Janine Winter from Profeet answers your ski boot questions. by Fall-Line Skiing
Question: Often when skiing I get a cramping and burning under the arches of my foot. Is it the boots?
Answer: Multiple factors could contribute
to a cramping and burning sensation under the arch and yes, one of
those could be that you are in the wrong boot. Initially it is important
to check the size to ensure the boot is not too big or too small.
Typically, when the boot is too big you end up clawing
your feet to try and secure yourself in the boot and gain control of the
ski, which will often cause cramping. Likewise, if the boot is too
small, it will cause crushing and a lack of circulation to the foot.
Once size and shape of the boot have been eliminated, we
would need to check the foot is stabilised in the boot. All ski boots
come with a flat piece of foam in the bottom, which doesn’t offer
support in the arch.
It is possible to replace that insole with either an
off-the-shelf trim-to-fit insole or, even better, a custom insole. This
is built by taking a mould of the bottom of your foot in a neutral
position. The insole supports the arch and distributes pressure evenly
across the whole foot. A footbed alone will solve the majority of
pressure points under the foot.
Quite often we find people suffer from tightness of the
plantar fascia (which is the connective tissue under the foot) and
flexor hallucis longus tendon (which runs through the arch). If these
soft tissues are too tight, they will almost certainly cramp in a ski
boot. You can help relieve some of that tension using a pediroller or
spiky ball to massage out the arch.
There are also some good stretches you can do to lengthen
those muscles which will certainly make skiing a more enjoyable
experience for you. We may also need to raise the heel in the boot and
adapt the footbed further for more severe cases.
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