The agony of d' feet

[Fuller]

It was all good for the first 40 days or so until the "sixth toe" started swelling up on both feet. I had that area blown out by the local boot guys which helped a bit but the damage was done and things slowly got worse. I didn't want to go too far in making the boots roomier and decided to tough it out and keep a more proactive approach in mind for next season.

So now I'm sitting in a cabin on Ski Hill Rd, Driggs ID with my feet stuck in the snow bank. We decided to take an extra day here to avoid driving through a blizzard in eastern Wyoming but I took today off skiing with the hope of reducing the pain level for tomorrow, my last available day of the season.

I'm not supposed to take any NSAID medication but I'm chancing a couple of Advil to get me through the last day. I hope my kidneys don't have a fit from the abuse. Freezing my feet in a snow bank isn't helping my mood either.

I'll survive the ordeal but I'm beginning to wonder if I'm setting myself up for some chronic injury in the future. I mean my feet will return to normal after a summer in flip flops, right?

 

[James]

Honestly, this could be footbed related. It's allowing somethings to happen. Could be as seemingly unrelated as your shin is far inside, hits the cuff and levers the foot out hitting the sixth toe. A footbed with better heel to arch control solved that one for me. Amazingly, the heel underneath is not sanded flat like most Instaprint methods.

Been through similar. I first got 6th toe when someone made a footbed way too angled to the outside. Kept grinding and blowing out the boot to fix. Finally went to someone else. His take- the boot could be 6 inches wide and I'd still hit due to the footbed being angled down that way.

 

[Fuller]

I will definitely take that into account. I'm using a custom footbed I had done for me about 5 years ago. At the time I had a pair of new Tecnica Mach 1-110 boots which didn't cause me foot problems but were way too roomy for any kind of good skiing. I've since switched to the Tecnica Mach 1 - 120 LV. So going from a 100mm last to a 98mm last is the most significant change. I have other less noteworthy toe problems with these boots - the toes are generally too crunched together turning a nice bright red at the end of the day with some minor toenail damage.

I'll probably start next season with an enlargement of the toe box and a footbed review and see where that takes me.

 

[TSQURD]

I’ve got a wide forefoot but narrow ankles. Need the LV boots for the ankle/heel area, but end up with similar crammed toes & 6th toe problems, and like you didn’t want to end up with too much room. For temporary relief, I’ve made a donut out of moleski placed so the 6th toe is in the donut hole. Can double it up if you need to. Had the fitter punch it a little at a time, skiing on it a few days each time till we got it. As soon as it started bothering me I’d throw the donut back on till I could get into the fitter.

 

[Josh Matta]

I have similar problems....

I have put ducted tape on the inside of the boot all around where the pressure points are name my 6 th toe and just back from it. My bumps normally form on the top so I made it so my upper part of foot take the pressure on the not bones on my upper 6th toe.

 

[scott43]

Mixed bag for me..I've tried footbeds in ski boots that made my teeth hurt..don't ask me why! The stock footbed has been the most comfortable. I got new skates recently and put a footbed in those, never used them before, and they were heaven. So many variables..I can't afford to keep messing around with 10 different ski boots trying to find something that works. I think I need a smidge more volume in my ski boots with a low footbed. I think that would help my situation.

 

[Core2]

I used to have bumps and missing toenails as OP did and went to a slightly bigger last width and now the issues are gone. My toes never feel crunched up in my current boots, the pressure seems to always be evenly around my foot and heel.

 

[Sibhusky]

Taking a day off now and then might help, too, @Fuller

 

[Fuller]

I can take a day off from sitting under a palm tree and drinking Mai Tais with a pineapple slice and a little umbrella. When the mountain calls me, I must answer.

 

[Fuller]

I used to have bumps and missing toenails as OP did and went to a slightly bigger last width and now the issues are gone. My toes never feel crunched up in my current boots, the pressure seems to always be evenly around my foot and heel.

Yeah, that would be the "scrap everything and start over approach", it may come to that but I hope not. Tecnica says that their LV boots are 7% less volume than their MV boots. The MV's were really loose around my skinny ankles to the point where I would have to shim and strap down hard just to get anything out of them. The LV's are hard to get into and a bitch to get out of when cold, still I'm so in love with how well they ski. Got rid of the canting and had so much more control of the skis. I think I'm within range of the standard modification techniques.

I'm also curious as to what a Zipfit Gara liner would do for me from a performance and comfort POV. The stock Tecnica liner has very little material in the toe area, I don't know if that's bad or good in my situation.

 

[Tom K.]

I ran into the sixth toe thing this year. Only real change was going to a Raptor 140 boot......and skiing 45 days so far.

A grind took care of the issue, but I shouldn't have waited so long. I suspect they will get smaller by next season. That happened with a heel spur the season I did 96 days. It never reappeared, and that was 39 years ago.

Like @Josh Matta, my fitting aid of preference is duct tape, peeled off in a double layer. Infinitely customizable, right at home!