Pain while foot jammin'

So I've been crack climbing for the past ten years with no real issues other than being a wimpy fat ass. About two years ago my foot jambs started to cause me pain. Specifically on crack in the 1.5 to 3 inch range. The pain is on the third knuckles of my middle three toes.

Any of you wise internet gurus have advice on this? Techniques to remedy this? Are my toes going to fall off the next time I do a splitter in the creek?

Stiffer shoes might help. What are you using?

TC Pros. Before that Murias.

Haha...doesn't get much stiffer than that. How aggressively are they sized?

Not aggressive at all. My foot is completely flat. Normally I climb in a 41.5 and these are a 42.5.

On the bigger end cramming my heel against the crack seems to eleviate some of the knuckle pain and makes for a nice break every few moves

I'm thinking about taking a trick from offwidth climbing and adding plastic plates inside my shoes to really stiffen them up.

i've noticed i get less pain in a foot jam (on those joints specifically) if my heels are slightly down, not saying it's tried and true but something i notice, local gym has a hand crack that i've done many laps on so i've tested it a bit using science. real science.

Wearing socks will help.

Never thought of that!

It's also possible that there is a pressure point on those shoes. I can't remember from my TC Pros but it's worth checking out.

I find that a softer shoe hurts much less for IC style splitters because there aren't as many harsh pressure points. I do get some pretty nasty pain in the .75 camalot size crack, but that's totally expected. You're totally correct about the flat toes, don't change that.

Final idea. Have you taken time off of pure cracks? I did and when I came back (stronger) my feet hurt much more. The nerves on the backs of my toes woke up.

Chad Miller wrote:Never thought of that!

Steph Davis recommends oversized Moccs, so that's definitely something in favor of the softer shoes. I do find mine more comfortable for hand/fist sizes than my stiffer shoes (Katana Laces), but the later are amazing for finger size because of the stiff and pointed toebox.

I've been trying to keep my heels down and it's helped. I've also taped a strip of mole-foam over my toe knuckles with some success. I'll just have to see if this gets better.

So I found a solution. Well at least a work around while I harden the f up. I took a Sam Splint , the blue and orange foam one , and cut an inch off each end. I placed the strips over my sore toes and taped them in place. Walla! No more foot pain when jambing!

Of course this is just a temporary fix while I get stronger crack feet.