Over the past few weeks I've had the gradual return of pain in my ankle area, specifically the vein. The two veins just to the front of my ankle (right foot) are in agony when I put any pressure on them when I skate, windup for a spin, or land a jump. In my old boots, I had this pain plus calcification in the ankle bones themselves as well, but thankfully I don't have that in the Teris.

Does anyone have any suggestion as to what I can use to reduce the pain? I am using tiger balm for the actual pain and swelling, but I'd obviously like to stop it happening in the first place.

Should I put a pad over it? or a pad with a cutout? or some kind of pressure bandage? The skates can't be punched out because the pain-affected area is under where the hooks are, not a padded area.

Replying to myself

I've just ordered the bunga skater's kit which will probably take a little over a month to arrive but I will still need something else in the meantime.

I'd recommend using gel pads right over the ankles. They can be held in place with gel ankle sleeves, which--hopefully--you are already wearing.

Definitely use bungas, also look at how you're lacing up. It could, unfortunately, be the boots.

I had the same problem with Risport Super Diamonts, they weren't that 'hard' but they completely wrecked my feet. I ended up off for a month when I broke a blood vessel in my foot (because of the damn awful boots) so be careful please

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The best whisper is a click

I'd recommend bunga pads. I couldn't skate without them - they are wonderful. I have screws that stick out just under the skin on my ankle from where I had it fixed after breaking it. I find them very sensitive but covering them with a bunga means I can skate pain-free.

Nicki

Thanks everyone. Fingers crossed the Bunga kit arrives soon.

The boots are still newish which is affecting it a bit. Some days I lace up and everything's fine all session, others, like today, I have to lace up 10 times to get it right.

doubletoe - don't have any ankle sleeves, never have. My bad.

Tashakat - I'm scared of doing something really bad to my ankles!!

Overall, the teris are so so so much better than my old boots (which caused me excruciating ankle bone pain for several years), it's just this one little spot with the veins which is agonising at the moment.

Tsk tsk! No ankle sleeves? I have never skated without them ever since I first got my *previous* pair of new boots 3 years ago. I tried going without them *once* towards the end of the life of those boots and realized I'd become too spoiled to ever skate without them again, even in old boots! BTW, Silo brand are just as good and are considerably cheaper than Bunga.

Yes, given the injuries I've had to my feet over the years, I should have had intervention earlier. But there is almost no supportive equipment of this kind available in Australia, few coaches know much about injury prevention, and the one time I did have to see an orthpaedic surgeon, he didn't even suggest padding. Gah. It seems so obvious to me now. Years ago, at the worst of it, I just wore extra socks. I didn't know any better.

Neither brand of pads or sleeve is available locally, so I just went with Bunga because I'd heard of it! If it helps, I don't mind the price.

My husband thinks I should set up a regular physio or sports med consultation to monitor my knees, back and feet. Could be a good idea I think, especially since I'm not taking lessons at the moment and am still a bit unfit. Plus I previously had surgery on my left knee to remove a benign tumour (before I started skating) but I lost a lot of cartilage with that and it gives me troubles now and then.

Rack this one up to - injury prevention - duh

Sound to me like it's more than just the problem of not wearing an ankle sleeve...I mean all those things do is reduce friction. I know nothing of your situation, but you might consider going for an X-Ray or MRI and making sure you don't have a slightly torn ligament or something of the sort. You could also have tendonitis, or another overuse injury. It doesn't sound like "harmless" pain to me. You really ought to have it looked at.

When I picked up my last pair of Klingbeil's, they included a lamb's wood pad (cut in the shape of a heart, just to add to the overall wonderful customer service!) to use under the tongue while breaking in the skates. Try that yourself - isn't lamb's wool readily available in Australia? You can cut it to fit over the area and it doesn't wrinkle like a Dr. Scholl's padding. (Fuzzy side against your foot worked for me!)

Maybe the the tongue is too narrow for your foot and is pressing on that vein. New skates mean new laces that stretch, which allows the tongue to slip. I always have a problem with the skate tongue slipping to the side and pressing right into the groove along my ankle on top of my foot. It sounds like the same thing you have. Left my feet tingling and hurt terribly when I flexed my foot in the skate. Klingbeil put an extra hook on the tongue that catches the leather, keeping it from slipping. Other skate places recommend a hook in the middle of the tongue that you cross the laces over to hold it in place.

Re: the new laces. If you hang the skates up overnight by the laces they'll stretch out faster, rather than a little every time you skate.

I've never used ankle sleeves or bunga pads, but I know many people swear by them. Good luck! I hope this helps a bit until the bunga pads arrive!

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Does this work on cotton/synthetic blend or only all cotton (which I cannot find)? My laces are constantly loosening every time I skate and I have to stop and re-tie 3-4 times each session

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

I could cut up some lambswool insoles! I used to use normal insoles as tongue liners on my old boots when the foam started to fall apart.

I also bought some sports tape and small round makeup applicator foam pads to try as well.

The teris have a hook, but the tongue is still twisting slightly.

Great idea to hang the skates up. I never thought of doing something like that. I'll try it tonight!!

I will definitely have it checked out if it persists beyond getting the bungas in and a little more boot breakin. At the moment it's recovering ok, the bone does feel bruised and the whole area is a little sensitive, but I'm not getting persistent swelling or fluid retention. So if this isn't resolved by, say, January, I'll get it checked.

Just to update, the interim makeup foam and sports tape solution worked wonders. no pain at all. hooray.

of course, today had to be the day when I took the biggest splat I've had in about 10 years. Cut lip, bruised cheek, cut gums, scraped elbows and enormously bruised knees. If I thought I was in agony before.....

Blisspix - Sorry about your fall. Glad the skates are better!

It really is hard to find the all-cotton laces. I hate the nylon ones - I get blisters on my pinkies from tying all the skates (mine, the twins, and any assorted students with loose skates.)

I'd also like to find the old lace tips they used to sell. When the tips started to wear out on the laces, you cut them off and crimped on a new set. Now, I guess people just buy new laces. It was really convenient when you didn't have the time to relace both pairs of skates.

I picked up my last pair of all-cotton from Rainbo Sports in white. My skates are beige (never again!) and I had to dye the laces to match. I hadn't thought of hanging them up, so they kept stretching on me.

When you tie your laces, do you use a half-knot before the hooks? I always use one. That way, if your bow comes untied, you only have to redo the hooks. The eyelets stay tied pretty well.

I had the brainstorm about stretching the laces with my girls' new skates this Fall. I did it after skating when the helpers had to keep retying the twins' skates because they were loose. (Embarrassing for me: I'm an instructor.) Just tied them together in a bow knot and hung them up over the shower rod. The girls have the cotton/poly blend laces.

My husband remarked about how they make dangerous wind chimes.

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