Can’t solve excruciating foot pain

[Scoracek]

Hi all,

I tried to learn how to skate a couple years ago and had to stop after a few lessons because of pain in both feet. This January I signed up for a session of six lessons and each time I had to stop every few minutes because the pain in my arches is unbearable, basically wasted money on the lessons because I couldn’t do anything.

I tried superfeet which only seemed to make the pain worse before I decided to see if it was because my skates were too big, which they were by about half a size. Did the Bauer 3D lab which recommended vapors, I tried on a few different lines and eventually went with the supremes because they fit the best and were comfortable besides the usual arch pain. I currently have a CCM orthotic insole in which seemed to help reduce the arch pain but it was still there so I put a small piece of foam in each skate to see if that would help cushion my arch.

I registered for another six lessons and just had my first on Thursday and the pain was so excruciating I had to stop skating after 5 mins. I tie them barely snug all the way up to the third eyelet and then I tie my heel really tight, I’ve tried different lacing methods, tightness to no avail, just tying them and sitting with them on causes the arch pain.

I’m out of ideas for what I can possibly do to solve this problem and it’s gotten to a point where I don’t even want to try anymore because it’s so frustrating and I’ve wasted almost $300 in lessons where I wasn’t able to do anything. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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[Ice9]

If it hurts even outside of a skate you may have plantar fasciitis.

 

[Scoracek]

If it hurts even outside of a skate you may have plantar fasciitis.

Nah I don’t have any foot problems when I wear sneakers which makes this so confusing

 

[BoardsofCanada]

My first thought is that you are tying your skates too tight but you've tried them looser?

The top of the line skates ($800 and up) have all kinds of fancy heating tools which mold the boot perfectly around your foot. I am thinking of buying some Bauer Supremes.

I don't know man.. best of luck.

 

[Ice9]

Nah I don’t have any foot problems when I wear sneakers which makes this so confusing

Odd. Maybe you tense up or something in your skate? I wore my skates a size too small and loved them as tight as I could get them.
Sometimes, I'd lace and relace and retighten two or three times before I felt right.

Good luck and hope you figure it out!

 

[Scoracek]

Odd. Maybe you tense up or something in your skate? I wore my skates a size too small and loved them as tight as I could get them.
Sometimes, I'd lace and relace and retighten two or three times before I felt right.

Good luck and hope you figure it out!

Thanks, I don’t think it’s that because that was one of the first things I started looking at and I don’t think I’ve been tensing up or curling my toes to try and grip the ice.

Since I can literally lace them up and sit in a chair while I’m at home and still have pain, I think I’m going to see if punching them out does the trick, but I’m not sure because I had my old skates punched out and it didn’t help at all (although those skates were half a size too big), I also don’t know if I can return them after they are punched so I’m not sure if I want to do that.

 

[puckpilot]

Thanks, I don’t think it’s that because that was one of the first things I started looking at and I don’t think I’ve been tensing up or curling my toes to try and grip the ice.

Since I can literally lace them up and sit in a chair while I’m at home and still have pain, I think I’m going to see if punching them out does the trick, but I’m not sure because I had my old skates punched out and it didn’t help at all (although those skates were half a size too big), I also don’t know if I can return them after they are punched so I’m not sure if I want to do that.

Here's something you can try before you punch them. Just take out the insole and then lace them up. See if this relieves any of the pressure around your arches. Even the thin stock insoles take up room, so if you remove them, you'll get a few extra millimetres of space that can help you get a better feel of it the skates need to be punched.

 

[Scoracek]

Here's something you can try before you punch them. Just take out the insole and then lace them up. See if this relieves any of the pressure around your arches. Even the thin stock insoles take up room, so if you remove them, you'll get a few extra millimetres of space that can help you get a better feel of it the skates need to be punched.

Thanks! I’ll try and see if I notice any difference.

 

[Scoracek]

Here's something you can try before you punch them. Just take out the insole and then lace them up. See if this relieves any of the pressure around your arches. Even the thin stock insoles take up room, so if you remove them, you'll get a few extra millimetres of space that can help you get a better feel of it the skates need to be punched.

If they felt better without the insoles does that mean I should just get the area where it hurts punched out or should I just go without insoles? The pain begins in one spot near the beginning of my arch and then spreads to the sides of my feet.

When I bend my knees and put my weight on each foot, my ankle rolls inward slightly (not sure if that’s overpronation or not) and I think because my ankle rolls inward it takes up more space in the boot and doesn’t allow my foot to fully spread out width wise. Or it might cause more pressure on my arches and the overpronation might be the main issue, I’m not sure.

 

[Mighty Makar]

Buy Bauer Speed Plates and see if they help. You heat them up and they mold to your foot/arch.

 

[puckpilot]

If they felt better without the insoles does that mean I should just get the area where it hurts punched out or should I just go without insoles? The pain begins in one spot near the beginning of my arch and then spreads to the sides of my feet.

When I bend my knees and put my weight on each foot, my ankle rolls inward slightly (not sure if that’s overpronation or not) and I think because my ankle rolls inward it takes up more space in the boot and doesn’t allow my foot to fully spread out width wise. Or it might cause more pressure on my arches and the overpronation might be the main issue, I’m not sure.

The no insole is a diagnostic tool. I wouldn't skate without them other than to tests if there's pain when you skate without them. It's probably not good for your skates or your foot in the long run.

For me, if the pain goes away or lessens significantly, it's an indication that the boot is probably a little snug around the arches and needs to be stretched out a bit.

I don't know if your shop makes you pay for stretching, but if you want to be cautious, you could just ask them to just stretch it a little to see if it's enough and then do more if it's necessary. But my local shop is pretty good about not charging for things like this, so going back multiple times isn't a problem.

As for overpronation, I really have no knowledge about it. I don't know how this would affect the fit of a skate.

 

[Pablo Messier]

If it hurts with the skates laced and sitting in a chair as you've stated, it's likely that you have laced it too tight. There is really no other explanation because the pain comes from lack of blood circulation. Sitting with the skates unlaced, does it hurt? If not, repeat and lace it (whole boot) not quite snug? Still no issues, finally keep it not quite snug all the way up to where foot meets ankle and tie it mofo tight for one or two eye holes and then just snug for the rest. Still no issues, then stand up and move about on a carpet or something. Should be a lot easier than on the ice but helps condition the foot and rest of your muscles for being on skates. If it hurts after doing this for a few minutes, then loosen the skates a tad (including ankle area) and try again. Do this a couple times a day and each day for a week. If good after this, try going to a public skate. Might hurt again, but repeat process .... loosen the skate, give it 5 minutes for blood to circulate and try again on the ice. After several sessions, you'll probably start getting an idea how tight your feet likes it.

As for the overpronation, try walking and running bare foot. Dont need to do a lot of distance (if running, 200 - 400 meters is probably enough), just need to have a bit of consistency and do it 3 times a week to condition the feet. I did this and achy feet for walking, running, hiking was thing of the past. And much stronger base when skating as well.

 

[Bondoao1]

I had arch pain in my Ribcor skates when I bought them.
These skates felt great in every way except for after wearing them for 5min, my arches started to burn and ache. All of my old skates had very thin and flat insoles until I bought these which had fairly decent arch support in them. I removed the OEM insole and put in the old thin flat insoles from my old skates and I had no more pain in my arches.

 

[JackFr]

I was in the exact same category as you when I first started playing. I had skates that were actually too big for me, but they were too thin (or my feet were too wide). Because I was starting I just assumed that was natural. I switched skates basically by accident and it fixed my problem.

 

[Pez68]

Flat feet? That or the boot isn't wide enough, is my guess. Or both.

 

[TGWL]

Do you get blisters or just pain?

 

[SundayNiteBlackout]

I have wide feet for skates (EE) and fairly flat feet and would have immense pain in my arches every skate session. I bought superfeet and it didn't help either.....then I got the outside wall punched out where the little bone is on the outside/middle of your foot. BOOM. No pain at all.

 

[EightyOne]

Try the skatelab scan again, see if it spits anything else out. And try alternative skates.

At this point we know what you have now causes pain quickly even while sitting...

You can sit with many different skates on at the shop.

It sounds like overall tightness around of the middle of your foot, maybe even near the arch like @SundayNiteBlackout had...my pain/numbness/burning was my instep getting pinched where the laces curve up...no tying method helped until I got Nauer Nexus skates.

Also, it sounds like you haven't skated much ever/in a long time, correct?

Some pain is expected. Muscles and stuff need to get used to it.

I just started again after ten years and 100 extra lbs...I could barely make it 10mins on ice and just gritted through the pain to finish out my learn to skate hour. Now, four hours in on em, there's discomfort but nothing as bad as those first couple hours were.

I'm inclined to think your skates aren't right, bottomline.

 

[NewDef]

In my case, I had to have loose laces up front, not too tight on the upward curve and somewhat tight around the ankle. If not, the feet gets crushed on the width and it hurts like hell.

Also, if you use waxed laces, try unwaxed. Waxed are pretty cool but they don't allow the tension to equalize across the laces under tension. The unwaxed laces helped because I can play a bit with the laces on the bench and sometimes it's just a matter of making it tight up to to loosen the bottom even without untying them. The more your ankle will get strong, the less you'll have to tighten them. Then it's just sitting flat in your skates.

Hope this helps, I too hated that pain and was happy when it was gone.

 

[DJnet65]

So I think since the pain is on the bottom of your feet in the arches that's likely where the problem is and I think trying a different footbed/insole is a good idea but you probably choose a footbed that was not correct.

My advice is to try a simple test to find out if you are flat footed or if you have high arches. It sounds like you are more flatfooted.

Try something like this:



This will give you an idea of how flat or high your arches are. Once you know where you are on that scale then look for a footbed appropriate for you and your skate.

Dr. Scholl's actually has kiosks that you can step on and will measure your foot including the arch height and will recommend an insole based on you measurements.