Swollen Feet

Howdy All,

Sometimes my feet swell when climbing, to a point where comfy rock shoes turn deadly painful. I've had to bail off of routes because of it. The whole of both feet swells up, but usually the pain bites down on the knuckle of my large toes which makes standing on them extremely uncomfortable.

I can't connect this to any specific circumstances. Lately I've been training in the gym a lot with zero problems. This past weekend I went out to clip some bolts and things were getting bad by the 2nd route. Then, inexplicably, they chilled out and I was fine for the rest of the day. Thus, it doesn't seem related to dehydration, salt/lack of nutrition, etc, but I could be wrong. Warm/hot days do seem to aggravate it even more, but I've had it happen on cool days as well.

Anyone had this? Any insights?

Gout?

Temperature swings? Hydration or lack thereof?

leon wrote:Gout?

are you climbing in the sun? if so, that's probably your problem. i avoid the sun like the plague.

Interesting. I read about gout and am not sure that's the deal. It looks like gout usually inflames the toe joint where it connects to the base of the foot/metatarsals. That doesn't hurt. In fact, there's no joint pain. It's just the knuckle of the toe (right behind the toenail) that hurts as it gets crammed in the toe box of a climbing shoe from the swelling and hurts like a mofo.

As to what's different, that's what I haven't been able to nail down. This happened a bit this past weekend when I walked the 5 minutes from my car to Canal Zone in Clear Creek. Light pack and we were climbing in the shade. It wasn't as bad as it can be, and went away after an hour. Sometimes it won't go away until I'm out of climbing shoes for at least a couple of hours.

As to shoes, I've had it happen in my comfy TC Pro's as well as my tight Katana's.

Thanks for the thoughts. Maybe it's just hydration/salt issues...

Localized inflammation & vessel permeability from exercise, try nsaiding. I've had better luck with aleve & aspirin than vitamin I. If not, get blood check see if anything is out of whack & check sed rate. I assume no muscle spasms, weakness, or numbness tingling present. Further out may be arthritic, thyroid, existing meds, or just over use.

Fluid overload due to congestive heart failure? Have you used cocaine in your early years? Meth? Congenital heart disease? You may need to see a specialist. Rule out the ticker,then go see a rheumatologist.

yeah j, remember that time you were a crack baby and had that coronary bypass/aortic valve replacement w/ a pacemaker install? gooood times, bro

anyway, how long for rest periods are ya giving yourself between gyms, work outs, skis, & crags? Dialing down for a few weeks having any effect, or sleep pattern problems to heal up?

All good suggestions but it might simply be arthritis (osteo) from wearing shoes too tight in your youth. There was an article a while back about this.

Cool. yeah, Buff, I don't think I'm doing a ton of activity and overdoing it when this happens. if anything I'm sitting in a damn chair too much.

I'm going to head to the doc and check in about the metabolism and arthritis stuff. I have yet to go through a hookers, blow, and meth phase, so I don't think that's a contributing factor. My Mom gave up crack right before she got pregnant with me, so I don't see a risk factor there either.

Gracias all...

Some days my shoes fit perfect other days I need to wear socks.  I think temperature either causes my feet to swell or the shoes to "change" shape.  Also, my feet seem more swollen if its a longer approach.

Or maybe you should get a pair of TC Pros?  They are pretty comfortable for all day climbing. 

Ok all joking aside. I've had a burning feeling and some swelling and it seems from doctors this may be a nerve issue in my foot toe. Try padding area with something like gauze. Nerve impact can hurt and cause other problems.  

When you are on your feet all day regardless of the activity, gravity pulls blood into the veins of your legs, and some of the water in the blood enters the tissues of your legs and feet, causing them to swell. Climbing shoes are tight and not that comfortable for all day climbing. What makes it worse is taking your shoes off while belaying or between climbs. The shoes were providing compression so while some fluid build up occurs while wearing shoes as soon as they taken off more fluid. Putting them back on is even worse.