Anyone ever have toe issues?

[Andy Mink]

drill a hole through my nail to relieve the pressure once..it was satisfying

Sooooo good! I've done that to a couple of finger nails.

 

[Paul Lutes]

Sooooo good! I've done that to a couple of finger nails.

Definitely; and if the dead nail refuses to fall off cleanly (it rarely does) it will be a snagging nightmare - I've never hesitated to trim of the non-connected nail, but it must be done well.

 

[Shawn]

Injury update:

Over a week later and there's still never been swelling, discoloration, or tenderness to the touch anywhere on my foot. There is no pain when barefoot, walking, or in shoes. Unfortunately, there's still pain inside a tight ski boot or skate. It's less, but it's still there. The pain is not actually in my toe; it's deeper in my foot near the toe—like the met head or a sprained ligament in that area.

My ski season is likely over and my skating season will be delayed.

 

[cantunamunch]

My ski season is likely over and my skating season will be delayed.

New liners (and footbed?) next season?

 

[Decreed_It]

Broke my right big tow 2nd bone from the tip (behind 1st joint in front of main joint to foot) badly a couple years ago. Was a freak yoga accident, believe it or not, and sure it's fine to laugh at me, I sure have laughed at myself a lot over it. Anyway - it's now basically permanently stiff, painful and likely arthritic. Does OK in ski boots as long as I don't toe bang. Do whatever you need to to prevent toe bang.

I tried laser treatments on it for a while, can't say it did anything. Some chiropractic quackery at the worst, and marginal utility at best.

 

[cantunamunch]

Do whatever you need to to prevent toe bang.

100%. And, even with a miraculously good footbed, a liner with 7 seasons on it is going to have problems stopping toe bang. Let alone an average cut-to-fit one.

 

[Shawn]

New liners (and footbed?) next season?

Yeah, I'll probably go see Billy Kaplan here outside Philly.

 

[cantunamunch]

Yeah, I'll probably go see Billy Kaplan here outside Philly.

In the meantime, do you have a pair of Doops?

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[In2h2o]

@Shawn I feel your pain. In December some how I injured/pissed off my big toe - assuming it was liner/ foot bed issues which have been corrected in my alpine boot and an issue with my cross country boot. Day 4 of a trip skied groomers 2 hours and then 1 hour xc and drove home. Felt something "odd" in the big toe while xc skiing. Next day big toe joint was very inflamed and painful. Couldn't walk for 2 days. I thought I had gout, but apparently not. Fast forward an my self diagnosis is "turf toe" along with a new bunion like issue and too much pressure on the top of my foot / perineal nerve pain. The turf toe was exasperated by surfing my long board as I use my back foot/toe to push off harder as it doesn't have a traction pad. Also discovered my bike shoes are really too soft, and moving to a hard sole for biking and trail walking helped a lot. Its been a 3 month experiment with different sensations and nerve pain. Besides fixing alpine boot footbeds and wearing stiffer soled shoes, I also found that stacking KT tape on both sides parallel to the medial dorsal cutaneous nerve (surfer's bump area on top of instep) makes a channel for the nerve and gives me enough room in my ski boot that I was able to ski last week for 4 days without issue. It can take a while for a strain to heal, and there can be other issues. Throughout this time I have been able to fully bend my toe (with the exception of the first few days after initial injury). The only other possible causes of pain in that area are the sesamoid bones or a ganglion cyst. Since it has taken so long to figure out what is wrong, and I realize how toe issues affect all my sports I will be making an appointment to see a podiatrist to make sure I'm on the right track. I will say in addition to changing shoes/footbed/and KT taping using ice and voltarin gel has helped a lot.

In the mean time if you want to continue using Dr. Google, I have found this site to be very informative:
https://www.michiganfootdoctors.com/foot-pain-behind-big-toe/ the videos are exceptional IMHO

 

[crgildart]

Eons ago my big toes would crack like knuckles when I flexed them after a long day in ski boots. That stopped decades ago. About 10 years ago a new issue arose with my right big toe. It started intermittantly feeling like it needs to be cracked, but flexing it no longer resolved that discomfort. It's easily aggravated and feels partially dislocated from time to time, especially after an awkward impact.

I followed that toe joint fusion surgery thread that @Bob Peters had rolling at the old place and my symptoms seemed similar.. Now I'm wondering if this is actually just gout? I never remember to mention it when I'm at the doctor and it's not disabling enough to warrant a special trip. Hurts like a B!tch putting on and taking off ski boots, but never bothers me when buckled in.. In ski boots is the only time it never gets bumped or banged the wrong way or otherwise painful..

 

[Andy Mink]

Eons ago my big toes would crack like knuckles when I flexed them after a long day in ski boots. That stopped decades ago. About 10 years ago a new issue arose with my right big toe. It started intermittantly feeling like it needs to be cracked, but flexing it no longer resolved that discomfort. It's easily aggravated and feels partially dislocated from time to time, especially after an awkward impact.

I followed that toe joint fusion surgery thread that @Bob Peters had rolling at the old place and my symptoms seemed similar.. Now I'm wondering if this is actually just gout? I never remember to mention it when I'm at the doctor and it's not disabling enough to warrant a special trip. Hurts like a B!tch putting on and taking off ski boots, but never bothers me when buckled in.. In ski boots is the only time it never gets bumped or banged the wrong way or otherwise painful..

If you think it's gout, check it out. A simple uric acid blood test will show if you're above the threshold. Uric acid crystals can damage the joint for good; it's a type of arthritis. Allopurinol is what I take to keep it under control. I had a pretty bad flare up after some smaller ones that, looking back, were probably gout flares.

 

[In2h2o]

Any updates @Shawn? I went to a podiatrist Monday, and much as I suspected its a little bit of injury (turf toe/sprain) a little bit of wear and tear/age and partly just my anatomy. What was interesting was where my sesamoid bones are currently located... I will be working on conservative efforts to get things back into as best alignment as possible and will be avoiding some movements and working on pt and stretching along with other changes listed previously. I think it was extremely helpful to get the x-rays. I would rather know that I have an issue that needs to be corrected sooner than later.

 

[Shawn]

Any updates @Shawn? I went to a podiatrist Monday, and much as I suspected its a little bit of injury (turf toe/sprain) a little bit of wear and tear/age and partly just my anatomy. What was interesting was where my sesamoid bones are currently located... I will be working on conservative efforts to get things back into as best alignment as possible and will be avoiding some movements and working on pt and stretching along with other changes listed previously. I think it was extremely helpful to get the x-rays. I would rather know that I have an issue that needs to be corrected sooner than later.

That's great that you've got a plan

For me it's been almost 3 weeks since my injury, 2 weeks since the last time I skied (I skied for an hour before I realized the injury needed rest), and 1 week since trying on my ski boots and feeling pain. I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The last few days, my toe/ foot has felt pretty normal. I'm not going to risk it though and I'll continue to give it at least another week before trying on my inline skates. Ski season is probably done though.

@cantunamunch Doops are a great idea!

 

[In2h2o]

@Shawn hope you are fully recovered by now.... I ended up getting an MRI and a follow up with my very progressive D.O. to make sure I wasn't dealing with soft tissue or sesamoid issues. Nope, just "mild" arthritis, small bone spur and a little bit of swelling. Conservative treatment along with footwear choices/support and general arthritis recommendations etc. Apparently surfing (my main sport) has made the arthritis worse in my back toe (regular footed) and I will need to make some pattern changes. Riding my mountain bike for some reason still makes my toe sore? I normally skate a pair soft boot K2 recreational inline skates as cross training but haven't since the injury. May have to rethink this set up as well. DH skiing (even in 3D snow) doesn't seem to make things any worse. I haven't tried XC again as I think something in my boot makes my toe angry (maybe this is your issue with your inline skate?). For me at least, the more supported I am with footbed/arch the happier my toe is.

 

[Shawn]

@Shawn Nope, just "mild" arthritis, small bone spur and a little bit of swelling. Conservative treatment along with footwear choices/support and general arthritis recommendations etc.

That's a relief.

My toe injury is pretty much healed. Maybe 95%. After 5 weeks it finally felt strong and reliable—the feeling I was waiting for. I'm glad I gave it a few extra weeks to be sure. I went for a 12-mile skate last weekend and it felt fine during the skate. A faint amount of residual weirdness afterwards but nothing concerning. I gave it another week of rest anyway.

Thankfully my new skates (Powerslide Arise RD) do not give me any toe bang issues unlike my old skates (Powerslide Swell). The big difference I think is that the Arise lets me lace all way down to the toes, whereas the Swell lacks lacing in the toe box (it's more like a shoe, which gives me less control over the tightness down there.) My theory is that all the constant toe banging in my old skates made my toe more susceptible to injury. You can see the history of injury on my toe nail bed: little ridges from the old skates, a big ridge from the skiing jump landing, and flatness behind it from not doing anything for weeks.

Unfortunately my ski season has been over since February 27th. So no spring season. I don't want to risk re-injuring it. I've got some big plans on skates for later this spring.

 

[cantunamunch]

I've got some big plans on skates for later this spring.

There's an FB group looking to skate the Empire State Trail...jussayin' Even with all the detours for gravel sections, that only just more than 7 A2As.

 

[Shawn]

There's an FB group looking to skate the Empire State Trail...jussayin' Even with all the detours for gravel sections, that only just more than 7 A2As.

Saw that! Looking forward to the trip write-up.

-I've been thinking about 100 miles on the W&OD Trail in Northern Virginia. It's 90 miles out-and-back with connections to other trails to add on mileage. I want to do it for the epicness of the route, but it's challenging with lots of climbing (3,000 ft), crowdedness, and many, many, many road intersections. Pain and pleasure.

-Then 200km lapping the Kelly Drive/ MLK Drive loop in Philly. This one is just for the distance. It's flat, literally no stopping, and I don't have to carry much because I can resupply every 12 miles.

 

[cantunamunch]

-I've been thinking about 100 miles on the W&OD Trail in Northern Virginia. It's 90 miles out-and-back with connections to other trails to add on mileage. I want to do it for the epicness of the route, but it's challenging with lots of climbing (3,000 ft), crowdedness, and many, many, many road intersections. Pain and pleasure.

Hah, that's (one of) my home trail(s). Are you T-braking? The W&OD is a complete pain to T-brake on because they have a lot of intersection cuts. Like downhill slope to a stop, with no run out other than the road proper. The cut often drops enough that you can only see the far lane, not the one with the car that's going to hit you. Also, the trail has a fair few planked bridges and some concrete seamed ones. Not fun with hard wheels. Also, the entire section between Rte. 7 and Columbia Pike is a clusterf*ck of over-use, clogged with everyone from baby strollers and dog walkers to 20mph+ Zwifters with no concept of trail safety.

Yeh, wait for that - Dominion Power are doing a *lot* of work between Ashburn and Leesburg and have that entire section closed off starting next week, with massively climby on-road detours. So wait for that to be well over and cleared. As a benefit, post-DST springtime enthusiasm will die off, *maybe* reducing some of the crowding.

https://power-viz.com/W&OD-Trail/

For the last 22 years there has been a Formal 40 on July 4th on the W&OD - Vienna caboose to Leesburg and back - skate by all the locals actually going to A2A. You're welcome to join for all or part of, assuming Dominion Power get their act cleaned up by then (that's only half a joke - we've totally seen 'week' projects stretch for months)

Further, if you want, there is a complete trail connection - i.e. you can skate from College Park along the Anacostia Branch then over the new bridge to Nats Park then past the Titanic memorial to Hains Point then over 14th St. Bridge to Mt. Vernon Trail (tree roots, yes) past DCA to 4 mile run then up to the hookup with W&OD at Shirlington.

Alternately, there's the Glen Burnie airport loop - loop around BWI then take the spur trail to the outskirts of Annapolis. Really a better training loop than the W&OD because you can park/base camp at the landing observation lot and do as many loops or spurs as you like.

For another alternate suggestion - a very scenic one, a much less crowded one, and with far fewer roadside stops and especially far fewer powerline shenanigans, the Virginia Capital trail from Richmond to Jamestown is flatter, dryer, and smoother than the W&OD. There are bits that are gravelly but it's really not bad, and the lack of nutso crowding more than makes up for it.

-Then 200km lapping the Kelly Drive/ MLK Drive loop in Philly. This one is just for the distance. It's flat, literally no stopping, and I don't have to carry much because I can resupply every 12 miles.

If you need a place to do that mid-summer, the Western Maryland Rail Trail is super-flat, shielded from wind, and about 20-25F cooler than DC or Philly. Downside is that GPS is spotty.

If you need a place to do that right now, the Indian Head trail is *sweet* and very little traveled. Just pick a non-windy day and bring bug juice for the stops.