agree.
