[pct-l] Feet swelling

[Nathan Miller]

>I have that problem and it is because I was born with the padding that
should be under my metatarsal bone (the bone that is at the ball of your
feet) pushed up under my toes. So I have a lot of close "skin spaces"
behind my toes that creates friction most people don't have. A
podiatrist made custom orthotics for me that push the bone up and cause
all the padding to pull back a bit. It has decreased the problem quite a
bit but I still need to use a blister powder in the space behind my toes
and that makes it so I have no problems. That's my experience YMMV.

Interesting.  For as long as I can remember, standing on the balls of my feet has been rather uncomfortable, as though I'm missing some padding there.  I always figured this was normal and that I was being a wimp.
On my Section-O hike, I thought maybe my feet were twisting as I walked and that I was pivoting on the balls of my feet and that was what was causing the blisters.
Then on my hike last June, it did sort of seem like the padding on the balls of my feet--or, rather, the padding that's supposed to be there, but is located a bit fore--were being shoved up toward my toes and down into that trench behind them...sort of like my own version of the Cascadia Subduction Zone!  Adding a second pair of socks helped.  I also used some athletic tape (which I'd bought and packed specifically to address foot friction) wrapped around my foot (from side to side) in an effort to pull the pad back and keep it from moving around, which was what it kind of seemed to be wanting to do. I've been thinking about looking for a pair of insoles with extra padding on the ball of the foot...should I go visit some place like the Good Feet Store?
Oddly, I didn't have this sort of blister problem on my OR-G hike between the other two.  One thing I did differently was wearing different boots, something already discussed.  These (Solomons) are a bit heavier, stiffer and less roomy than my other boots (Keens) I wore on my "blister hikes."  I would like to note, though, that on one day on my OR-G hike, my feet felt like they did leading up to the blistering I endured on CA-O.
Two other things seem to have a strong influence on how much trouble I have with this phenomenon:  weight (seemed to be much less painful at the end of last June's hike after I'd eaten through most of my food); mileage (doesn't seem to be a problem if I hike less than 10 miles, but rears its ugly head over about 15-ish).  I picked up a few pairs of poly-prop liner socks and I'll use them on my upcoming Hat Creek Rim hike early next month.
Oh, one more thing that might be worthy of note:  I recall when I was in high school having bunionectomy surgery, my podiatrist said I have short Achilles tendons, which contributed to the formation of my bunions.  They also seem to interfere with proper squats in the gym and force me to walk on the balls of me feet more than I'd prefer while hiking uphill.

-Nate the Trail Zombie