Bruised Toes And Boots

[butch4343]

Folks,

I wondered if I might be able to tap into your collective knowledge.

My other half wears a pair of Ladies GTX Scarpa boots, they are fine and comfy for her on the flat and on the upwards climb, the issue is when shes coming down, she gets bruised toes and tells me that her toes hit the front of her boot a lot, Ive checked her feet and theres no blisters but it does result in her having painfully bruised toes for a few days after.

I wondered if anyone else has had similar problems? We have tried various combos of socks, and insoles to no avail.

Any ideas?

Regards

Mark

[Ben Nachie]

Her boots are too small, she needs a bigger size.

[rockhopper]

If the boots are the right size, it may be that her feet are sliding forwards as she descends ? I use different lacing systems to mitigate this, eg triple crossing at the base of the ankle before tying the top few lugs. Also, on my scarpas, I miss the second top lug and go across from third top to top then across down to second top and tie off there. These allow me to keep the lower part and ball of my foot not too tight to ease metatarsalgia while keeping my ankle firmly in place and stopping my foot from sliding forward - cheers

[Robinho08]

If the boots are the right size, it may be that her feet are sliding forwards as she descends ? I use different lacing systems to mitigate this, eg triple crossing at the base of the ankle before tying the top few lugs. Also, on my scarpas, I miss the second top lug and go across from third top to top then across down to second top and tie off there. These allow me to keep the lower part and ball of my foot not too tight to ease metatarsalgia while keeping my ankle firmly in place and stopping my foot from sliding forward - cheers

Yeah, take the insoles out and place her foot on each insole and see if there is an index finger width between the tops of her toes and the end of the insoles. If there is a fingers' width then likely the boots are the right size and she should try a different lacing configuration per Rockhopper's advice.

If there is less than a fingers' width then the boots are most likely too small.

[SuperMillie]

It sounds to me like it might be an issue with Volume as opposed to length and that she may need to find a manufacturer that make boots with varying widths as well as size and see if that makes a difference.

[jmarkb]

If the boots are not too short, it may be worth trying volume reducers and/or some insoles with some arch support and a slight heel cup (such as Superfeet) which help to hold the feet in the right place and stop them sliding forward. You could take the boots with their owner to a gear shop to try stuff out.

[butch4343]

Folks,

Thanks for the replys to my query, we are much obliged, Ill check the insole thing tonight with her and see how we get on.

Thanks again though for all your advice, Ill post an update with the results


Regards

[CyberianK]

I have the problem occasionally where my feet inside of my boots get pushed too much to the front and then I have pain in the toes. It usually does not get bad as my shoes fit well and hiking socks and such help so no blisters.

There was a video posted somewhere in a different shoe thread how to tie your boots differently so more pressure is applied in backwards direction to keep your heel in the back and the lady in that video specifically mentioned reducing toe problems. Never put much care into tieing my boots probably change that for my next trip. Can't find that video again but I probably look more this evening.

[CyberianK]

found the video I mentioned: