Foot Care/Efficiency

[Ibex]

I live over 230 miles away from the Lake District, so getting up there is a bit rare for me. Epecially as i've been out of work.
So when I get up to the Lakes, I really want to make the most of it. This essentially means getting out into the hills, every day, for as long as I can, each day.

On a recent 3 day trip to the Lakes I did 3 relatively small walks. My legs were ok, as I am slowly getting more hill fit and fit in general, after returning to walking. My legs were feeling pretty good and my knee's were ok as well. What surprised me was how sore and achey my feet were.

Being on a budget meant that I had to stay in a YHA, which quite frankly, was a bit of a nightmare. Nothing wrong with the facilities etc, in fact I think they are great. The problem is being kept awake by others.

I suppose I am looking for advice on how to keep the feet happy during a week of heavy walking.

During my 3 walks I was wearing some Karimor KSB boots, that I don't have problems with. And I was wearing 1000 mile socks.
I did get pretty darn soaked on two of the days. Plus due to some Army style fitness training, I am used to doing things 'at the double', so did a lot of jogging over relatively flat ground. I think my boots worked themselves loose over time, but I didn't bother to tighten them, or change into dry socks. Just continued cracking on.

So any general advice on foor care, or general tips on 'going for longer'...........steady!

Cheers.

[Backpacker]

I used to have problems with my feet being sore after a walk, changing into a clean pair afterwards and comfy shoes is a must, pile cream rubbed into the soles as well as the occasional dab with surgical spirit also helps keep the skin flexible and stops the callouses cracking. Also look at how you lace your boots up, I changed how I lace mine up and honestly it's like wearing a different pair of boots

[stevesey]

Likewise I'm steadily increasing the amount of walking I do and getting fitter. My recent 5 days totalled 66km and 5600m ascent - at 280 miles to our base for me and we had people doing 300+ Bexhill, Leeds Castle, Exeter with us, so all making the most of the time we had!!

Burma Pros with some cheap cushioned insoles, lightweight 1000 mile socks for me. Tightened laces before descent phase(s) of each day, often padded around bare foot in the evenings and slipped some walking trainers on to go to the pub and, other then keeping my toenails short, that was it in terms of footcare. My 49.95 year old feet seem to be quite tough at present - last time time I had a noticeable blister was a couple of years ago when my old boots started to pack up on day 5. Have noticed that once I get over 20km in one day my soles do start to feel it a bit, but nothing that doesn't go away once the weight is taken off, may splash out on some more expensive insoles at some point (depends what adventures next year brings).

[Ibex]

Pile cream? My sore feet aren't that much of a pain in the arse.

I do use surgical spirit at times as well. Fantastic bit of kit for drying out sores and blisters. Even though your not supposed to put it on open wounds.

[bydand_loon]

gehwol foot cream, fixes everything

I dont worry overly about having wet feet, I dont wear waterproof footwear on multi day tabs, I need and like breathable footwear, gtex doesnt do it for me and more often than not it fails or feet sweat, just take time during a day (lunch or brew time) to air them, wring out socks, powder, cream or tape if needed. Clean or washed out socks everyday, maybe even wear comfy lightweight approach shoes/trainers instead of boots

The last time I had sore feet, im convinced it was the socks, it was the first and last time they had been worn

[Caberfeidh]

A simple solution, and very traditional in the Scottish Highlands, is to stop at a hill-burn occasionally, get your boots and socks off and wash your feet in the cool running water. Sitting for a while to steep your feet thus gives you a rest and refreshment, taking away heat and swelling from aching feet. Not recommended in pike-infested waters.
As ship's medical officer my repeated recommendation for amputation seems to be falling on deaf ears. Which reminds me, today is the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar ~ three cheers for Admiral Lord Nelson, extra shots of grog all round, and a below-knee amputation for all !!!!!

[WalkingDutchman]

gehwol foot cream, fixes everything

Agreed. I use gehwol all the time and never have any blisters. Besides that, I carry Crocs (I once vowed never to buy them, yet here I am ... ) for fording rivers (I like my feet dry, although once they get wet I don't care anymore). And once I've set up camp, have my waterbottles refilled, and don't have to move around too much anymore, I take off my hiking boots and wear my crocs. That allows my socks and feet to dry out (from either sweat or rain/river/bog water). Then the next morning I apply a generous dollop of gehwol before setting out, and my feet are happy campers again.

The advantage of Crocs is that they are very light, and squeeze well into whatever corner is left in your backpack. And with all the holes in them they are pretty good for fording and as campfootwear.

[CharlesT]

A simple solution, and very traditional in the Scottish Highlands, is to stop at a hill-burn occasionally, get your boots and socks off and wash your feet in the cool running water. Sitting for a while to steep your feet thus gives you a rest and refreshment, taking away heat and swelling from aching feet...

...and given my experience of boots and socks off wading an in spate burn as the only means of progressing to my objective, you wont be able to feel anything in your feet afterwards anyway

[WalkingDutchman]

... steep your feet thus ...

the local water-wildlife won't be happy after 5 minutes of steeping my feet ...

you wont be able to feel anything in your feet afterwards anyway

Mission accomplished!

[Dan Scheer]

Ibex, are your feet sore from the constant pressure of walking on them or covered in blisters?

Lots of good tips have been suggested already, one that hasn't been mentionned: reduce the weight of your pack if that is an option? a hundred gram here, a hundred gram there all adds up over the time and over prolonged walks has a big impact on your feet.

also picking the route itself can make a difference, while a long straight walk on a nice path looks like the best option, it also means that the same parts of your feet are at the receiving end of any impact, rough, uneven paths however constantly impact different areas of your feet, so even if walking itself is a bit harder, I find it a lot easier on the feet.

I never heard of this Gehwol stuff, is it worth trying? It was mentionned using it before you start walking, does that not make the skin too soft or something like that before walking all day? I have extremely blister prone feet and haven't found a solution to it yet, so always worried about anything that may potentially increase the chance to increase blisters as it is bad enough as it is

[Ibex]

I must admit, that if I do carry a spare pair of socks, in case I get a chance to take a rest half way through a walk and soak my feet in a tarn/burn/lake/stream etc

I must look up this gewhol cream. Never heard of it before, but people seem to love it.

I have tough feet. I don't get blisters, just the odd little sore patch.
I think one of my main problems is my weight. I'm not really fat, per say, but i'm a stocky little fecker. I'm somewhere between 12 and 12.5 stone at 5'8''. This weight is likley to go up as well, as I am weight training for rugby too. Plus I have a tendency to pack a LOT of stuff in my pack that I could probably leave behind. Always like to be prepared.

I wonder if excessively toueghening the skin of the feet, using surgical spirit would help? Or would it be detrimental?

[chickadee]

This is an interesting topic, good to read all the responses. I haven't done any long-distance walks yet but even a day on a hill gets my feet a wee bit sore. I think I'm just not used to it, as I leave gaps between walks and so I guess they can't build up any resistance or get used to it. I have one particularly annoying toe which always gets sore, so the cream people recommend might come in really handy. I will check it out!

I think my feet should hold up better than they tend to, I don't really bother looking after them though. I'm too lazy for cream and faffing about and to be honest I am not a fan of looking at feet for too long! Now I'm 30 maybe I need to take more care of them, they're really useful after all!

[WalkingDutchman]

also picking the route itself can make a difference, while a long straight walk on a nice path looks like the best option, it also means that the same parts of your feet are at the receiving end of any impact, rough, uneven paths however constantly impact different areas of your feet, so even if walking itself is a bit harder, I find it a lot easier on the feet.

Agreed. When having to walk on roads or other tarmac my feet start bothering me a lot quicker then when on paths, trails or just nowhere. I'm not sure, but it may be that hiking boots have something to do with that so maybe people who wear trailrunners don't experience this difference? I know I do, I usually try to walk in the grass next to the road if that is at all possible.

I never heard of this Gehwol stuff, is it worth trying?

I have been using it since the early nineties, and I can definitely recommend it. It works best when you wear fairly thick socks, but I've also used it with normal thin cotton socks during summer.

It was mentionned using it before you start walking, does that not make the skin too soft or something like that before walking all day?

No, quite the contrary. Sensitive people, you may want to stop reading now . I have quite a high metabolism. That means I am almost never cold, need to eat a lot (2-person portions when hiking, usually), but it also means that I tend to sweat a lot when active. That goes for my feet too, and it can get so bad (if I don't do anything) that I start getting trench foot just from sweating (hence my remark about dipping my feet in a burn - that'll kill all living things downstream ).
Using Gehwol prevents that and keeps the skin on my feet whole. You can't rub it into the skin, it leaves a kind of layer that also gets in your sock. This creates a smooth friction-free 'layer' between your sock and your foot. It feels awkwkard putting on your socks, especially after having worn them for a couple of days, but you get used to that. It won't make your foot slipping around in your sock/boot, you don't have to worry about that.

I have extremely blister prone feet and haven't found a solution to it yet, so always worried about anything that may potentially increase the chance to increase blisters as it is bad enough as it is

I would definitely try it out if I were you.

Now for the record: I have absolutely no connection to Gehwol, but I do have bothersome feet and this stuff has really helped me over the years (come to think of it, maye I should buy some Gehwol stock, I buy their stuff all the time ).

[Dan Scheer]

Thanks for the response WalkingDutchman, sounds like it's worth giving a shot
had a look on amazon, there seems to be a blue and a red version of the cream, I am guessing it is the blue one I need?

I always thought my feet should cope well, after 13 years of martial arts training (all barefoot), the skin on my feet is very hard and calloused. While it works well in barefoot training, I get a feeling it is the opposite when wearing boots all day. This cream might just be what I need
Will give it a shot on my next walk, got a 3-4 day hike coming up soon, should be a good opportunity to put this to the test

[WalkingDutchman]

This http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gehwol-7720-75ml-Foot-Cream/dp/B000KOQ85M/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1382517904&sr=8-12&keywords=gehwol is the one I always use. Gehwol has a load of other products, and I've used some of them but I always come back to this one. It's not cheap but it works for me.

I always thought my feet should cope well, after 13 years of martial arts training (all barefoot), the skin on my feet is very hard and calloused. While it works well in barefoot training, I get a feeling it is the opposite when wearing boots all day.

That's a familiar experience (Tae Kwon Do for about 10 years - haven't done anything since 1998 though). And I think you're right: the callous in boots is quite likely to actually cause the blisters, because your feet will experience friction in different places and different ways than what they are used to. I wouldn't recommend going to the hills barefoot though
You will probably notice that your callous will get a bit softer when using this stuff, but no need to worry about your training, it won't affect it. Never affected me, but my fellow trainees appreciated the fact that my feet smelled better