HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERONE! Here comes 2009...ready or not.
My birthday is next week so I might be in the the 'or not' camp. I will have 1 more year in my age group. I have been watching age groups since I was in 10 & U swimming. I can't believe I'm turning gulp, 39, and still paying attention to age groups.
I need some advice. It's about feet. Yes, feet. I hate feet in general. There's really nothing attractive about them in my opinion.
But I have very very bad high maintenance feet. This can be an issue for someone who loves to swim, bike and run. For a skier. For a Mom who likes to play outside in the snow wiht her boys. For a Mainer with coooooold temps from time to time.
Issue # 1- Neuromas. I have battled with this since ~1999. Bad stuff. Painful. Annoying. I had surgery in my right foot in 2005. Now, the left foot is bad and I have scar tissue in the right which makes it just as bad as before. I'm dealing with this. Basically, I can't run more than 8-9 miles without seeeeerious pain. Again, this is just my reality and I am dealing with it. This is one of the the biggest challenges I may face next summer in my first Ironman. Will my feet let me finish?
Issue #2- Chilblains!! I just found the real clinical name for this weird thing that started happening to me last year!!! Basically, the feet have a painful abnormal reaction of the small blood vessels in skin when exposed to the cold. The constriction of the small blood vessels and the rewarming process causes leakage of blood into the tissue. The result is painful, swollen, itchy, red/purple feet that can split (yes! mine do) and put you at risk for infection. (hard for feet to heal because of constant use.) It Hurts!! I had this last winter and after weeks and weeks went to the doc...no one had a clue but one guy did say it was some form of a "cold injury." As soon as the cold weather started this year, it came back. Right now, they are ok but I am at risk for this. Why?? No clue.
Issue #3- I'm not sure why I started getting this chilblain thing but as a result, my feet are SUPER sensitive to the cold now. This is the worst thing at this point. I took my kids tubing yesterday for 1 measly hour. I was in Agony before we left. I had polypro socks with smartwool socks over those and what I thought were decent LLBean boots. (not "bean boots" for all Mainers reading this...those are cold...these are just from Beans and are supposed to be warm witner boots.) I wwas literally in tears. I got new ski boots for Christmas (down hill skiing ) because we thougth last year my issue was old boots that no longer fit. (got them in 1994....3 kids ago) I'm losing hope that this will help.
Anyone else with crazy cold feet? Has anyone used battery powered socks? I can't imagine they work but I'm ready to try Anything! Those little tiny feet warming packs dont' really work very well....but I'll try those again too. But when it's 15 degrees and you're on a chairlift, it doesn't really cut it.
Calling all skiers and people living in the cold!
I need your help!
Thanks.
8 comments:
I wish I could help you... I have similar feet issues--very gorgeous bunions, mashed toenails, and Reynaud's Syndrome which sounds a bit like your chilbains..(sp?)
miss and love you!
oh--I won today!!!
Sorry I can't help with the feet but I can wish you a happy early b-day!!!
I will play in the snow for you :)
-marn
Yikes Ange that is rough! You are so tough... no one knows this stuff when they see you cross the finish line. You are such a determined racer. You need to see a specialist in Boston I think and get this stuff licked.
Ange! yeah, go and see someone....I have no advice to offer here.....even as cold as it is here, I do fine in it..but we surely don't ski in Chicago! HAHA....good luck w/ it all!
I hope your feet feel better. I used to have bunions and had them removed - darn glad I did too because I was never able to wear high heels or "cute shoes". Hope it gets better!
Hi Ange:
Definitely get your feet checked out by a specialist...feet are very important!!! On the boot heaters, I have never used them, BUT I have friends who are ex-ski racers (Dartmouth so they grew up skiing in the cold and ice at Sunday River, Cranmore, Atitash, etc) and they have moved on to heated boots. They are moms now, with little ones, so they don't even ski all day, but still use them. I have found that sometimes if I wear too many pairs of socks that my feet get cold because they are too tight in boots and there is not space for the warm air to circulate. I also have had to size up ski boots after my daughter. Keep us posted...and hope that you can find some good solutions.
You would never know that you even have one issue. Good luck. I wish I could offer some tips. Happy bday! My bday is in January as well. I'm turning 44. :)
Find any solutions to your Chilblain problems...I too have just begun getting them last winter and now they are back. I am going to try warmer PAC boots and Booties around the house some kind of creme, Cortaid....
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