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RyanW2050
Jan 11, 2010, 7:00 PM
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I went to a comp this weekend and wore my newish 5.10 team shoes for about 4 hours of pretty solid climbing. I took 3 or 4 five minute breaks with the shoes off and noticed some numbness in my left (big) toe.
I've owned these shoes for months and, although they are aggressive and tight, I never found them excruciating. I actually thought they were breaking in nicely. I have also never noticed any numbness in my feet lasting more than a minute.
Anyway, during the comp I shrugged it off and kept climbing. Now almost 48 hours later the bottom and outer side of my big toe is still "tingly." I wouldn't say it is numb because I can still feel stimulation, but it has the pins and needles sensation.
Am I fucked for life? Freak injury? Chance of recovery? If it is permanent, does it have any chance of getting worse on its own?
Thanks for any advice.
(This post was edited by RyanW2050 on Jan 11, 2010, 7:01 PM)
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caughtinside
Jan 11, 2010, 7:08 PM
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I have gotten the same thing from ringlocks. Came back in 48 hours.
Take off your shoes more often.
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seatbeltpants
Jan 11, 2010, 7:10 PM
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i can't contribute much execpt to say that i had a similar thing happen with an overly tight pair of shoes last year. both feet were numb / tingly for four or five days after i wore the shoes for about 5 hours with a few breaks.
the sensation did return, but i never wore the shoes again. when i told my physio about it he looked pretty shocked and said that i should never have worn shoes that tight in the first place.
steve
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ckirkwood9
Jan 11, 2010, 7:13 PM
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I'm no doctor, BUT have had nerve issues in the past.
I cut laterally into the tip of my ring finger with hedge trimmers (due to stupid/unsafe handling of the freshly sharpened gas-trimmers). Long story short - i sliced the tip of my finger into a V to the tip of my bone. OUCH.
stitches followed.
after it healed, one side of my finger tip was numb for a year or 2. It eventually came back. slowly
the feeling MAY come back for you. BUT If it doesn't ... you'll likely find that you don't notice it much as time goes on. I just kinda got used to it. Unless, of course, you actually touch it with your finger.
SO hang in there...
And if your concerned... go see a doc to ease your mind and make sure you don't have any pinched nerves ELSEWHERE in your body (like your back) that's showing up symptomatically in your foot.
Good luck!
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edge
Jan 11, 2010, 7:27 PM
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The above post is a good story, but you really can't compare wearing tight shoes to splitting an appendage to the bone, nerve damage-wise.
I am sure the tingling sensation from wearing too tight shoes is most temporary. If it persists longer than a week, you probably have bigger issues than sizing.
If not, I would not worry about it and treat your feet better either with appropriate fitting shoes or more breaks out of them. Contrary to general opinion, wearing tighter and tighter shoes will not always make you climb harder, and can even have the opposite effect.
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shimanilami
Jan 11, 2010, 7:54 PM
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What was different this time that might have caused this? Was 4 hours longer than normal? Do you usually take longer or more frequent breaks? Did you strap them down extra tight for the comp?
I'm just wondering why you ran into problems this time, but not before. It seems obvious that your shoes are too tight, but I'm wondering if there isn't an added factor at play.
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shockabuku
Jan 11, 2010, 7:58 PM
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I've had a similar problem before, though it wasn't with climbing shoes. Went away after a few days.
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RyanW2050
Jan 11, 2010, 8:07 PM
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shimanilami wrote: What was different this time that might have caused this? Was 4 hours longer than normal? Do you usually take longer or more frequent breaks? Did you strap them down extra tight for the comp? I'm just wondering why you ran into problems this time, but not before. It seems obvious that your shoes are too tight, but I'm wondering if there isn't an added factor at play.
I've also been thinking about this.
1. It was cold. I'm in florida and it's usually warm. (probably not a factor)
2. These shoes are my "project" shoes. I usually wear these for maybe an hour or so if I want the added mental boost on something hard. And I do usually take much longer breaks (~15 minutes) and more frequently.
However. My left foot is smaller and fits in the shoe better than my right. It's curious that my right foot feels tighter in the shoe but suffered no consequence.
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lena_chita
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Jan 11, 2010, 8:10 PM
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I expect that it will go away, but it might take longer than a couple of days. I wouldn't worry too much, it doesn't sound too uncomfortable. A take-home lesson is to take your shoes off more often.
Something similar has happened to me, though not to a toe, but a finger.
For whatever reason, I became obsessed with this crack at the gym at one point... It was super-tight fists at the bottom for me, most people have to use cupped hands, but I could squeeze in a fist, but it was really, really tight... After climbing it every time I went to the gym for a couple weeks in a row, I noticed some numbness/tingling in my pinky finger, due to, I beleive, the pressure/inflamation along the side of the palm.
I stopped climbing that crack. The feeling came back after couple of weeks. There hasn't been an issue since. I can climb that crack once in a while, without any problem. I just don't do it very often now.
I believe that the root of the issue is the same for you as it was for me. Prolonged/repeated pressure couased some tissue injury and resulted in some inflamation/swelling. A nerve is being squeezed as a result, and you get your numbness/tingling. Once the swelling goes down, so would the tingling.
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k.l.k
Jan 11, 2010, 8:16 PM
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RyanW2050 wrote: I went to a comp this weekend and wore my newish 5.10 team shoes for about 4 hours of pretty solid climbing. I took 3 or 4 five minute breaks with the shoes off and noticed some numbness in my left (big) toe. . . . Now almost 48 hours later the bottom and outer side of my big toe is still "tingly." I wouldn't say it is numb because I can still feel stimulation, but it has the pins and needles sensation. Am I fucked for life? Freak injury? Chance of recovery? If it is permanent, does it have any chance of getting worse on its own?
Very common in mountaineering. I had nerve damage to my toes from bivvying on a bad ledge where I had to keep my alpine boots on. The hike out the next day was excruciating.
I had numbness and tingling along the edges of both big toes for a little over a year after. But it went away completely. I don't know if the damage repaired, or if other nerve endings in the area took up the slack.
Unless you're competing in a comp featuring dime edges on slabs, your shoes obviously need to be sized differently. Or maybe you need a different shoe that comes closer to your foot shape.
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onceahardman
Jan 11, 2010, 10:50 PM
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RyanW2050 wrote: I went to a comp this weekend and wore my newish 5.10 team shoes for about 4 hours of pretty solid climbing. I took 3 or 4 five minute breaks with the shoes off and noticed some numbness in my left (big) toe. I've owned these shoes for months and, although they are aggressive and tight, I never found them excruciating. I actually thought they were breaking in nicely. I have also never noticed any numbness in my feet lasting more than a minute. Anyway, during the comp I shrugged it off and kept climbing. Now almost 48 hours later the bottom and outer side of my big toe is still "tingly." I wouldn't say it is numb because I can still feel stimulation, but it has the pins and needles sensation. Am I fucked for life? Freak injury? Chance of recovery? If it is permanent, does it have any chance of getting worse on its own? Thanks for any advice.
This is called paresthesia, as opposed to anesthesia, which is a total loss of sensation. It is an indication (in this case) of probable damage to a cutaneous branch (that is, a branch innervating the skin) of a sensory nerve. It will probably improve with time. If you have any other risk factors for which neuropathy is common, like say, diabetes, you should discuss it with your doc.
I don't wear very tight shoes anymore, but I still have small paresthetic areas on the medial borders of both great toes. I would never notice it if I didn't occasionally test for it. I have had it for years, it does not get worse, and it causes me zero difficulty.
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curt
Jan 11, 2010, 11:39 PM
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k.l.k wrote: RyanW2050 wrote: I went to a comp this weekend and wore my newish 5.10 team shoes for about 4 hours of pretty solid climbing. I took 3 or 4 five minute breaks with the shoes off and noticed some numbness in my left (big) toe. . . . Now almost 48 hours later the bottom and outer side of my big toe is still "tingly." I wouldn't say it is numb because I can still feel stimulation, but it has the pins and needles sensation. Am I fucked for life? Freak injury? Chance of recovery? If it is permanent, does it have any chance of getting worse on its own? Very common in mountaineering. I had nerve damage to my toes from bivvying on a bad ledge where I had to keep my alpine boots on. The hike out the next day was excruciating. I had numbness and tingling along the edges of both big toes for a little over a year after. But it went away completely. I don't know if the damage repaired, or if other nerve endings in the area took up the slack. Unless you're competing in a comp featuring dime edges on slabs, your shoes obviously need to be sized differently. Or maybe you need a different shoe that comes closer to your foot shape.
Part of the problem is with the particular design of both these (the 5.10 Team) shoe and the 5.10 Project shoe. You can almost take one of these shoes and tie a knot in it. Both employ very thin "Mystique" rubber soles, with basically no structure to the shoe whatsoever. The only support these shoes get comes from the foot that goes inside of them--hence, they really do need to be tight.
I know some people really like these types of shoe, but their definitely not for me.
Curt
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k.l.k
Jan 12, 2010, 12:14 AM
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curt wrote: k.l.k wrote: RyanW2050 wrote: I went to a comp this weekend and wore my newish 5.10 team shoes for about 4 hours of pretty solid climbing. I took 3 or 4 five minute breaks with the shoes off and noticed some numbness in my left (big) toe. . . . Now almost 48 hours later the bottom and outer side of my big toe is still "tingly." I wouldn't say it is numb because I can still feel stimulation, but it has the pins and needles sensation. Am I fucked for life? Freak injury? Chance of recovery? If it is permanent, does it have any chance of getting worse on its own? Very common in mountaineering. I had nerve damage to my toes from bivvying on a bad ledge where I had to keep my alpine boots on. The hike out the next day was excruciating. I had numbness and tingling along the edges of both big toes for a little over a year after. But it went away completely. I don't know if the damage repaired, or if other nerve endings in the area took up the slack. Unless you're competing in a comp featuring dime edges on slabs, your shoes obviously need to be sized differently. Or maybe you need a different shoe that comes closer to your foot shape. Part of the problem is with the particular design of both these (the 5.10 Team) shoe and the 5.10 Project shoe. You can almost take one of these shoes and tie a knot in it. Both employ very thin "Mystique" rubber soles, with basically no structure to the shoe whatsoever. The only support these shoes get comes from the foot that goes inside of them--hence, they really do need to be tight.
I've handled the Projects-- they're not wide enough for me, but they have about as much stiffness as my old Boreal Reds. I honestly don't like really soft slippers too tight, because then they aren't as good for their intended use, toe-pulling on really steep stuff.
But maybe the setter at the OP's comp threw together a bunch of thin, power undercling moves with jib footholds. I just don't see many routes like that indoors.
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juliacoreyburns
Jan 12, 2010, 2:55 AM
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Similar to what a previous poster mentioned, this same thing happened to me after a mountaineering trip. was on the glacier and climbing three weeks with no problems, but about 2 days after returning from the climb i hard the same tingling/numb sensation you described, but in all toes and on both feet. it was torture (i couldnt sleep for days), and like you i was a little freaked out/confused as to what it might be.
the more i mentioned it to friends, many people described having the same thing happen- temporary nerve damage, and attributed it to either/ or combination of boots too tight or laced to tight across instep along with crampons strap pressure for prolonged time.
anyways i was never exactly sure, but it lasted for the next 3 months or so and then went away completely. that was last summer, and my feet are fine now.
hope you will see improvement soon!
julia
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