Pain on the front of my ankle

[Dolomitiskier]

Ciao! After a depressing year without skiing, things are open in Italy and I’m back in my boots. I saw a boot fitter who fixed my issues with massive cramping of my foot and my boots cutting painfully into my giant calves. But now a new issue has popped up and I’m hoping for some ideas before I go back since Italian isn’t my first language and I need to plan on how to properly describe things/know what to expect.

I have started getting serious pain on the fron of my ankle…basically where your ankle and leg meet. Forgive the ugly leg but I circled the area for reference.

I have very short legs and pretty small but wide feet. “Athletic” calves and narrowish heels. Boots are Lange SX90 and maybe a bit too soft for me to be honest, especially in warmer weather.

 

[LiquidFeet]

Quick question - do you have this pain only when in the boots? If yes, could it be that the tongue is pressing uncomfortably or painfully down onto this area?

 

[Dolomitiskier]

I only have the pain in the boots. If I move the tongue of the boots way off center it kind of helps or at least tamps it down.

The bootfitter actually recommended considering a switch to a lace up liner that is thinner but wanted me to ski them with the last round of modifications to see since he said I’d probably loose some warmth compared to the stock liners….

Edited to add that the pain seemed worse when it was warmer and after 4 days of skiing…the area is a bit raised and still tender.

 

[LiquidFeet]

Since the pain happens when you wear the boot, the cause is probably that tongue pressing down too hard onto the front of your ankle. This is confirmed with your comment about warm days, and the fact that you think your boots are too soft. On warm days they will soften up even more and fold forward farther, causing that area to bend more, making the tongue press down even harder onto your foot. Ouch.

This situation has happened with my right foot with two boots over the years, including my current ones. With these current ones, my bootfitter surgically removed the hard plastic part of the tongue in that area where it pressed down, leaving the tongue attached to the liner (ZipFits) by its soft material. That solved the problem. The tongue is still going strong, still connected, on that boot, and it's been several years now with no pain.

Best of luck finding a solution. I know how bad this pain is.

 

[Dolomitiskier]

Since the pain happens when you wear the boot, the cause is probably that tongue pressing down too hard onto the front of your ankle. This is confirmed with your comment about warm days, and the fact that you think your boots are too soft. On warm days they will soften up even more and fold forward farther, causing that area to bend more, making the tongue press down even harder onto your foot. Ouch.

This situation has happened with my right foot with two boots over the years, including my current ones. With these current ones, my bootfitter surgically removed the hard plastic part of the tongue in that area where it pressed down, leaving the tongue attached to the liner (ZipFits) by its soft material. That solved the problem. The tongue is still going strong, still connected, on that boot, and it's been several years now with no pain.

Best of luck finding a solution. I know how bad this pain is.

Thanks so much for the insight…it’s super helpful. My husband kept saying he thought it was the tongue and it makes sense if you’ve seen the tongue on the Langes…plastic extends all the way down the top of the foot in a horseshoe shape. I’m thinking new liners are for the best. I’m sort of dreading the idea of a lace up race liner though because it seems like a pain to put on and take off.

My husband thinks I need to scrap these “Frankenboots” and start over but that seems equally annoying. I never thought of my feet or body as being so completely outside the norm until I resumed skiing six years ago.

 

[Andy Mink]

If you have very flexible ankles a 90 flex boot is probably too soft. You mention when it's warm for sure. If the boot flexes too far things start to distort, including the tongue, and can press uncomfortably into your foot. How mobile is your ankle?

 

[Nobody]

BTW do not fear the laced up liners. If you are not a person that suffers the cold weather / lack of extra isolation, the lace up liners are good to go. Only thing, they will probably come from a narrower boot model (ask the bootfitter with model of liners he is thinking to use) hence furthering the "cold" feeling a bit more than simply for cause of being thinner...I use lace up liners in my race boots, and have now installed laces in all liners , even of my daily boots, which were anyhow provided with the possibility to be laced up, even if only halfway , the upper portion, that is, this also helps keeping the tongue firmer and in a correct position on top of adding to the "snuggness" feeling. I liked that so much that have had a shoemaker to sew loops (4x, two each side of the liner) in the upper portion of my old boots liners which were not provided with.

 

[Dolomitiskier]

I just did the ankle mobility test and I have 4.5 to 5 inches of flex in my ankles so pretty flexible I think. I’m 5’5 and 175lbs (carrying 25lbs that has been tough to loose) but I’m also fairly athletic and strong. I regularly hike 12-14km over moderate terrain and I bike as well. My Frankenstein feet have been a 6 year challenge for ski boots with debilitating cramping.
I live in Northern Italy and it’s not a region flush with bootfitters or equipment stores. I skied at Kronplatz and found this guy (https://www.fedebootfitting.com/) who is the most legit I’ve ever dealt with here. I told him I was open to just starting over with new boots but he thought mine were ok and just blew out a spot on the outside mid foot just before the toebox and it took care of the cramping but now I’m having this new issue.

I’m a much stronger skier than I was when I bought these boots. Then, I was the slowest skier in the Dolomites and now I’m much more aggressive and skilled.

 

[Nobody]

I forgot, welcome, DolomitiSkier. Nice to see that the "representative" quota from our country is growing! Well, depending where exactly you live in Northern Italy, there are a few options that are known and reputed as bootfitters. In Lombardy, one I think is "Ornello sport", another is "Tuttosport Mortara", these two people rave about quite some. One whose services I've utilized to my satisfaction is "Rossini Sport", another one I've been serviced is "Ski Service Center" at Passo del Tonale. In Trentino and Alto Adige/SudTirol, don't know, but see link below, a name I know for other reasons is "Sport Amplatz" in Canazei. One question, though, have you addressed your needs where you bought the boots, or has the purchase been done too far back in the past or not in Italy? Keep in mind that all bootfitters will , obviously, charge you for the services, except, maybe but not sure, the shop where you bought the boots from. Also, most of them are race oriented.
@Andy Mink & the mod squad : please allow me this shameless plug with a link to an italian ski forum, where there is a list (database") of shops that perform bootfitting services, if not allowed, feel free to remove the link. TIA.
skiforum bootfitters in Italy database

 

[Dolomitiskier]

I forgot, welcome, DolomitiSkier. Nice to see that the "representative" quota from our country is growing! Well, depending where exactly you live in Northern Italy, there are a few options that are known and reputed as bootfitters. In Lombardy, one I think is "Ornello sport", another is "Tuttosport Mortara", these two people rave about quite some. One whose services I've utilized to my satisfaction is "Rossini Sport", another one I've been serviced is "Ski Service Center" at Passo del Tonale. In Trentino and Alto Adige/SudTirol, don't know, but see link below, a name I know for other reasons is "Sport Amplatz" in Canazei. One question, though, have you addressed your needs where you bought the boots, or has the purchase been done too far back in the past or not in Italy? Keep in mind that all bootfitters will , obviously, charge you for the services, except, maybe but not sure, the shop where you bought the boots from. Also, most of them are race oriented.
@Andy Mink & the mod squad : please allow me this shameless plug with a link to an italian ski forum, where there is a list (database") of shops that perform bootfitting services, if not allowed, feel free to remove the link. TIA.
skiforum bootfitters in Italy database

Hello!! Nice to “meet” another Italian resident. I am in the Veneto so anywhere in Lombardia or Trentino is quite a drive. I’ve been to see a fitter in Bassano del Grappa but he really wasn’t very good. I’ve also bought lots of gear at the Rossi/Lange outlet in Montebelluno and they are great but limited in their options for obvious reasons. I will definitely check out the link. Maybe there is someone closer to me that I don’t know about!

 

[Seldomski]

Since the pain happens when you wear the boot, the cause is probably that tongue pressing down too hard onto the front of your ankle. This is confirmed with your comment about warm days, and the fact that you think your boots are too soft. On warm days they will soften up even more and fold forward farther, causing that area to bend more, making the tongue press down even harder onto your foot. Ouch.

This situation has happened with my right foot with two boots over the years, including my current ones. With these current ones, my bootfitter surgically removed the hard plastic part of the tongue in that area where it pressed down, leaving the tongue attached to the liner (ZipFits) by its soft material. That solved the problem. The tongue is still going strong, still connected, on that boot, and it's been several years now with no pain.

Best of luck finding a solution. I know how bad this pain is.

I have a high instep and felt pain in that same area especially when the ski/boot were hanging while on a chairlift.

Bootfitter cut out the plastic of the tongue in that area - very similar mod to what you describe. Have not had any pain in that area since.