numb toes

“I did about 11 miles this weekend in 2 days backpacking I started to loose feeling in my toes.. I have noticed in the past 2 years that my pinkey toes on both feet get very numb as I hike.. it's almost beyond annoying.. has anyone else experienced this and also does anyone have any suggestions for me?
Thanks
Rox”

“ahhhhhhhh... and just as I was gonna post my "fat toes" thread!

I have noticed in the past year that my right pinky toe must be rotated a bit out or something, on my right foot. There's a lot of skin behind it >> which ends up rubbing either on top of the toe (to the boot) or, on this latest trip, the skin was pushed to the side of the next toe, creating a new blister there (just BELOW and to the SIDE of the former blister on top, now more of a hard callous).

I moleskinned the heck out of it, too, before I even set foot on the trail! (I also did this with other known blister spots... and prevented blisters in those instances!) Maybe I pre-taped it up too much?

And on the outside of this same toe, I have a bump, which I put a corn protector circle thing on, which is cut out in the middle for the bump.

Man!!! One freakin' little toe... tons of problems!!

But... they've only gone numb on rare occasions... and more often for me on bike rides.”

“I get those sore spots too but not on the little toes,,only on the 2nd toe of each foot..pain in the....... well you know. Every time I do over 8 miles the next week I either get puss from under the nails on the 2nd toes or I start to lose the nails.
I wonder if it has to do with pressure..”

“eww!! hey rox!! your yahoo not on??”

“Yeah, pressure and rubbing, I'd guess. I'm just wondering if anyone else has the "spare skin" problem on toes? And really, my toes aren't grossly fat or anything. LMAO!! I mean, my left little toe doesn't get these blisters on the bottom side or beside the next toe.

lol... such problems!”

“no yahoo is not on I am at school...it's a miracle that the school hasn't flitered this site out yet..”

“I would like to find out if I am also alone on this lizs, I mean it's embaressing this is true..but I am not going to stop hiking I just want to find a more comfortable way to keep hiking!!”

“There was an article in this month's Nat'l Geographic Adventure Mag, that said something about numbness caused by pressure in backpackers, some study done on the AT... pg. 23 paresthesia, it says in the feet it could be caused by boots too tight or trauma from hiking on tough terrain.

I have no idea if that's related at all, but it says the only cure is to rest for a while or something.”

“yeah, I think it's a problem related to "too tight" boots. you're not really into the tough terrain, so I doubt that is it. You didn't hike as much either lately right?

I would get my boots fited, and see how that goes.”

“eh, cut it off”

“rox, try different boots, or trail runners.
Most problems like this are caused by ill fitting shoes according to what I have read.”

“My first response was ill-fitting boots. I remember from my running days, the left foot and the right foot are not the same size, so you have to fit to the 'bigger' foot.

But then Scorchfire's suggestion also came to mind.”

“I have tried all of these boots:
LaSportivas
Vasque (which i wore out and my toes didn't do as bad...or all of the time)
Ecco... same at the vasque
and I just got a pr. of Asolo
I loosen and tighten and readjust alot on the hike.. hmmmm well I can try a few other alternatives.

So I am trying different boots... guess I may need to check with the foot doctor...

I have been hiking almost every weekend. But guess that wouldn't mean much , I have no clue if the areas are extremely rugged as I have only hiked on this side of the US.”

“I went through the whole "boot war" thing lately and I ran into the toe pinching thing. (along with other issues too)

The problen turned out to be that my boots were too tight because my feet were swelling big time after hiking. So my typical size twelves felt great in the store. at home and on short hikes but as soon as I really got on it and laid down some miles the dogs were barking.

So one morning I put my daughter in the baby backpack and went for a long walk and then headed to the outfitter for a fitting. Turns out my perfectly symmetrical size 12s when sitting or under light loads would swell and spread to size 12 3/4 while backpacking. Solution? Get size 13 boots. So several weekend trips and 2 week long hikes later I have yet to get a blister or have a toe problem.

I'm thinking your boots are too tight in the toebox, get measured again, go for a hike and then get measured one more time directly afterwards and get bigger boots.”

“HPM - I hope you washed those dogs before going to the outfitters. ;-)”

“Nope.
It was a beautiful moment. It brought tears to his eyes.

waitaminute....DOH!”

“"eh, cut it off"
ScorchFire
08:27:56 AM






ill agree with that...i mean what do you get outta the small toe anyway...not much but it is the one that hurts the most when you stub it...”

“Thanks humanpackmule I will see about going an half size up, even if they flop a bit. It seems that they do this the more I hike not the opposite.”

“Ok I am loosing toe nails again... hmmm I hope this isn't bad for me to do.”

“only if nails are the only thing holding your toes on”

“ummm nope... the toes are still there”

“These aren't camel toes are they?”

“lmao....not the last time I checked

Hey what ya trying to say?”

“you have fat toes?”

“omg....well honestly,”

“Your boots may be too short.”

“No... they are about 3/4 of an inch longer than my foot.”

“Do your toes go down into the toebox when you're on a downhill?”

“Toe nails are but little to sacrifice for the experience of hiking.”

“at least when you lose a nail, you don't have to worry about THAT one for a while!”

“Sure bitpusher they go down in the toe box down hill.. how can you stop it...?

Yeah one less nail to paint.
lol”

“Toenails are really overrated.”

“Yeah but dammmm how I miss them when I look down and only see a nekkid toe!”

“Sounds like a lacing problem, or boots not up to the task.”

“I don't know..I have been thru almost every popular brande there is.. asolo, vasque, LA sportivias”

“Who has been fitting you for these boots? Are you doing it yourself?”

“two prs I did 3 prs an outfitter guy did...all different outfitters”

“Sounds like you need to change your lacing method to prevent your toes from being smashed into the toe box on the downhill, rox.

Maybe try a search on "hiking boot lacing methods"?

< a href="http://www.hitthetrail.com/lacing.htm" target=_new>Boot Lacing Technique

another”

“Sorry, having apparent link troubles today...

Boot Lacing Technique”

“My right big toe is numb alot too. I asked my chiropractor and he said it is due to my lower back problems and the Ciatic (sp?) nerve is numbing it. He said it only takes the pressure of the weight of a dime to make it happen. Most of the time my back feels fine, but my toe will be numb. I go see him and he twists me like a pretzel and the numbness fades away. I don't know if you have any lower back troubles or not. Just wanted to let you yes I have a numb toe too :-)

PS
I have a pair of Asolo's LOVE em!”

“Thanks snafu,,,acutally I don't really have back problems but I did break a hip about 13 yrs ago and I now there is nerve damage there.. that may be my problem. My dr. did tell me that nothing can be done about that...so this may just be something I will have to live with...I appreciate the suggestion...thanks skiracer for the help.
rox”

“Thanks for the boot lacing tip, ski”

“Great sites skiracer...I just finished browsing both pages.”

“Toe nails are but little to sacrifice for the experience of hiking."
MarkO
08:15:04 AM
05/27/04


NO NO NO they are not.

a couple of years ago, i had to deal with both my big toes being in-grown. OMG they hurt. but it hurt worst having them taken care of.
took a couple of months just to get real shoes on (anyone getting it done, do it in the summer).
4 months without being able to hike SUCKED!

its how you cut your nails. i know now the right way.”