Boot Help: Tongue Pain

[newbieM]

Hi Divas,

I have Atomic Hawx Prime 95, I've skied on them maybe 10-15 times at most. I have custom footbeds and I've had them heat molded to help break them in, i've gotten the areas needed punched out (all of this with a professional bootfitter)

The last tweak appears to be that the plastic on the digs into the front of my ankle and shin when I lean into the boot. This isn't shin bang, it is the seam of the liner digging into me as the day progresses from the ankle up. So I find myself in the backseat often because it is soooo painful after a full day. I attached pictures of the plastic part. A bootfitter tried grinding it down but it didn't help much. A few questions:

1. Is there padding I can put inside, between my sock and the liner to pad things?
2. I've seen those ridiculous socks that have padding in the front for shinbang, would that help here?
3. Could I frankenstein my liners and remove that stiff plastic that is sewn into the front? Or would that ruin the liner?
4. The bootfitter recommended swapping for intuition liners (The wrap around ones to avoid the tongue issue). Is this the best suggestion? They charge in the upper $200s for that - would it be OK if I ordered liners online since evo seems to have a sale or is that asking for trouble? It is just a very large financial investment at the moment on top of the boots and all the work but if that is the key to a long happy life with these boots I'll start to sock away for it.. I will also ask the bootfitter for their opinion too before I do anything on that front but wanted the opinion of this experienced crew.

Has anyone experienced this oddity before?

Pic 1, this is the seam of the tongue that pushes against my ankle and shin.
Pic 2, This is the white plastic that they tried to shave down but it still digs in through the fleece liner.

Is there padding I can put at that seam area? I was thinking even hacking something together with gel foot pads but I am not sure if then that would cause some strangeness in my boots.

 

[diymom]

I've never had this myself. Are you saying the padding at the very edge of the tongue doesn't fully cover the plastic edge of the tongue when you buckle? Does the fleecy fabric get bent under somehow? Is it on both sides of the tongue? And both boots? Does the shape of the tongue match the shape of your leg (not too curved so the edges are more likely to poke in when buckled?) Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to picture what might be happening.

 

[SnowMom]

I had pain / numbness from the seams on either side of the liner tongue pushing down in front of my ankle and on the top of my foot in some Solomon S/Max 110 W boots...

My bootfitter put some thin foam on both feet on the areas where the tongue seams hit and heat molded my stock liners to give me a few extra millimeters in those spots. (I also had a little foam around the ankle on only one foot due to an old achilles injury -- something about the pressure on the achilles sending signals over to the nerves and vessels that reach to the top of my foot...). It was only the thinnest bit of foam, but the heat molding of the liners giving me a couple millimeters of space resolved the problems completely for me. Good luck!

 

[newbieM]

I've never had this myself. Are you saying the padding at the very edge of the tongue doesn't fully cover the plastic edge of the tongue when you buckle? Does the fleecy fabric get bent under somehow? Is it on both sides of the tongue? And both boots? Does the shape of the tongue match the shape of your leg (not too curved so the edges are more likely to poke in when buckled?) Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to picture what might be happening.

Good questions, the hard plastic of the tongue, I can feel it THROUGH the padding and it digs into my shin and bruises it from mid shin down to my ankle. Its worse on the insides part and closer to the ankle but it happens on both boots. The shape seems to match up just fine but once I am buckled in and in a proper forward position that is when the digging happens.

 

[newbieM]

I had pain / numbness from the seams on either side of the liner tongue pushing down in front of my ankle and on the top of my foot in some Solomon S/Max 110 W boots...

My bootfitter put some thin foam on both feet on the areas where the tongue seams hit and heat molded my stock liners to give me a few extra millimeters in those spots. (I also had a little foam around the ankle on only one foot due to an old achilles injury -- something about the pressure on the achilles sending signals over to the nerves and vessels that reach to the top of my foot...). It was only the thinnest bit of foam, but the heat molding of the liners giving me a couple millimeters of space resolved the problems completely for me. Good luck!

Oh I am going to ask my bootfitter about this. My right foot at the top of my foot/ankle went numb a few weeks back and still has yet to recover, surreal, I just assumed I maybe buckled it too tightly.

I think that is what is happening at the ankle, the tongue liner is pressing into the top of my foot. I am going to ask if she can re-heat mold the with some padding there to see if it will help. For me it hurts higher up too but the ankle crease is for sure the worst spot.

 

[SnowMom]

Oh I am going to ask my bootfitter about this. My right foot at the top of my foot/ankle went numb a few weeks back and still has yet to recover, surreal, I just assumed I maybe buckled it too tightly.

I think that is what is happening at the ankle, the tongue liner is pressing into the top of my foot. I am going to ask if she can re-heat mold the with some padding there to see if it will help. For me it hurts higher up too but the ankle crease is for sure the worst spot.

I thought mine was my buckling technique first too. To be fair, changing how I buckle did help, but it didn't resolve for me until the liners were molded.

The experienced bootfitters here can probably give better tips. :-)

 

[ski diva]

I don't have any answer for this, but I will say that the Intuition liners are pretty sweet. I've had them in the past, and they make a huge difference not only in the comfort and warmth of the boot, but in making it easier to get the boot on and off. I'm a fan.

 

[contesstant]

Do those liners have removable tongues?

 

[MrsPlow]

I've had a similar sounding problem with my Atomic touring boots. Left foot is perfect, right foot has required major surgery on the tongue to try to get rid of the bit that's digging in. The bootfitter basically cut more and more plastic out of it. It's better but not good enough to ski downhill all day in so I might try intuition instead.

 

[Jilly]

Do those liners have removable tongues?

I was wondering that. My Salomon do. I don't think my Hawk's did, but they are ancient.

 

[contesstant]

I was wondering that. My Salomon do. I don't think my Hawk's did, but they are ancient.

Most non-race boots don't have removable tongues, but I know Atomic sells the aftermarket tongues so it's possible they have removable tongues in their recreational boots.

 

[TiffAlt]

Hi Divas,

I have Atomic Hawx Prime 95, I've skied on them maybe 10-15 times at most. I have custom footbeds and I've had them heat molded to help break them in, i've gotten the areas needed punched out (all of this with a professional bootfitter)

The last tweak appears to be that the plastic on the digs into the front of my ankle and shin when I lean into the boot. This isn't shin bang, it is the seam of the liner digging into me as the day progresses from the ankle up. So I find myself in the backseat often because it is soooo painful after a full day. I attached pictures of the plastic part. A bootfitter tried grinding it down but it didn't help much. A few questions:

1. Is there padding I can put inside, between my sock and the liner to pad things?
2. I've seen those ridiculous socks that have padding in the front for shinbang, would that help here?
3. Could I frankenstein my liners and remove that stiff plastic that is sewn into the front? Or would that ruin the liner?
4. The bootfitter recommended swapping for intuition liners (The wrap around ones to avoid the tongue issue). Is this the best suggestion? They charge in the upper $200s for that - would it be OK if I ordered liners online since evo seems to have a sale or is that asking for trouble? It is just a very large financial investment at the moment on top of the boots and all the work but if that is the key to a long happy life with these boots I'll start to sock away for it.. I will also ask the bootfitter for their opinion too before I do anything on that front but wanted the opinion of this experienced crew.

Has anyone experienced this oddity before?

Pic 1, this is the seam of the tongue that pushes against my ankle and shin.
Pic 2, This is the white plastic that they tried to shave down but it still digs in through the fleece liner.

Is there padding I can put at that seam area? I was thinking even hacking something together with gel foot pads but I am not sure if then that would cause some strangeness in my boots.

View attachment 22658View attachment 22659

I have the Atomic Hawx Prime 115 and have exactly what you describe. I even had the scabs to prove it. My bootfitter shaved down the sides and that fixed it for me for the most part. There was still a part down near the ankle that was too curved and causing shin pain, so I used these right at that spot:
https://www.amazon.com/Pedag-Girl-Skid-Proof-Forefoot-Pads/dp/B005F2LE62/


My fitter recommended the custom tongue below if the shaving didn't work completely. I bought, tried and liked them to fix the remaining issue, but decided I didn't need all the length so used the smaller stick on pads above. Sounds like you might need the whole thing though. Note that I actually found using them inside the tongue worked best for me, despite the directions:

Amazon.com

I am keeping them for when/if the liner packs out.

 

[Skac1919]

You’re not an oddity! I have the exact same boots and same issue in my left boot. Cutting pain in my outside shin and above my ankle bone. I couldn’t figure out if I ski unevenly (do get on edge more easily turning left) or if it was a boot issue.

I’ve been out in mine ~12 times and it’s getting better. The Stance medium-cushion sock helps. As does super-carefully smoothing everything down as I put on the boot, which I’m sure you’ve already done. I have to make sure there’s no legging in there at all, yank up the tongue and sort of smooth it out to be matching the contour of my shin/front of ankle. For me it’s more painful when it’s not aligned right above my ankle bone. Things sometimes shift around during the day such that the side of the tongue digs into my shin starting later in the day, so I usually re-do the procedure at lunch just to be sure.

Hope you find a solution from this or the above tips! And thanks for posting so I can try some of these too

 

[MrsPlow]

I have the Atomic Hawx Prime 115 and have exactly what you describe. I even had the scabs to prove it. My bootfitter shaved down the sides and that fixed it for me for the most part. There was still a part down near the ankle that was too curved and causing shin pain, so I used these right at that spot:
https://www.amazon.com/Pedag-Girl-Skid-Proof-Forefoot-Pads/dp/B005F2LE62/
View attachment 22666

My fitter recommended the custom tongue below if the shaving didn't work completely. I bought, tried and liked them to fix the remaining issue, but decided I didn't need all the length so used the smaller stick on pads above. Sounds like you might need the whole thing though. Note that I actually found using them inside the tongue worked best for me, despite the directions:

Amazon.com

View attachment 22667

I am keeping them for when/if the liner packs out.

Good tip, I'll look out for those pads. Might be worth seeing if it fixes the problem with mine.

 

[TiffAlt]

Good tip, I'll look out for those pads. Might be worth seeing if it fixes the problem with mine.

Good luck - I've been there and I hope it works.

None of us are oddities!

 

[Scribble]

Zipfit liners fixed this problem for me but I had to add more of the cork filler to the tongue to make them work. Before, the pressure was concentrated in a band at the very top of the boot and I had a looser fit at the front of my lower ankle, but with the additional fill, pressure is distributed across my entire shin.

 

[leia1979]

As a temporary fix, you can look into Bunga pads (or the many knockoffs). These are meant for figure skates, but a lace bite pad might be what you need for now.

 

[KayOss]

I've experienced either the same or a similar annoyance with my Technica Mach 1's and after fidgeting with buckle adjustment, moving the tongue up/down, side-to-side what worked was making sure my heel was slammed in the pocket. Something that I know to do but overlooked when booting up. The pain was right at the flex point of my front ankle -

 

[skinnyfootskis]

I shoved a skinny piece of foam in my boot for a day. Then I actually pushed the tongue down…not up and it reset. I haven’t had the pain again. Originally, it was on my more bowed leg right on the top ankle area tibia area. I hope you solve it because it’s not a fun pain….

 

[zwischen]

Hi Divas,

I have Atomic Hawx Prime 95, I've skied on them maybe 10-15 times at most. I have custom footbeds and I've had them heat molded to help break them in, i've gotten the areas needed punched out (all of this with a professional bootfitter)

The last tweak appears to be that the plastic on the digs into the front of my ankle and shin when I lean into the boot. This isn't shin bang, it is the seam of the liner digging into me as the day progresses from the ankle up. So I find myself in the backseat often because it is soooo painful after a full day. I attached pictures of the plastic part. A bootfitter tried grinding it down but it didn't help much. A few questions:

1. Is there padding I can put inside, between my sock and the liner to pad things?
2. I've seen those ridiculous socks that have padding in the front for shinbang, would that help here?
3. Could I frankenstein my liners and remove that stiff plastic that is sewn into the front? Or would that ruin the liner?
4. The bootfitter recommended swapping for intuition liners (The wrap around ones to avoid the tongue issue). Is this the best suggestion? They charge in the upper $200s for that - would it be OK if I ordered liners online since evo seems to have a sale or is that asking for trouble? It is just a very large financial investment at the moment on top of the boots and all the work but if that is the key to a long happy life with these boots I'll start to sock away for it.. I will also ask the bootfitter for their opinion too before I do anything on that front but wanted the opinion of this experienced crew.

Has anyone experienced this oddity before?

Pic 1, this is the seam of the tongue that pushes against my ankle and shin.
Pic 2, This is the white plastic that they tried to shave down but it still digs in through the fleece liner.

Is there padding I can put at that seam area? I was thinking even hacking something together with gel foot pads but I am not sure if then that would cause some strangeness in my boots.

View attachment 22658View attachment 22659

I think I know that exact feeling you're describing!

Beginning of the season I took my 10+yo Daleboots in to their Salt Lake shop to get some relief, and wrap liners were the answer. It made a huge difference! I ski until the leg muscles crap out now rather than pushing my pain threshold. Replacing my liners wasn't cheap, but it was cheaper than new boots.