Prepping feet for ski season?

[Abbi]

I didn't know pads where a thing! Just googled and there seems like there's a bunch. Is there a particular brand you have found to work well? And did you stick it right onto the liner?

The boot fitter placed mine on the footbed. I had a good idea where would be right based on where my doc had put one on a running shoe orthotic. Originally my doctor located the neuroma by palpating the foot. When the nerve is aggravated the neuroma sort of feels like a hard jellybean. Placement is more or less behind the neuroma to somewhat lift the pressure off the irritated point.

 

[knolan12]

The boot fitter placed mine on the footbed. I had a good idea where would be right based on where my doc had put one on a running shoe orthotic. Originally my doctor located the neuroma by palpating the foot. When the nerve is aggravated the neuroma sort of feels like a hard jellybean. Placement is more or less behind the neuroma to somewhat lift the pressure off the irritated point.

This is good to know, thank you!!

 

[liquidfeet]

....The doctor thinks my pain sounds like Morton's neuroma so we're working on strength and pain prevention. I was thinking there could be more to be done to my boots to alleviate pressure now that I have the language to describe my feet, but I'll probably wait to ski first and see how they feel before I make any more adjustments.

For Morton's neuroma, which makes toes go numb then sting then scream if untreated, my bootfitters have added a little hand-shaped shim under my footbed in the middle-ish portion of my ball-of-foot. This raises that middle part of the foot and relieves the pinched nerve above it of pressure. It's an easy fix as long as the nerve hasn't gotten too enlarged by inflammation. That might mean surgery, which if I remember correctly involves cutting the nerve out altogether. Try not to let it get that inflamed. Seek a bootfitter who knows how to handle Morton's.

Oh, I just saw @Abbi's post above. I second what she says.

 

[knolan12]

Thanks @liquidfeet ! I think we caught it early enough thankfully and it doesn't bother me day-to-day (just on inclines oddly haha like hiking or skiing) so hopefully between the physical side and maybe these foot pads, I can avoid surgery, fingers crossed

 

[VickiK]

Tagging @mustski as I know she has to deal with feet issues in ski boots.

 

[mustski]

Yes, I have a "neuroma bump" on my footbed which basically keeps the metatarsals from being squeezed together and aggravating the neuroma. I only feel the neuroma when the the metarsals are squeezed together - pointing toed shoes, ski boots, etc. It works really well for me. Before I had it, I would remove my ski boot and crumple in pain. It was as bad as childbirth (although thankfully shorter lived!).

 

[knolan12]

Yes, I have a "neuroma bump" on my footbed which basically keeps the metatarsals from being squeezed together and aggravating the neuroma. I only feel the neuroma when the the metarsals are squeezed together - pointing toed shoes, ski boots, etc. It works really well for me. Before I had it, I would remove my ski boot and crumple in pain. It was as bad as childbirth (although thankfully shorter lived!).

This is good to know! I haven't gone through childbirth, but the pain skiing last year was worse than the time I broke my foot in dance auditions and continued to dance on it for 2 hours :( Hoping to completely avoid that this year haha

 

[mustski]

I barely felt it while skiing - of course I have always had circulation problems - but when I took the boot off- Holy Moly!

 

[newboots]

Ha! Welcome Do you know what he did to the boots? I was thinking about this this morning haha The doctor thinks my pain sounds like Morton's neuroma so we're working on strength and pain prevention. I was thinking there could be more to be done to my boots to alleviate pressure now that I have the language to describe my feet, but I'll probably wait to ski first and see how they feel before I make any more adjustments.

I don’t remember what he did for which. Where do you ski? and do you have a great bootfitter?

 

[knolan12]

I don’t remember what he did for which. Where do you ski? and do you have a great bootfitter?

I'm in the Boston area and do have a place to get bootwork done. I've also been seeing someone for the foot pain. I did have some general issues with strength/alignment which we've been working on and seeing an improvement (I'd put all my weight on the outside of my foot and not distributed evenly and now I'm generally distributing it all evenly )

 

[mustski]

Also there are some great foot stretches that help with neuroma pain. I do some similar to what is described here. I find general Achilles stretching seems to work well with ankle and foot stretching also. I do the the plantar fasciitis stretches also.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/179773.php#exercises

 

[knolan12]

Also there are some great foot stretches that help with neuroma pain. I do some similar to what is described here. I find general Achilles stretching seems to work well with ankle and foot stretching also. I do the the plantar fasciitis stretches also.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/179773.php#exercises

This is great thank you!! That was on my to-do to ask at my next appointment to figure out what to do to relieve the pain once it starts haha

 

[Bookworm]

I have Morton’s Neuroma in my right foot and I had it surgically removed. It made a big difference with the pain, but all the things that caused the neuroma in the first place are still there. I do feet and ankle exercises to help strengthen them, and that helps too. My feet hurt the most running but are fine skiing. I think it’s because I had my boots fitted. They had to do a lot to get them right, but they work.

 

[mustski]

This is great thank you!! That was on my to-do to ask at my next appointment to figure out what to do to relieve the pain once it starts haha

These will help prevent the pain. I try to do them once a day and some toe stretch stuff while I'm sitting around watching TV. Still ask about pain relief techniques because that is the worst for sure.

 

[liquidfeet]

I'm in the Boston area and do have a place to get bootwork done. I've also been seeing someone for the foot pain. I did have some general issues with strength/alignment which we've been working on and seeing an improvement (I'd put all my weight on the outside of my foot and not distributed evenly and now I'm generally distributing it all evenly )

Weight needs to go to the outside foot when skiing. 50/50 distribution is an approach that held favor for a little while when shaped skis first became popular. It is no longer encouraged, but some instructors haven't updated what they teach. Is that what someone is urging you to do, 50/50 through the whole turn? I'd suggest a new instructor, if that's the case.

Oh wait. You are talking about the outside of your foot, not the outside foot in a turn. My misunderstanding. Sorry!

 

[knolan12]

Weight needs to go to the outside foot when skiing. 50/50 distribution is an approach that held favor for a little while when shaped skis first became popular. It is no longer encouraged, but some instructors haven't updated what they teach. Is that what someone is urging you to do, 50/50 through the whole turn? I'd suggest a new instructor, if that's the case.

Oh wait. You are talking about the outside of your foot, not the outside foot in a turn. My misunderstanding. Sorry!

No worries, you actually reminded me of a question I'd love an instructor opinion on! I've been working on general strengthening and alignment in my day-to-day (literally just standing on my feet properly haha). I've been thinking about how this will translate once I have boots on and actively skiing. How should I be thinking about feet alignment while skiing? Should I be aiming to distribute weight properly throughout turns, etc? I have a feeling that part of my problems last season is that funky things were going on within my boots such as my stance being off. I plan on taking a bunch of lessons this season to also make sure that my stance, etc is correct.

 

[knolan12]

First day out today and foot numbness I'm going to email the doctor on my way home, but I'm really starting to think it's the boots. I had my husband ski behind me to see if there was anything weird about my technique that might be exacerbating it, but he didn't see anything off (I'm planning on lots of lessons this season so will bring this up with an actual instructor in person). I took break for a half hour to go roll out my feet while my husband skiied and then when I got on the lift, the toes went numb again just sitting there The numbess doesn't impede my skiing on long, flat greens but I feel like I literally can't ski on anything harder.

I did also do a warm up this morning when I woke up (a few sun salutations, saw planks, calf raises, squats) and when I got to the mountain (2 hour drive), I rolled out my feet with a lacrosse type ball.

It's just super frustrating because I have been working on the foot issue with a doctor since September and am in better shape this season than last, but I'm feeling just as bad. This was supposed to be our day to ease into the season and try out my new skis so pressure, but it's hard not to feel disappointed when I've so been looking forward to today.

On the plus side, absolutely loved the new Obermeyer pants and Marmot jacket I posted about on other threads. Also, absolutely LOVED the Blizzard Black Pearls 82. Literally felt like a dream when my feet were feeling good and I felt more stable than I ever have skiing (I upgraded from beginner skis that were 154 in length and 68 underfoot). The skis are a little longer (159) and I noticed a bit of a hard time turning right and getting my left ski around but that's an issue for another thread

 

[VickiK]

I like and dislike your post, @knolan12 . Hope a bootfitter can help with the boots.

 

[mustski]

Drat. I'm sorry to hear that. As someone who deals with numbness all the time, I completely sympathize. There must be a pressure point cutting off the artery that runs across the top of your foot. I know that is my problem for sure. My heel is super skinny and it rises up slightly on the chair ride so there is pressure on that instep artery. Anytime boot fitters added fixes to solve that problem, I had bigger issues with numbness. I have not completely solved it, but it is better. What worked for me was Boot Doc liners which is a custom blown foam liner so that it fills all the nooks and crannies. My left foot still will lose circulation eventually, as the day progresses, so I've added Hotronics. At least that way I know I won't get frostbite because I can't tell how cold I am. Good luck; it is not fun skiing with numb feet.

ETA: the feeling that you can only ski greens but nothing harder is psychological. I experienced it also. The reality is your feet work just as well numb as not.

 

[knolan12]

Drat. I'm sorry to hear that. As someone who deals with numbness all the time, I completely sympathize. There must be a pressure point cutting off the artery that runs across the top of your foot. I know that is my problem for sure. My heel is super skinny and it rises up slightly on the chair ride so there is pressure on that instep artery. Anytime boot fitters added fixes to solve that problem, I had bigger issues with numbness. I have not completely solved it, but it is better. What worked for me was Boot Doc liners which is a custom blown foam liner so that it fills all the nooks and crannies. My left foot still will lose circulation eventually, as the day progresses, so I've added Hotronics. At least that way I know I won't get frostbite because I can't tell how cold I am. Good luck; it is not fun skiing with numb feet.

ETA: the feeling that you can only ski greens but nothing harder is psychological. I experienced it also. The reality is your feet work just as well numb as not.

This is really helpful to read! For your numbness, where does it start? And how quickly do they go numb?

Today it seemed to really be in my big toes. Last season, it was balls of the feet and middle toes which I've been told is most likely Morton's Neuroma. The edges of both big toes are kinda tender now so I'm wondering if I might need a little more space or if that's going to just cause me to slide around a bit. Really appreciate the tip on the Boot Doc liners, I'm going to go look into those. And completely agree about it being psychological when it comes to the trails. Like I know I can ski it, I just wasn't trusting my feet