[pct-l] Desperately need help for "Delicate Princess Foot Syndrome"

[hdfullofrox at yahoo.com (Maggie)]

Wow, lots of info to type out, but I'm more than happy
to offer any info if it might result in some answers.
I'm actually well aware of what my feet are doing, I
just don't know how to fix it. So here goes:

For the record, when I first started walking I was
diagnosed with "rotating hips" -- whatever that means,
I've never been entirely sure, but my feet piont in
(pigeon toed) not out like a ballerinas. I don't walk
pigeon toed, my feet while walking are very parallel
to eachother, neither toe in nor toe out. When I'm
tired I start to toe in.

I overpronate badly. When I was little I used to have
custom arch supports made for my shoes-- they called
them "cookies" and Mom never let me have sandals
because of the lack of arch support. The "cookies"
were supposed to help me learn to correct the
overpronation, but instead it had the opposite effect
sicne I always had something to lean against instead
of being forced to balance my feet on my own. 


I AM a tad knock-kneed. And I've been told that I walk
heavy (my ex-boyfriend's donwstairs neighbors hated it
when I came to visit) even though I don't feel like I
put my feet down hard. I think I don't quite roll my
feet heel to toe right-- I used to get scolded for
that when I was in marching band.

There has never been a pair of shoes in my lifetime
that would not result in blisters given the right
circumstances/amount of time. The best shoes in the
world are Ugg boots, but not for hiking (have tried
that too,) got blisters on the bottoms of my feet.
Which is why I haven't tried moccassins.

I sit on my butt for a living. Day hiking near home is
all on flat ground, can easily make 3-6 miles along
the river trail without incident, but also not wearing
a pack.

The funny thing is, my shoes don't really show wear. I
don't wear the same shoes often enough and when they
do start to wear, I replace them.  If/when I see a
podiatrist or other person to help with orthotics of
some kind I will most definately bring in the shoes I
wear most, but doubt they will be of great help.

I have loose ligaments. Very bendy feet and ankles.
Very little support and weak joints. Makes it easy to
roll an ankle, but seldom get hurt from what would
normally sprain someone else's ankle. (A client of
mine is a nurse for an arthritis doctor-- she warns me
my bendy ankles will cost me when I'm older.)

Aside from the narrow foot/high arch issue, I truly
believe that the basic problem lies with my skin
itself. I am terribly thin-skinned and very tender
EVERYWHERE-- true Princess and the Pea stuff. In fact
I just noticed bruises last night from this trip that
I can't IMAGINE how they got THERE! My skin cuts and
tears easily. My feet sweat, but not excessively, but
I think enough that my tender skin gets wet and
blisters and tears like tissue paper.

For the "scientist" in you that wants to analyze each
pair of shoes I've tried:

The first pair of boots I wore on an overnight bp trip
were cheapass boys "work" boots from Payless Shoe
Source. I'd had them for 2 years and had done a
significant amount of dayhiking/camping in them. Hiked
12 miles on the Skyline to the Sea trail in Big Basin
state park near Santa Cruz. Feet did mostly fine, on
the downhill however my toes kept slamming against the
front of the shoe and I ended up with two black
toenails that I lost 2 months later. They have grown
back fine and I began a long and painful education
about proper boot fit. (but I didn't get blisters!)

I immediately went out and had my feet measured
properly. That outfitter suggested a boot by Soloman.
They had the specific boot in a half size smaller than
I really needed. I tried it on and it was WONDERFUL!
Unfortunately, it was the end of the season and
Soloman was no longer making that model so they were
unable to find it in the size I needed. (It had a
rubber peice that cinched up around the arch/instep
and made the boot look like a saddle oxford-- SOOOOO
comfy! I wish I'd just gone ahead and gotton the
smaller size! I've NEVER found a shoe that fit
anywhere near that comfy even in the store!)

My next boots were La Sportivas, and these have been
the best boots thus far. I can do 3-5 miles a day in
these with a 35 lb pack on with little trouble. I get
hotspots on the backs of my heels, but a piece of
moleskin prevents that. Anything over 5 miles in one
day though and I get blisters right on the bone of my
heels.

On to the Vasques. I really didn't like the lady at
the Redwing shoe store either. She measured my feet
and said they were a 7.5. They had to order the boots,
when they came in my toes hit the end of the boot just
standing up in them, so I got a bigger size. The lady
who originally measured my feet was the one who rung
up the sale and she saw that I had gotton a bigger
size and she YELLED at me because she had measured my
feet and I didn't buy the "right" size! The Vasques
have NEVER given me blisters-- BUT I can't even walk
one mile in them without feeling like my feet are
being pulverized. It feels like there is absolutely NO
padding in these boots AT ALL. My foot is VERY snug
inside these boots and there just isn't room to add an
insole. Hmmmmm--- maybe if I just go get a BIGGER
size? (duh-- you'd think I'd try that)

My friend/hiking partner has "hobbit feet" as she
says. She bought her Hi Techs off the shelf at Big 5 7
years ago and has been hiking happy in them ever
since. She claims to have had "maybe one" blister in
her ENTIRE LIFE. I hate her. So I tried the cheap boot
route too-- went to Big 5, got some $20 boots (very
cute ones too.) They felt great! Walked around in them
for weeks. No problems. Wow. THEN, I tried a bp trip
to Yosemite. I actually got blisters walking from the
parking lot to the wilderness permit station in Little
Yosemite Valley!! By the time we hit the trailhead at
Tuolumne Meadows I was limping. Kept going anyway.
Those were the worst blisters I've ever had. We made
it 5 miles in and came back the next day, I had to
hike out in my slippers! I had popped the first
blisters, gotton new ones in the same place, popped
those and was now working on the third blister in the
same spot on both heels. My feet were bleeding and I
couldn't walk for several days. Ouch. Those boots got
thrown away.

Then I got into lightweight hiking. Traded up on gear.
Got a pair of trail runners. The Asics just plain
didn't let my feet bend naturally and in addition to
blisters on my heels my feet just plain HURT. 

The best trail runners are my Saucony Grid Auras. Very
little blister problems BUT the poor shoes start
shredding apart at about 50 miles! 

North Face trail runners and Merrils of any sort are
WAY too wide for my feet.

Tevas and Merril sport sandals are too wide to secure
my toes/forefoot-- not good when trying to ford a
stream in them. Columbia trailmeister sandals fit
well, but cause a bit of grief over my instep. So my
latest foot wear has been my Columbia Surf Side
sandals-- which I live in during the summers anyway.
THESE are what I was wearing on this last hike, and
what gave me the blisters between my toes. (first time
EVER that that has happened and I've been living in
the surf sides for the last 3 summers now, but not
hiking in them until this summer.)


Truth of the matter is that I probably just plain
wasn't made for hiking. But there's GOTTA be a way
around that!

(For anyone who gets this in digest form-- I'm so
sorry this is getting so long!)

~Maggie

--- Steve Peterson <steve_peterson@sbcglobal.net>
wrote:
> 
> That tells me your heels are moving around *a lot*
> in your shoes. That shouldn't 
> be happening, it seems to me. Do you know what
> pronation and supination are? Are 
> you doing either one of them excessively? Feet are
> supposed to pronate a little 
> as the foot accomodates itself to the ground and
> takes up the load, but too much 
> pronation is a bad thing. If you're supinating or
> pronating to excess, that 
> would cause a great deal of friction on your heels.
> Another question: are you at 
> all knock-kneed (or, less likely given that you are
> female, bow-legged)? Either 
> one can cause the foot to land "improperly" (from
> the foot's point of view) and 
> thereby rub itself to death on the shoe (as well as
> not be supported properly).
> Have someone walk behind you (video you if possible)
> as you walk on level 
> ground; compare how your feet/legs look as they hit
> the ground and push off vs. 
> how most other people's look. If you're doing
> something truly weird (like 
> climbing up the inside of your shoe), it will jump
> out at you and you'll have 
> the major culprit in this mystery.
> 
> Also, does this happen with street shoes or only
> hiking shoes? If only hiking 
> shoes, only with a pack or all the time? (Maybe your
> legs don't respond well to 
> carrying more than your body weight).
> 
> Blisters are *information*. It takes a while, but
> you can eventually "read" 
> blisters (not perfectly, but enough to get hints of
> what's going on). And from 
> what you say, you have a library chock-full of
> reading material :-)  Each one of 
> those puppies can tell you something. Also, look at
> the wear patterns on your 
> shoes (street shoes as well as hiking shoes). Do you
> wear down one part more 
> than other parts (e.g., outside of the heel or
> inside of the heel)? One shoe 
> more than the other (left vs. right, I mean)?
> 
> This will take some effort (given what I suspect is
> a huge amount of data you 
> must have by now) but the "scientist" in me wants to
> take each pair of the shoes 
> you've tried and list what each one did to your
> feet, then look at the shoes and 
> try to figure out *why* that shoe resulted in the
> effect you noticed. If you 
> were to do that, I bet some patterns would emerge
> and that might help you figure 
> out what directions to go. Besides, if you see a
> podiatrist, s/he'll likely need 
> that info--when I first saw mine, I took in a *bag*
> full of shoes. He looked at 
> every pair, told me what he thought was the problem,
> *then* looked at my feet 
> and said "yup, just what I figured from the wear
> pattern on your shoes". 
> Needless to say I was flabbergasted--I'd never
> imagined so much info could come 
> from looking at worn out shoes!
> --Steve
> 
> 


Maggie and Parker the Goatdog;
Hikin, Bikin, Wheelin, we'd rather be offroad.
(Next year we're adding "Paddlin!")

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