[Briverny]

I have a problem when out touring where, after 1-2 hours of steady effort, I begin to feel pain in the next-to-little toe on my left foot. I believe the pain is related to some sort of nerve pinching, and at times it can be very severe. Usually a little rest relieves it somewhat, but sometimes it won’t go away until my ski boots are off and I’ve rested my feet for a while. It never happens while skiing lift served, only when out touring. It also sometimes happens hiking if I’m out for en extended period, but it’s definitely worse in ski boots. Has anyone else ever had this, and if so were you able to find a fix for it?

[cesare]

Get new boots?

I had this once back in the 80s when I skied in floppy leathers on AT skis. I used to lace them so tight that I bruised a nerve in my instep area. I went to the doctor and told him what I was doing that hurt and he said, "Stop doing that." The pain went away after a couple of weeks and then some creative bootfitting (stitched a little closed cell foam into the boot under the laces) did the trick.
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that sounds like a sure-fire way to get bitch-slapped by devil's club -- dschane

[JohnF]

Could be Morton's Neuroma.

You could create a Metatarsal arch support under the toe joint using some molefoam and duct tape on your insoles. This arch helps separate the joints and cuts down on the inflammation of the nerve sheath. Works for me.

[Briverny]

I have experienced it on my old leather merrels, Asolo Extreme Pro's and now my Garmont Ener-g's. I suspect that the problem could maybe be cured if I could find a boot wide enough to put no lateral pressure on my foot, but that would be unacceptable from a ski performance standpoint, so I'm looking for other options.

[Briverny]

John,
Does this toe arch just go under the painful toe or is it also under the adjacent toes? Thanks for the idea, I will definitely try it.

[JohnF]

[rl]