Boots giving Blisters

[fsk8r]

Every now and then (generally when my feet get too sweaty), they slide around at the heel of my boot and I give myself blisters doing loop jumps. Only loop jumps (possibly flips as well) cause the problem. I've got a leather heel grab sticker inside the boot already to try and prevent the problem, but I think that's worn too thin again and was wondering if anyone has any ingenius solutions to avoid this kind of thing. I've got silipos gel tubes which I wear to protect my ankles in my dance boots, but I've never worn them in my free boots where I get this problem, and the blisters are on the side of my heel below the ankle, and the gel tubes don't go that low.
Any ideas on what I might use to stop the rubbing.
Having said all this, now I've got the blister covered up there probably won't be a problem for several more months until it next happens.

[AgnesNitt]

there's nothing to keep you from wearing the silipos gel tubes around your heels. I do it all the time. You'll need to get a long silipos tube and cut it to a length that will slip over your heel up to your ankle. Surprisingly, they don't feel bad under your foot.

[Kat12]

Could you maybe go straight to the source of the problem and try something to keep your feet from getting sweaty? Either powder them (though this could cause a mess in your boots if you skate barefoot or only in tights) or antiperspirant on your feet?

Mwahaha I just had a mental image of you using that stuff you put on the back of rugs to keep them from slipping, but that's probably not a good idea. :)

[fsk8r]

Could you maybe go straight to the source of the problem and try something to keep your feet from getting sweaty? Either powder them (though this could cause a mess in your boots if you skate barefoot or only in tights) or antiperspirant on your feet?

Mwahaha I just had a mental image of you using that stuff you put on the back of rugs to keep them from slipping, but that's probably not a good idea. :)

It was sweaty feet this time which caused the problem, but they do slip around on other occasions when not so sweaty (the sweatiness was due to not skating for two weeks and my feet being used to seeing the sun and wearing sandals and having a shock to be put into clod hoppers! I spent the first 30min of the session wondering why I shove my feet in these things which come up around my ankles and feel uncomfortable and then by the end of it the boots fitted fine and I've got a blister!).
The problem is just heel slippage doing loop jumps (I think the sweatiness just exacerbated it this time).
I'm going to try the silipos tubes I've got (hopefully in just chopping a long one in half to do both my feet for my other boots will give enough to go around my ankle). As I probably can't cope with having one pair of gel tubes and two pairs of boots, are there any other types of solutions to lock a heel in place?

[LilJen]

Do you wear anything (thin socks, tights) on your feet? This might help absorb any sweat. Also--it sounds like your boots simply may not fit. If you can, you might want to look into new boots that hug your heels better!

[Query]

For the most part, the physics of skate fit are simple.

If your feets slip in the heel, it is because there is not enough on the parts of your feet that would stop it from slipping.

Anyone can change fit, if they spend the time and think things through, especially for something like this, where something is a little too big. Too small takes longer to fix.

It can be fixed by modifying the insole, by adding tape, which sticks under the bottom of the insole, or by adding moleskin, which sticks well to the sides of the boot, in the right places.

Someone should make a skin safe foam you could spray into a boot, put your fit in, and let it harden in a perfect mold of your foot! Wouldn't deal with the foot health problems where you need unequal pressures on different parts of the foot, like collapsing arches, but would deal with stuff like this.

Maybe my page will help: http://mgrunes.com/boots/boots.html

[w.w.west]

I used to have this problem. I have a very narrow heel. Had to get a AAAA heel and AA ball custom boot. Sometimes still get slippage and the heel sleeves work well. It does sound like your heel has too much room in your skate.

It makes sense that it only happens on the loop, since it is really only jump you put a lot pressure on ball off foot on takeoff of same leg you land with. If heel has too much room to move, it will cause blisters. You say it happens sometimes on your flip. Be careful of this, because this means that it is not a true flip if you are taking off of loop position. You should be using toe to assist in take off. If toe drops to blade on takeoff, it is not a true flip. Very common especially when learning flip.

Good luck to you...hope it works out!

[slusher]

Look at the Bungapads site at the achilles (http://www.bungapad.com/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=30032) one, it sort of wraps around the heel and might cover the area?

[Skate@Delaware]

You can apply antiperspirant to your feet (and keep that one for only your feet); apply some moleskin to your boot insides, and failing that get the very small cheap foam insoles and put them under your regular insoles-see if that helps. Lastly, pad up the tongue and see if that helps to keep your foot back. Over time, the tongue padding packs down-this might have happened. In my old boots I also put a "heel-hugger" pad in and that helped (they were breaking down and there was no padding left in the tongue and my heels slipped all the time).

You have "skinny" heels and have to get skinny boots next time!

[katz in boots]

Look at the Bungapads site at the achilles (http://www.bungapad.com/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=30032) one, it sort of wraps around the heel and might cover the area?

I use these for a similar problem. I notice heel slippage in my right boot, mostly on forward camel spins, loops and flips.

I have tried all sorts of modification to the boot, including a thin, soft leather lining. Nothing fixes it. The archilles heel wrap (worn upside down) is the most satisfactory so far. As the boot gets older & breaks down more, I guess I will need to revisit or explore other solutions.

Someone should make a skin safe foam you could spray into a boot, put your fit in, and let it harden in a perfect mold of your foot! Wouldn't deal with the foot health problems where you need unequal pressures on different parts of the foot, like collapsing arches, but would deal with stuff like this

Yes, there most definitely ought to be a way of customising the inside of a boot to fit perfectly!

[fsk8r]

I use these for a similar problem. I notice heel slippage in my right boot, mostly on forward camel spins, loops and flips.

I have tried all sorts of modification to the boot, including a thin, soft leather lining. Nothing fixes it. The archilles heel wrap (worn upside down) is the most satisfactory so far. As the boot gets older & breaks down more, I guess I will need to revisit or explore other solutions.



Yes, there most definitely ought to be a way of customising the inside of a boot to fit perfectly!

Thanks everyone for the ideas. I've just added another two leather heel grips to the inside (couldn't get the original one out but have now got three layers so it might be a bit tighter). But I'm going to look into getting the achilles heel wrap type thing. I was wondering if they'd help and hearing Katz experiences gives me the confidence to look into buying one.
If only they'd end the postal strike in the UK so I could mail one in before next century!

I guess longer term I'll have to look into getting split width boots as I have narrow heels and have problems with most shoes not fitting properly. Only issue I have with that is the risk of ordering them and them not fitting as I doubt I could return them then.

[sk8tmum]

Riedell makes split widths and they are considered "stock" not custom, unless you're getting into a very wide difference between foot and heel. DD swears by them, they solved exactly this problem.

[fsk8r]

Riedell makes split widths and they are considered "stock" not custom, unless you're getting into a very wide difference between foot and heel. DD swears by them, they solved exactly this problem.

They might be thought of as stock, but given that I live in the UK the dealers here would probably consider them custom as they wouldn't want to end up with a random pair of boots and I probably couldn't just walk into a store in North America and pick up a pair to try on and fly home with, so from that point of view they're custom in my book.

It's good to know Riedell do them. I know Jacksons do (I'm in them already) but given that I'm having these issues, it might be worth investigating other boots next time around.

[Query]

For a case like this, where there is some extra space inside your boot that allows the foot to slip, if you add something incompressible there to take up the space, it will. There really isn't a possibility of it not working.

All you need to do is feel where there is less pressure on the foot, or analyze where the foot slips to, and add in something like athletic tape or Moleskin there that will stick and take up the space. (Wraps and Bunga pads, etc., are just equivalent ways of filling the same space.)

As I said, this is very basic physics. Unless you have a weird lining nothing will stick to, it simply cannot fail to work. Even if you do, you can create wings or other extension out of athletic tape that extend out from under the insole. I suspect athletic tape and Moleskin (or equivalent) are available in virtually any large drugstore or department store anywhere in the world, so you don't need to wait for the post.

It makes sense to order new boots if the old ones have broken down or rotted beyond repair, or if you want something completely different (a stiffer or higher boot, a lighter boot, etc.), or if your feet have grown to the point the old boots cannot be stretched to fit. Unless one of those things is true, there is simply no reason I can think of anyone should ever order new boots.

I've been tempted to set up a walk-in business to do this sort of thing (for a few pennies or dollars with of materials, and a few minutes, you can avoid spending about $500 - $1500 for new boots) - but it's so simple to do, I doubt people would pay for it enough to make back the costs of doing business. Or if they did, they would be so horrified by how simple the work was, they would consider themselves cheated.

[Query]

For a case like this, where there is some extra space inside your boot that allows the foot to slip, if you add something incompressible there to take up the space, it will. There really isn't a possibility of it not working.

All you need to do is feel where there is less pressure on the foot, or analyze where the foot slips to, and add in something like athletic tape or Moleskin there that will stick. (Wraps and Bunga pads, etc., are just equivalent ways of filling the same space.)

As I said, this is very basic physics. Unless you have a weird lining nothing will stick to, it simply cannot fail to work. Even if you do, you can create wings or other extension out of athletic tape that extend out from under the insole. I suspect athletic tape and Moleskin or equivalent are available in virtually any large drugstore or department store anywhere in the world, so don't bother waiting for some postal strike to end.

It makes sense to order new boots if the old ones have broken down or rotted beyond repair, you want something completely different (a stiffer or higher boot, a lighter boot, etc.), or if your feet have grown to the point the old boots cannot be stretched to fit (in which case, you can probably solve it by methods like removing insoles). Unless one of those things is true, there is simply no reason I can think of anyone should ever order new boots.

Then again, I haven't the urge certain folks have to constantly shop for new shoes. So if you want new ones (remember Imelda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imelda_Marcos). the girl who loved shoes?), go right ahead.

I've been tempted to set up a walk-in business to solve simple fit problems. For a few pennies or dollars with of materials, and a few minutes, you can avoid spending about $650 - $1500 for new custom boots. But fit problems are mostly so simple to solve, people probably wouldn't pay enough to pay for the costs of doing business. If they did, they would be so horrified by how simple the work was, they would consider themselves cheated. An existing skate shop wouldn't hire someone to solve simple fit problems, because it would eliminate most new boot orders. [Local skate shops aren't hiring anyone new - the poor economy is killing them.]