The other kind of bruised shins (not shin-bang)

[LiquidFeet]

Anyone here find that their shins are darkened by mid-season from tongue-shin pressure? Darkened, discolored, but not painful? I'm talking about a vertical line of dark skin that goes from just above the instep up to the top of the boot tongue.

I'm not talking about shin-bang, that bruise that happens at the top of the cuff from boots-too-big, the kind that hurts.

@Dakine posted in another thread: "I have seen lots good racers with bruised shins from banging against their boot tongues particularly in Slalom events."

That's what I'm talking about.

Anyone?

 

[cantunamunch]

 

[LiquidFeet]

Well, if anyone says yes and has pictures, that would be exceptionally satisfying.

Long ago on Epic someone talked about this phenomenon, but I can't remember who.
@Kneale Brownson, was it you?








It happens to me, but I have no pictures.

 

[cantunamunch]

Long ago on Epic someone talked about this phenomenon, but I can't remember who.

There was the guy who wanted to bring back the Nordica Polaris. Both here and on Epic.

https://www.pugski.com/threads/making-boots-taller.13785/

 

[Kneale Brownson]

Well, if anyone says yes and has pictures, that would be exceptionally satisfying.

Long ago on Epic someone talked about this phenomenon, but I can't remember who.
@Kneale Brownson, was it you?








It happens to me, but I have no pictures.

I've posted in the past that I lose all hair on my legs from the boottop down. Has been going on so long I no longer grow hair there.

 

[HardDaysNight]

I've posted in the past that I lose all hair on my legs from the boottop down. Has been going on so long I no longer grow hair there.

That’s the price of boots that fit well and good technique. Bruises follow poor fit and, perhaps, the less than optimal fore/aft balance that follows.

 

[Johnny V.]

I've posted in the past that I lose all hair on my legs from the boottop down. Has been going on so long I no longer grow hair there.

Yep, me too.

 

[sky_chicken]

I'm not talking about shin-bang, that bruise that happens at the top of the cuff from boots-too-big, the kind that hurts.

Uh oh, I thought my boots fit but I get one dark bruiseish spot at the top of my cuff.

 

[Bad Bob]

The no more shin hair yep. Don't remember bruises other than the shin bang from a short lived pair of Hanson Experimentals (turned them into flower pots). Our little group would give-aways for a pathologist.

 

[LiquidFeet]

So some people here lose their lower leg hair along the vertical area where the shin meets the tongue of the boot, but I gather no one, not even one person, experiences a color change, a darkening of the skin where the hair is rubbed off. No pain, just darkening. Maybe I should have used a different word instead of "bruise?" Not sure what word to use, and @Dakine used it in the post that prompted my thread.

Let me know if this isn't accurate, and if I am not the only one here with this phenomenon. It goes away in spring when skiing stops.

 

[Dakine]

Whatever you call it, repeated, low level compressions are breaking down the capillary structure of the skin causing visible extracellular blood which looks purple.
I think, but I'm and engineer not a medical professional.

 

[Chris V.]

So some people here lose their lower leg hair along the vertical area where the shin meets the tongue of the boot, but I gather no one, not even one person, experiences a color change, a darkening of the skin where the hair is rubbed off. No pain, just darkening. Maybe I should have used a different word instead of "bruise?" Not sure what word to use, and @Dakine used it in the post that prompted my thread.

Let me know if this isn't accurate, and if I am not the only one here with this phenomenon. It goes away in spring when skiing stops.

Sounds painful and damaging. Please, go to a great bootfitter and get some modifications. Sounds like the shape of the boot doesn't match your individual anatomy well. There are lots of things that can be done to address that kind of problem, and I don't mean altering your anatomy. :-p

 

[LiquidFeet]

@Chris V., my boots fit, and yes, I know what "fit" means.
I keep my shins against the tongue all season long using the tibialis anterior.
Thank you for your concern, but here is no pain associated with the discoloration.
It's a curiosity, not a problem.
I'm not sure "bruise" is the appropriate term for the discoloration.

There are other reasons a person might have discoloring on the shin.
Hyperthyroidism is one (Grave's disease). Also irradiation of the thyroid can cause the discoloration.
I've gone through both.
So I have reasons beyond the ski world to ask the question.

@Dakine's post quoted above gave me the impetus to start the discussion.
According to Dakine, some racers without the thyroid issues develop the discoloration, .
I find that interesting.

 

[cantunamunch]

What's in a name? That which we call a bruise
Under any other pressure would be just as sore.

 

[Dakine]

Some racers got old and find it common in the 70+ NASTAR class....
As you age your skin loses fat cells and becomes much more prone to bruising.

 

[cantunamunch]

There are other reasons a person might have discoloring on the shin.
Hyperthyroidism is one (Grave's disease). Also irradiation of the thyroid can cause the discoloration.
I've gone through both.
So I have reasons beyond the ski world to ask the question.

It would cost you about $2 to do the experiment - pop into a craft store and buy some 2mm thick EVA sheet. Cut out shin-shaped pads and put them inside your socks. If the darkening is lessened you have your answer.

 

[LiquidFeet]

Cantuna, I believe that would be adding extra pressure.

 

[Chris V.]

Cantuna, I believe that would be adding extra pressure.

It depends where you put the padding, doesn't it? Adding pressure, or redistributing it? Only suggestions. Only trying to respond to the concern you brought up.

 

[LiquidFeet]

I am not worried about the discoloration I get, just curious if my shins react oddly to ski boots.
The discoloration causes no harm and does not hurt. It builds up slowly and disappears slowly.
It sounds like it happens to some racers that Dakine has run into who evidently don't post here.

 

[cantunamunch]

Cantuna, I believe that would be adding extra pressure.

First, it would lower the shear on your skin, because the foam you add would be against, maybe taped, to the shin instead of moving with the boot.

Second, properly shaped, it shouldn't add compression, not if you actually have room to flex the T. anterior as you mention above.

If you don't have room there, then you're flexing the muscle into the liner, and it all becomes a bit self explanatory along the lines @Dakine outlined.