good boots for the "sixth toe" problem?

I don't have a literal "sixth toe", but I do have a pinky joint that
sticks waaaaaaay out, causing discomfort in every boot I've tried. My
current boots were fitted by Surefoot, and they are definitely better
than any other boots I've had ... but my feet still go numb enough,
after a while, that pulling my feet out of them elicits a gasp of pain
.... I don't even want to discuss putting them back on! This, believe it
or not, is an improvement on past boots.

Narrow heel, high span, big calves ... and large feet for a woman. My
current boots list their size variously as: 26.5, 42, women's UK 8, and
women's US 9.5.

I think I'm still looking for front entry, but I don't need anything
terribly stiff.

Thanks in advance for any ideas =)

--
monique

My pointless ramblings:
http://www.bounceswoosh.org/phorum/index.php?f=6

"Monique Y. Herman" wrote in message
...
I don't have a literal "sixth toe", but I do have a pinky joint that
sticks waaaaaaay out, causing discomfort in every boot I've tried. My
current boots were fitted by Surefoot, and they are definitely better
than any other boots I've had ... but my feet still go numb enough,
after a while, that pulling my feet out of them elicits a gasp of pain
... I don't even want to discuss putting them back on! This, believe it
or not, is an improvement on past boots.

Narrow heel, high span, big calves ... and large feet for a woman. My
current boots list their size variously as: 26.5, 42, women's UK 8, and
women's US 9.5.

I think I'm still looking for front entry, but I don't need anything
terribly stiff.

Thanks in advance for any ideas =)

--
monique

My pointless ramblings:
http://www.bounceswoosh.org/phorum/index.php?f=6

I have the same problem with right foot. The pinky joint has been bruised
so many times that now the joint is twice the size it should be. I had my
boot stretch as much as it can be. The only thing left was to buckle the
bottom buckle as loose as I can.
This made a big improvement, it may work for you if you haven't already done
all this yourself.
Good luck,

JQ
Dancing on the edge

"Bruno Melli" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Monique Y. Herman" writes:
I don't have a literal "sixth toe", but I do have a pinky joint that
sticks waaaaaaay out, causing discomfort in every boot I've tried.
My
current boots were fitted by Surefoot, and they are definitely
better
than any other boots I've had ...

Does Surefoot have a warranty on the fit ? If they do, go back.
A good bootfitter would help you chose a boot that fits your foot,
then work on that 6th toe issue (probably by expanding the shell)
Unless you are lucky, boot fitting is more of an art than a science.
It
might take several trips back to the bootfitter to get it perfect.

bruno.

The last time I used them Surefoot did guarantee the fit for boot you
buy from them. Which one did you go to? Though I haven't seen him in a
while, the owner has always been a pretty good friend to me.

It sounds like you got the expansion you needed in the "toebox". When I
was scrunched there it didn't make my foot numb as much as it gave me a
nerve pain and hot spot where it folded my foot lengthwise.

The numbness for me came from pressure over the instep, underneath that
second buckle up (on a 4 buckle boot). Buckle tighter over your ankle
too keep your heel down and keep #2 just tight enough to keep it closed.
They can remove some of the liner right there too if you have a "monkey
foot" like mine with a big lump on top.

pigo

"JQ" wrote in message
...

I have the same problem with right foot. The pinky joint has been
bruised
so many times that now the joint is twice the size it should be. I
had my
boot stretch as much as it can be. The only thing left was to buckle
the
bottom buckle as loose as I can.
This made a big improvement, it may work for you if you haven't
already done
all this yourself.
Good luck,

Sometimes you can raise or lower the footbed to get you to a wider part
of the boot too. On my old Nordica's I had to grind the footbed under
the forefoot to lower my foot.

In article ,
"JQ" writes:
I have the same problem with right foot. The pinky joint has been bruised
so many times that now the joint is twice the size it should be.

I had the same problem (irritation, not bruising) with a Rossi KX, even
after having the shell extended a bit. I fixed it by using small doughnuts
shaped Dr. School inserts on my foot. It worked relatively well.

All my problems went away after going back to Raichle Flexons and the
Thermoflex liner. It doesn't seem to hold as firmly as other liners, but
I got used to that somewhat spongy feeling and don't even think about
it anymore.

Bruno.

On 8 Sep 2003 15:40:01 GMT, Bruno Melli penned:
In article ,
"Monique Y. Herman" writes:

Does Surefoot have a warranty on the fit ? If they do, go back.
A good bootfitter would help you chose a boot that fits your foot,
then work on that 6th toe issue (probably by expanding the shell)
Unless you are lucky, boot fitting is more of an art than a science. It
might take several trips back to the bootfitter to get it perfect.

bruno.


I've had the boots refit there multiple times. They're always friendly
and ready to try anything they can think of, but I think we're almost
out of options on these boots. I've had stuff glued to the liner to pad
the area; I've had the shell blown out; I have custom ortho footbeds;
they did something (forget what) last time to try to fix the numbness,
and did suggest that the next thing we should try is to put a pad
underneath the center of the ball of my foot to help um, hrm, I don't
remember but it was supposed to ease up on the numbness. I will try
that final remedy, but I suspect I'd be better off with boots *designed*
for people with my foot shape.

--
monique

My pointless ramblings:
http://www.bounceswoosh.org/phorum/index.php?f=6

Bruno Melli wrote:
In article ,
"Monique Y. Herman" writes:
I don't have a literal "sixth toe", but I do have a pinky joint that
sticks waaaaaaay out, causing discomfort in every boot I've tried. My
current boots were fitted by Surefoot, and they are definitely better
than any other boots I've had ...

Does Surefoot have a warranty on the fit ? If they do, go back.
A good bootfitter would help you chose a boot that fits your foot,
then work on that 6th toe issue (probably by expanding the shell)
Unless you are lucky, boot fitting is more of an art than a science. It
might take several trips back to the bootfitter to get it perfect.

It can also take several goes before you are able to describe exactly
what needs doing to the bootfitter.

My current boots took four sessions before they were completely
comfortable. This included stretching one of them twice.

One thing that caused little toe pain for me was a slightly too wide
insole. It bent up at the sides when my weight was on it and pressed
against the toe. Once I had trimmed the insole enough for it to lie
flat the pain went away.

--
Robert Swindells

Monique Y. Herman wrote:

I don't have a literal "sixth toe", but I do have a pinky joint that
sticks waaaaaaay out, causing discomfort in every boot I've tried. My
current boots were fitted by Surefoot, and they are definitely better
than any other boots I've had ... but my feet still go numb enough,
after a while, that pulling my feet out of them elicits a gasp of pain
... I don't even want to discuss putting them back on! This, believe it
or not, is an improvement on past boots.

Narrow heel, high span, big calves ... and large feet for a woman. My
current boots list their size variously as: 26.5, 42, women's UK 8, and
women's US 9.5.

I think I'm still looking for front entry, but I don't need anything
terribly stiff.

Think stretch. Get a boot that otherwise fits properly, and stretch the
shell a bit right over the problem spot. Sneek up on it - stretching is
easy; shrinking is impossible. It's so simple I've had shops that did it
for nothing (of course I was a regular customer - that helps.) You just
drop the shell in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes, push the
shell out at the spot in question, and let the plastic cool. It can be
done at home - get our your beer-making stainless wort pot and start
boiling.

Don't get a boot to accomodate - if you think about it, any boot that
accomodates without stretching would HAVE to be too big in the toe/forefoot.

"Monique Y. Herman" wrote in message
...
snip

It may help some of the bootfitters here if you also say what your current
boot is.

Good luck,

F Plant

On 10 Sep 2003 01:40:01 GMT, F. Plant penned:

"Monique Y. Herman" wrote in message
...
snip

It may help some of the bootfitters here if you also say what your current
boot is.

Good luck,

F Plant


Good point!

Um, let's see. They're Salomons. They say evolution^2 8.0 on them.
They are women's boots. There's a "carve control" slider that is
supposed to control the level of flex, but snow always packs into it, so
it inevitably gets stuck in the bottom setting. They have four buckles,
the upper two of which have been moved to the most generous screwhole
available, and the upper one of which also has an extra metal extender
piece -- iirc that's to help me "ratchet" my way in, rather than being
used for the final position.

Mine are several years old, but the following link looks to be about the
same design, with different colors:

http://www.oshmans.com/product/index...ductId=1124189

As far as internal modifications, I believe Surefoot has blown out the
sides, added padding to the liner around the bone in question (similar
in concept to the sticky-pads someone mentioned in a previous post),
replaced the footbed with orthotics, and done something-or-other to help
the numbness. The next step they recommended was placing a pad under
the center of the ball of my foot, roughly, to help spread the bone
structure and thereby counteract the numbness -- they used some medical
term for that foot situation that I just don't recall. Surefoot will
continue to do mods for free until I'm happy with the results.

It just seems to me that, after so many mods, if I'm still experiencing
not just discomfort but serious pain, it's probable that I should start
from scratch -- I mean, there *must* be a boot that's better-suited to
my feet than these. And besides, I *know* I'm not the only person in
the world whose ball of the foot is extremely wide. *Some* manufacturer
must have a last that matches, Cinderella-like.

One thing I *do* like about them is the ski/walk knob on the back.
Actually, three options: walk, ride, and attack. It's really nice get
out of my skis, turn that knob, and be able to walk upright. I have no
idea whether that compromises the actual ski utility of the boot.

--
monique

My pointless ramblings:
http://www.bounceswoosh.org/phorum/index.php?f=6