Continue with onX Maps
Sign in with Facebook
Best Climbing Shoes for Bursitis / Achilles / Heel Pain
|
I know this is a complicated subject that is typically case by case. But I feel that i have a few general questions/a story that can help anyone out. (PS I tried to search the forums for this and did not have great luck) MY STORY: Climbed off and on growing up, bouldering and top rope. Taught basic climbing at YMCA one summer, got gifted a broken in PERFECT pair of Evols (unknown size).  Fast forward to present day, started bouldering 5x a week, wore the shoes down so much that I needed a new pair of shoes. I bought a pair at a local outdoors shop (shop local) Scarpa Vapor V size 41
I tried a lot of shoes on trying to recreate the prefect fit in similar shape... WELL I RUSHED IT and this happened to my right heel. I broken them in wearing around the house, and also the shower technique followed up by climbing when they are 90% dry. Then put it another 4 + hours over the next week of climbing before my heel started to hurt. https://gearpatrol.com/2016/05/12/break-climbing-shoes-without-pain/   Basically i put too much pressure on my Right Achilles and it got inflamed and apparently this takes a long time to go away, if it ever goes away haha. It only hurts when I wear very tight shoes, so fortunately/unfortunately it is only affecting my climbing. I come from a "precise action sports background" meaning that I always worn very tight shoes to ensure there is no "slop" in my performance, apparently wearing tight shoes and coming down from big drops/jumps can cause this too. So I think my body was developing this and my recent climbing pushed it over the edge. HERE IS WHERE I AM AT, AND WHERE YOU CAN HELP I took a month off from climbing to "recover" and I climbed last night. My new Vapor V (41) on left foot and a size 44 (10.5) Rental shoe on right foot (with a sock). I was able to climb for over an hour (taking shoes off between climbs). PLAN 1: Buy cheap beginner shoes size 43/44 and wear one good shoe and 1 bad shoe until I am 100% healed (heeled haha) IF I EVER HEAL. PLAN 2: Buy custom shoes. PLAN 3 (RELATED TO PLAN 2): Buy shoes with a VERY LOW heel or VERY HIGH HEEL / HUUUUGE Heel pocket. Please offer suggestions on solutions, shoes, or comments/criticism for me being an idiot and rushing the break in process. Also suggestions on how to continue to break in my right Vapor V or Modifications to make it fit better. Thank you for your time, and patience. #firstpost |
|
I went through the same thing about half a year ago. I ended up going back to my old beater pair of shoes for a while that didn't hurt, but ultimately switched to a pair of slippers for gym climbing. I sized them tight but the unlined leather was very accommodating. Nowadays the pain is gone and I discovered I really love the slippers (the moccasyms by the way) and end up wearing them probably 80% of the time I'm climbing in the gym. They are comfy and help build foot strength. YMMV. |
|
I've been dealing with this problem for a little over a year now, but I don't think it was my climbing shoes that caused it (likely some combination of xc running spikes, xc ski boots and really badly fitting mountaineering boots). I went to the physio and they gave me a few exercises that have helped to solve part of the problem. Now I don't feel pain from the rand pressing on my Achilles just above my heel (if this makes any sense) anymore, only pressure directly on the back of my heel (where the calcite bump from the bursitis is). I've been told the bump might never go away but at least I can wear tight, high performance shoes (heal hooking hurts like hell though). The bump also makes fitting mountain boots a total PITA. I know physiotherapy may or may not be prohibitively expensive for you if you're not in Canada but if your medical coverage is such that you can afford it, I highly recommend. |
|
As for the lowest and highest heel rand.... Sounds like the Mythos is one of the lowest. Does anyone have idea for "high tops" with a roomy heel/the highest heel rand? |
|
Jason, Firstly, I would like to mention that you can resole your Evolvs, and they probably would have resoled much better before you blew them out. You might also consider these points: If you can climb in 43/44 beater shoes and you have 41 Vapor Vs (which run close to street shoe size), I suspect you have gotten your shoes too tight. What is your street shoe size? Vapor Vs have synthetic uppers and really don't stretch. You can bed them in slightly with the tricks you used, but these days it doesn't make sense to buy climbing shoes expecting them to stretch since hardly any shoes are made of leather anymore. The notable all-leather exceptions are Mythos, Moccasyms and TC Pros. I used to have bursitis caused by wearing Five Ten Anasazi VCS a half size down from street shoe size. The slingshot rand constantly irritated my achilles. I have since taken to wearing mostly Scarpa shoes in my street shoe size (they fit the shape of my foot well and have generally low heel rand tension) and this pain has completely gone away within a year or two. I have Haglund's deformity but no bursitis to go with it anymore. I might mention that wearing the Vapor Lace did cause achilles pain, so I ended up getting rid of them. However, the Instinct, Boostic, and Booster all have fairly low tension in the heel rand, don't cause me any pain, and perform better than the vapors anyway. Maybe you should try a different model of shoe that doesn't press into your achilles so much, and maybe you could get by without downsizing so much. Your feet might even become stronger as a result. Good luck, Michal |
|
Vapor V's are notorious for this issue. I have three pairs and each needed a few climbing days to break in and then they were fine. I usually climb in TC Pros and these are far more comfortable. |
|
In response to Jason Kim, I know several people who struggle from intense bursitis aggravated by wearing TC Pros in a snug size. Punching out the hot spots with a modified shoe tree under high tension seemed to ease the issue. TCs pushed into my achilles when I tried them on. The heel rand seems to be convex in a somewhat unpleasant way. As such, I can't recommend the Vapor or the TC Pro for bursitis. The Boostic puts no pressure on my achilles and has the best edging performance of any shoe I have ever worn. The Booster S has similar comfort in the heel and is pretty sensitive with a precise toe and good smearing and smedging capabilities. The Instinct S is very comfortable after a few days as well. |
