Soles of feet aching (badly) early in the day

A snowHead

Hi

I've always had this problem when skiing, and usually hire boots, but this year I bought my own boots which seem to fit very well - nice and snug (not tight) with just enough room to wiggle my toes. I also have a moulded footbed made for these boots.

My problem is, for the first hour or two of skiing the soles of my feet ache badly. So badly, that I usually have to stop, take some painkillers and wait for an hour. I seem to be okay for the rest of the day then. Standing still is the worst, but still hurts if skiing during that first couple of hours.

Because, I'm okay after a couple of hours, I presume that there is something about my feet that needs addressing. I tried massaging my soles for 10 mins one morning but that had no effect. Any ideas anyone?

My boots can be adjusted for cant and flex but I don't know if that is the issue.

Thanks

A snowHead

starkraving, welcome to the madhouse

there could be a number of things going on to cause the problem, is it the whole sole of the foot or just under the ball of the foot?

it could be flexibility of the calf or just the muscles in the foot getting warmed up.....has this been getting better or worse over the time you have been using the boot? it may just be the boot breaking in that is causing some of it

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

Hi, thanks for the reply. The aching area is between the ball of the foot and the heel. I think day 1 was okay, days 2 and 3 hurt, day 4 okay, day 5, 6 and 7 hurt. Yes I know, that is odd! I think day 5 and 6 were the worst days for pain.

I get the same pain in hire boots, which i presume are well broken-in.

I also thought it might be something to do with my foot muscles warming up, but what exercises should i do to compensate for that? I could do calf stretching exercises - would that help with the feet?

By the way, may not be relevant, but the snow in the morning was hard and icy

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Probably the custom footbeds. Take them out and put in the ordinary ones.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

But, I've always had this problem, with hire boots (without custom foot beds) and now my new boots (that have custom footbeds in), so i don't see how that would help

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if the footbed is well made then it should be the cause, possible that the boot is actually a little big (in terms of volume) with the hard icy snow the vibratiosn could be causing the pain, as the snow softens the pain reduces

calf stretching will help as will rotating the ankles a few times

when you put the boot on make sure you clip the cuff buckles nice and snug then flex a few times before clipping the foot buckles (which shouldn't have to be tight) make sure the foot and boot are warm and fresh socks before you put them on, consider the sock fibre and brand, there are some pretty rough materials out there which can make feet really sore if there is any friction

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starkraving,

I sometimes have this problem. Does the underside of your foot feel as though it is slightly cramping? I find this happens after 10-15 minutes of skiing and can last for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

This used to be worse while my boots were still quite new. It is not so much of a problem now.

I found that stretching the calf muscles before setting off to the slopes helped. If the pain persists take a coffee break, remove your boots and let your feet recover. I then find that the rest of the day passes pain free.

Hope you find a solution - I know that this sort of thing can be frustrating because other people may see it as trivial - however it really does detract from the fun of skiing.

After all it is free

Okay will try that, thanks. Perhaps i am tightening the clips too much. i only use 1 thumb to clip them shut but i do make sure they are pretty tight. the boot is a low volume version and there is no looseness at all. i use the falke sk2 socks

Also, I realised, that i was skiing out of the hotel in the morning, so hadnt done much walking before clipping the skis on. Perhaps i need to go for a walk first?

thanks

zellmaniac, yes, sometimes it felt exactly like cramp, and most of the time it feels like the middle bit of the sole needs rubbing hard to relieve it. I did exactly what you suggested as well, except i also took painkillers as well as the coffee. I'm going to try the exercises and see if that works.

Thanks

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I have the same problem on more than half the days when I ski offpiste. On the first long offpiste run the soles hurt pretty bad, on the second it's much better, by the third - no problem. Don't really have the option of stopping as I'd be left in the middle of nowhere!

I don't really get this when skiing pistes, probably because I find it easier and relax more, and because each run lasts a lot less. And it's much less pronounced since I got my new foam liners with new, slightly softer footbeds.

One thing that helps a lot is to let the feet hang from the chairlift, rather than keeping them on the footrest.

I guess better fitted boots would reduce the problem further. Next year. But in the meantime any sort of walking around before skiing helps.

CEM, assuming there's space in the boot, is there any sort of additional gel or soft flat footbed one could add below the "shaped" footbed, or would that reduce feedback from the boot??

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starkraving, my OH has that problem sometimes. He finds the best thing is to roll his feet firmly - the whole length - along a roller, several times. The little wooden ones with ridges in are ideal, but he has been known to use an empty beer bottle!

snow reports

and another thing..... he gets "knots" (trigger points) in his calf muscles, which I massage for him - it's very painful. Twisted Evil

If we keep on top of those (and stretching after) that really does help, too.

I think that the reason he has a chronic problem is that he is forever "jiggling" his feet - just can't keep them still. So as fast as we get rid of the trigger points, they seem to come back.

Thanks all. I'm not alone then!

It could be something to do with not relaxing. I hate skiing on the icy stuff so, first thing in the morning i would be pretty tense. Sounds like a bit of stretching, walking and massaging is required before i venture out. I'll try it out next time and report back.

Thanks again.

You know it makes sense.

horizon, you could put a thin piece of poron or noene under the footbed, but whilst it may take away the judder from the snow through the boot it will also deaden the response you will get and can give back

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

A snowHead

A snowHead

starkraving, other than toe bruising and loss of toenails, I have also suffered with numb feet and a dull ache under the soles of my feet since I changed boots three seasons ago. For my most recent trip I took the footbeds out of the boots and saw a noticeable improvement with the numbness and aches and less bruising to the big toes. I realise footbeds are a godsend for some people but they don't seem to have worked for me, might be worth a try for you.

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

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Sounds like me, I just posted an essay on this thread - http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=61710

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I used to get this every holiday, although some days worse than others. I'm away at the moment and have not had sole cramp at all in a week's skiing. I think the problem used to be partly due to curling my toes under, almost trying to grip the boot with them. It was worse when I felt nervous, generally the first few runs of the day.

I've changed two things since last trip:
- new boots. Properly fitted with custom footbeds. This makes it harder to move my toes around as there is less room.
- a couple of lessons to gain confidence. Also starting on a green run each day just to get my legs working and find the confidence to ski again.

Good luck.

Help!!

Soles of feet aching (badly) early in the day

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