marylou Posted January 12, 2004 Posted January 12, 2004 So every time I put on my ski boots, for the first little while, I feel like I have golf balls in my boots. Sometimes it is for a little while, and sometimes it is the whole time I'm in the boots. Never a problem in street shoes, even if it's been a day or 2 since I wore them. Igenerally wear them 5-6 day per week. I'm not sure if there is an easy answer here, but I can't ski without them, and some days I can't ski with them. The pain is $%^&!!!! unbearable from the orthotics sometimes. Quote
layton Posted January 12, 2004 Posted January 12, 2004 you need to adjust gradually to your orthodics! put em in your street shoes and wear em off and on for a week, then all week. then put em in your ski boots, problem solved. I swap my orthodics out with all my footwear, which sucks when I forget and go on a 3 week ice climbing trip with no insoles in my boots! good luck. p.s. also try removing any golfballs from your boots. Quote
marylou Posted January 12, 2004 Author Posted January 12, 2004 I've had this set of orthotics for about a year now. The adjustment thing is done. I hardly ever put golf balls in my ski boots just for fun any more. Lambone, you are still an asshole. But we knew that, I guess. Quote
Doug Posted January 12, 2004 Posted January 12, 2004 Who made your orthotics? You may want to go see Jim Mates, he's a custom boot fitter in Ballard who does wonderful things to inserts for ski boots. Quote
PaulB Posted January 12, 2004 Posted January 12, 2004 I'm not sure if there is an easy answer here, but I can't ski without them, and some days I can't ski with them. I tried wearing orthotics in my mountaineering boots, and experienced a similar problem with one foot. After some investigation, I determined that the position of the orthotic in my boot was not always the same. If it was too far forward or back, the arch support would end up in the wrong spot, and be very uncomfortable. Since my orthotics were sized to fit my street shoes (slightly shorter than my boots), there wasn't much I could do to fix it. My conclusion was that in some footwear, orthotics need to be exactly the right length, and probably won't be changeable into other boots/shoes. Quote
Figger_Eight Posted January 12, 2004 Posted January 12, 2004 Did you have the orthotics in your thermoliners when you molded them? Quote
marylou Posted January 12, 2004 Author Posted January 12, 2004 (edited) Doug, my orthotics were made at UW. I don't have medical coverage for orthotics, so I had the students there make me some. They used the method where they put your feet in plaster casts to get the shape. Paul, interesting thought. I always try and bury them into the heel pockets of my boots, and on the one pair, I wore them while I was getting the thermofit thing done. On that pair of boots, the orthotics really have no choice in where they sit in the boot. I'm wondering if the pain is originating from the fact that ski boots clamp down tight on the instep, which could improperly load an orthotic in the arch area. It really hurts, and then after a while, generally my feet calm down. Edited January 12, 2004 by marylou Quote
fredrogers Posted January 12, 2004 Posted January 12, 2004 I gave up trying to use my orthotics in my ice climbing and snowboarding boots- the pain under the in-step was too much to bear. I switched to Superfeet insoles (I have the hiker, I think), which seems to be a decent (and cheap) compromise to either wearing orthotics (ouch) or going with out (double ouch. YMMV, but they're only like $30. Quote
PaulB Posted January 12, 2004 Posted January 12, 2004 I switched to Superfeet insoles (I have the hiker, I think), which seems to be a decent (and cheap) compromise to either wearing orthotics (ouch) or going with out (double ouch. YMMV, but they're only like $30. This is what I now use in my climbing and ski boots. If I was a guide, and wearing my boots 10 or more hours a day 5 or 6 days a week, I'd make the effort to get the orthotics to work, but for day use the Superfeet work great. Quote
kurthicks Posted January 12, 2004 Posted January 12, 2004 another thing...the pain in your arch could be increased by having tense tendons/muscles/ligaments in the bottom of your foot. take those golf balls and roll them under your arches for a few minutes a few times a day (lightly at first) and stretch your tendons and muscles. it should help a bit. Quote
cracked Posted January 12, 2004 Posted January 12, 2004 If you have thermo liners, why do you need orthotics? Have you tried not using the orthos? I had bad foot pain when I tried Superfeet in leather boots, the pain went away when I got rid of the insoles. Quote
Dru Posted January 13, 2004 Posted January 13, 2004 If you have thermo liners, why do you need orthotics? i was wondering this too. if they mold the liner to your foor would it not act like an orthotic anyway? if not, have you tried putting the orthotic between the liner and the outer? i don't wear orthotics so these are probably dumb questions - disclaimer - there is no such thing as a stupid question but there are lots of stupid people. Quote
cj001f Posted January 13, 2004 Posted January 13, 2004 the pain went away when I got rid of the insoles. No insoles? Boots without insoles are mammoth uncomfortable in my experience. Absolutely no support. And since I have fairly low volume feet, they slosh around, which sucks. Quote
marylou Posted January 13, 2004 Author Posted January 13, 2004 I don't think the Thermos would provide enuf support. Dru, it would be impossible to wear an orthotic between the liner and the shell. The orthotic is the exact shape as your foot. Guys I do appreciate your input, but if there is anyone out there who actually knows anything about what I am talking about, or who actually wears orthotics, please chime in! Quote
Dru Posted January 13, 2004 Posted January 13, 2004 well isnt the liner "the exact shape as your foot" too? Quote
cj001f Posted January 13, 2004 Posted January 13, 2004 between the liner and the shell. A nasty feeling under the arch of your foot? Depending on which boots you have, you may want to investigate the support the shell gives your liner/footbed. On my lasers it seemed there was arch support in the shell (i.e. the surface the liner/sits on was not flat), so when a supportive footbed was installed the arch ended up being to high. Pressure point. I ended up keeping the stock footbeds in, and after a bit of use they now are super comfy. Quote
Doug Posted January 13, 2004 Posted January 13, 2004 o.k., I do actually wear orthotics. I own 3 pair. I have a brother-in-law and a sister-in-law who make them for a living. For what issue do you wear them, pronation, arches, combination of things? I don't wear my orthotics in my ski boots, because as you suggest, clamping the boot down puts pressure on the little lump on the orthotic device, which in turn drives it into the bottom of my foot. OUCH! Jim Mates, the guy I recommended, can do one of two things; a) he can trim your orthotics so they fit in whatever shoe/boot you want to wear them in, including your ski boot, or; b) he can make you some footbeds for your ski boots that will give you basically the same support as your orthotics. I realize money is tight, but is sounds as though as far as your ski boots go you have two choices 1) get your orthotics fine tuned, or 2) ditch em' and get footbeds. Quote
marylou Posted January 13, 2004 Author Posted January 13, 2004 Doug, I wear orthotics because I broke a bunch of bones in both feet one time. The worst of it is subtalar artritis and ankle bone spurs, a lot of them, on the same side. Some of this comes down to money for me, I spend a lot of money every month dealing with this. The associated problems tend to pile up after a while, and if skiing menas spending more money on the problem, I may not be able to ski this year any more. That said, it would be at least nice to know what options are out there. Quote
Figger_Eight Posted January 14, 2004 Posted January 14, 2004 I wear orthotics in my shoes, but not in my climbing or skiing boots. Try replacing your orthotics with green Superfeet. I don't think theres enough space in your ski boots to accomodate orthotics, and the shell is not allowing your foot to expand when you put weight on them. Quote
PaulB Posted January 14, 2004 Posted January 14, 2004 Dru, it would be impossible to wear an orthotic between the liner and the shell. The orthotic is the exact shape as your foot. Suprisingly, when I went to Intuition in Vancouver to get custom liners made, this was suggested as an option. In the end they molded them without any liner or orthotic at all. After wearing them a few times I decided that they didn't give enough arch support. I'd go with some kind of insole inside the thermoform liner next time. Quote
Lambone Posted January 14, 2004 Posted January 14, 2004 Lambone, you are still an asshole. But we knew that, I guess. "whats your point" was short for buy some danm boots that fit and quit whining about it. Or just unbuckle them on the lift like everyone else. If you are so lucky as to ski 5-6 days a week than maybe you should consider it a worthwhile investment. Quote
marylou Posted January 14, 2004 Author Posted January 14, 2004 So Matt, am I to understand that in all of your worldly knowledge, you believe that I've purchased 2 pairs of ski boots that don't fit correctly? Is this based on personal experience with problems skiing in F.O.s? Quote
marylou Posted January 14, 2004 Author Posted January 14, 2004 As far as the under the boot liner thing, apparently that is a real idea. The cheaper orthotics look more like Superfeet on steroids, and it might be possible with those, but the ones I have were made by a different process where they actually put plaster casts on your feet, and those ones would rip in half if you tried to put them under anything but your foot. FWIW I now have an appointment scheduled with an orthotist to see what the problem is. Quote
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