Super painful feet after prolonged moderate front-pointing

A recent climb involved a ~3000 foot high ridge consisting mostly of moderate (40 - 55 degree) front pointing. I was climbing this in Nepal Cubes that had had two previous outings, ever of which involved as much front pointing. On the way up the climb I had the usual constant calf pump, but didn't notice serious pain in my feet. On the way down (after ~12 hours on the move though ~4 hours of that was on the approach) my feet started to become painful. I assumed that it was because I had my boots tied up pretty tight, so I loosened them. Lower down on the descent we had to front point down a ~800 foot slope, and my feet started to BURN! The worst pain was on the ball of my feet, but it would gradually spread until my whole foot was a ball of searing pain. I'd cut a ledge to rest and it would subside a bit, but not fully. The downclimb was agony. Once we were on flatter ground and I could flat-foot the pain lessened greatly, though my feet still hurt the rest of the way out. 

So, my question is, has anyone else experienced something similar? I had not experienced this before. My previous boots were Garmont full shank boots (similar to Nepals) that I used with two footbeds in each boot, one of which was quite thick. In the Cubes I used only the stock, thin insoles. So I'm not sure if it's because of the lessened padding under my foot, or is it just inevitable from such prolonged front pointing? Or do the Cubes just somehow not fit or gel with my foot? 

I'd appreciate any advice, I really don't want this to happen again!

Is it a skin level thing or is the pain located deeper, ie tendons, bones and muscles?

That's a good question, I'm not too sure. I think it felt like a bit of both, would start feeling like it's on the surface of the ball of my foot but grow to the whole of my foot being in pain.

I seem to get a hotspot on the outer ball of my foot on a number of boots, most pronounced being my sportiva boots. The same sort of thing crossed my mind so I tried some superfeet insoles and it seemed to help quite a bit. It's about all you can change about the fit of the boots aside from socks and frostbite.

I've had blister-like pain on the balls of my feet after hiking across frozen lakes in Footfangs and plastic boots.  Lots of rigidity and too little rocker.  In the last few years I've found that my foot bones don't like the modern ice boots (e.g. Scarpa Mont Blanc)--after a day of climbing my foot bones are really sore, as if someone tied them in a knot.  That doesn't happen in my plastic climbing boots, which give considerably more support, so plastic it is (I've led lots of WI 5/5+ in them with no problem).  I'm 62, so I figure my body is just breaking down.  

If you don't already, on moderate slopes like you mention, try your best to use the French/flat foot technique.  It is much easier on your feet--ankles might be another story.  Pied troisieme, with one foot flat, one on front points, prevents a lot of grief.

Tom Owainwrote:

That's a good question, I'm not too sure. I think it felt like a bit of both, would start feeling like it's on the surface of the ball of my foot but grow to the whole of my foot being in pain.

Are you getting any blisters or red spots? 

If yes, I would say that the fit is slightly off, your feet might be getting squashed or have too much room somewhere, especially the ball of the foot, the heel and the side of the toes. But this might be a bit of a no-brainer. 

If no, then I would say that it runs a little bit deeper and your boots and feet are having a hard time playing together, probably mostly due to them being so damn rigid. Your feet want to do something they are not allowed by the boots, which causes strain on your tendons and bones. Maybe heel spur or a similar inflammation somewhere. 

I have had similar sounding pain - severe pain in the balls of my feet and sometimes the toes, in a variety of boots/shoes.  It turned out to be due to insufficient support for my feet - my arches are quite high and the stock innersoles were no longer cutting it. (Hit my mid 30s and started to fall apart)  For me it was the lack of support rather than the lack of cushioning in the stock innersoles.  I used Sidas innersoles for about 5 years and that mostly fixed it, and nearly 2 years ago I had custom innersoles made (prompted by an ankle issue) and I have had no issues since then.

Decent innersoles are relatively cheap and an easy place to start.  Good luck

I had a similar experience with Nepals when they were new-ish. They killed my feet. I bought other boots, put the Nepals up for sale. They didn’t sell. Then came other activities with significant approaches on rough terrain, so I kept using the Nepals to spare my new, nicer, less durable boots. Somewhere in all of this, the Nepal Cubes were broken in and now I love them. But I was convinced they were the wrong boot for me, despite feeling great in the store and a really knowledgeable guy helping me get set up in them. Not to say it will end the same for you. But that’s how it ended up for me. They are a very stiff boot and I think my feet had a learning curve of how to play with this boot but now it feels great. Pain was the same as you described: balls of feet while front pointing up similar types of slopes. It was just murder. Now it’s so much better and I didn’t really do anything. That probably doesn’t help, but just another story

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm heading out on another trip soon and will take thicker insoles, and will try more flat-footing when I can. Fingers crossed! I will look into getting insoles that support my arches better, but probably won't have time before this trip. 

Jack Yipwrote:

I seem to get a hotspot on the outer ball of my foot on a number of boots, most pronounced being my sportiva boots. The same sort of thing crossed my mind so I tried some superfeet insoles and it seemed to help quite a bit. It's about all you can change about the fit of the boots aside from socks and frostbite.

Same problem. I wear lowa mountain boots because la sportive boots give me a burning hot pain on the outside of my left foot.

Sounds about right. I think it's supposed to hurt. Otherwise, everyone would be doing it. 

It happened to me before. not good 

2 advices:
Really dialed up your lacing system right off the bat so its tight enough but doesn't compress you feet too much
Change the shitty insole they provide with the shoes, I put a Superfeet Synergizer green and it makes all the difference in the world for me (of course YMMV)

What might be happening if your boots are too tight is that you are squeezing the bones that run most of the length of your foot, and putting pressure on a nerve. Because I have worn tight athletic shoes of one type or another since I was a kid, this condition has become chronic to me. The only way to mitigate the pain for me is to lace my boots really loose approaches, and then keep them as loose as I dare when I am technical climbing. I believe my chronic condition is called Morton's neuroma, and the pain you describe sounds similar. 

One other thing I try to do is to stop during a big day and actually take the footware off that is causing the pain, and rub the ball of my foot, and spread my toes. The stretching of the toes helps to pull apart those bones that are squeezing the nerve. Of course, one doesn't always have the time to do this, but when I can (and my partner is patient enough) it really helps with the comfort of my feet during the day.

Brad Whitewrote:

 my chronic condition is called Morton's neuroma, and the pain you describe sounds similar. 

Brad is on to something here....Do you have "Morton's toe"? That's when your third (middle) toe is longer than the second toe. And for some reason people with this anatomical feature tend to develop Morton's neuroma, which presents as a painful tingling or burning sensation in the ball of the foot. Surgery--removing the inflamed and noduled nerve--will fix that but you'll be down for a month or two. 

If the pain was more localized in ball of your foot under your big toe I'd wonder if you have Hallux Rigidis, which is basically arthritis of the big toe. A lot of things will aggravate this condition, including too little arch support. If your troubles continue after you switch out your insoles, you might want to see a foot doctor. I get immediate relief from HR by taping by big toe with ortho tape.

I am not a podiatrist nor do I play one on TV, but I have personal experience with foot pain! Good luck!

I’ve had something similar to what you described once a few years back. I couldn’t identify what exactly the issue was, I think it was an issue of my thick socks getting wet. I thought my skin was going to blister the next day, but I woke up like nothing happened.

I also had this in Nepal’s, but that could easily be coincidence. Not long after, I moved away from the thick classic mountaineering socks to much thinner compression socks. I’ve had far less issues all around since changing socks.