Hey guys. I've only been climbing for a little over a month. I've caught the climbing bug you could say. I bought a pair of Sparca Instict Slippers because they were the only ones that felt like they fit my feet well but my right foot is a size and a half larger than my left so after a few climbing sessions my right big toe started to hurt especially when I stand on my toes. It doesn't hurt when I walk.
It's just sore when I bend it down or stand on my
on the tip of my toes (or climb). I took the shoes back and got a size larger and gave my toe 4 days off from climbing but after an hour and a half of climbing again the pain came back and it seems worse than before. Any suggestions? I don't really want to take a break from climbing because I can see myself improving so fast (already can climb all V3's at my gym and some V4's). Do you think my toe will toughen up over time? Or should I wait until it fully heals before climbing again and then try it out? Has anyone experienced the same pain? I'm aware that I got really aggressive shoes.. And I love them... But maybe they are the problem? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

There are quite a few posts here from people regarding chronic toe problems. A quick review might be helpful, but I don't recall your exact problem being discussed.

Training through increasing pain, especially joint pain (as opposed to painfully pumped forearms), is a recipe for becoming a chronic pain patient. After resting, you could try to do some strengthening to your big toe flexors. If the pain comes back though, you need to stop. Your toe will not toughen up. It will break down if you continue inflaming it.

If you hit your thumb with a hammer, you would not say, " I need to hit my thumb with a hammer more, so that it toughens up". You need to let it heal.

Different size feet sucks. Either suck it up and buy two pairs, or try splitting the difference, or just get the bigger pair first.

If you climb at a gym, maybe you could rent shoes of different sizes for a while, and try to figure out what works best for you.

Also, back off and learn better footwork with a stiffer, edging type shoe.

Thanks for the advice.. I searched for big toe pain before posting this but didn't find anyone with a similar problem/pain as me. Until my toe heals, I will continue to train on my hang board I suppose.

Hey guys. I've only been climbing for a little over a month. I've caught the climbing bug you could say. I bought a pair of Sparca Instict Slippers because they were the only ones that felt like they fit my feet well but my right foot is a size and a half larger than my left so after a few climbing sessions my right big toe started to hurt especially when I stand on my toes. It doesn't hurt when I walk.
It's just sore when I bend it down or stand on my
on the tip of my toes (or climb). I took the shoes back and got a size larger and gave my toe 4 days off from climbing but after an hour and a half of climbing again the pain came back and it seems worse than before. Any suggestions? I don't really want to take a break from climbing because I can see myself improving so fast (already can climb all V3's at my gym and some V4's). Do you think my toe will toughen up over time? Or should I wait until it fully heals before climbing again and then try it out? Has anyone experienced the same pain? I'm aware that I got really aggressive shoes.. And I love them... But maybe they are the problem? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Are you taking your shoes off between problems? If not, you should.

In addition to what oncehardman says, couple thoughts that occurred to me:

Slippers are generally very soft shoes. And thus require fairly strong feets/toes. You probably haven't had a chance to develop this strength, so you are probably better off with stiffer shoes.

If you ARE sticking with slippers, then IMO, getting them in LARGER size is actually worse because they are looser on your feet, and thus require even more of that toe/arch strength that you are likely missing. IMO you would be better off with tighter slippers and taking them off frequently, if you don't want to buy stiffer and/or less-downturned shoes.

I hope you are not getting something like a turf-toe (ligament sprain around big toe joint). it takes a long time to heal. And my understanding (I am not a doctor, just from talking to someone who had it) is that contributing factors for turf-toe are wearing too-flexible shoes without adequate support for your foot, and then hyper-extending the joint when you push off of that toe...

But anyway, if it is a bit of a sprain, rest is essential for healing.