tarsal tunnel syndrome

Hi all (newbe)
I have been diagnosed as suffering from Tarsel Tunnel Syndrome. This has meant that I have had to have my ski boots fixed at 90 degs to stop my feet going numb. I can sort of parallel turn and am fairly confident on blues and reds. However I know I ski awkwardly as I cannot get over the front of my skis as much as most. There is a fair bit of give in my boots, but obviously not as much as normal ones. I would love to be able to progress to tougher runs and eventually be able to carve. Lenghty runs give me back ache too. Any advice as to how I can adapt my technique would be appreciated. If your advice is that I will never be able to carve proprly due to my condition then please don't hold back.

Paul C

Hi PAUL CNG Welcome to J2ski. Your condition sounds painful full credit to you for keeping going with your skiing. As a total amateur it seems to me that your boots need to be set up to mimic a forward lean position, whilst still leaving you upright. Hopefully CEM will be along soon to give an expert's view on the bootfitting stuff. I'll leave the skiing stuff to other J2skier's to contemplate.

What led to you getting your diagnosis?

Thats bad to hear.. I don't see why having your boots fixed to a certain degree would cause a great deal of an issue after all technically you can just carve by edging your skis and letting them run out. Is it possible to have your boots set at more of a forward lean (might make life easier) or does your condition stop this? Being over the front of your skis IS NOT essential to being able to carve. I don't have an understanding of what your condition allows and does not allow movement wise so can't really give you a definitive answer although I am sure someone else will have a little more experience of this than I do..

Thanks to both Bandit and RossF for your replys. My condition basically means that the tendons that run through the heal of my feet get trapped if I lean forward much past 90 degs for any length of time, so my boots have been fixed at 90 degrees (so when I'm on the lifts and standing around - my feet don't go numb). My boots have got raised inserts inside the heals and I set my ski 2cm forwards of the usual position. I had the boots altered by a Co. in Chelsea (Pro Feet). I could not ski before having this done.

I don't see why you theoretically couldn't carve, does this not place a lot of strain on your knees? Way to go for getting out there!!

it shouldn't be a problem to fix a boot with the heel raised s you say, it is possible to lift th heeland then fix the boot so that it remains in a forward position but your foot held t 90degrees inside

I assume you've explored the treatment options with your GP? The condition you have sounds very much like the condition I have in my right hand - carpal tunnel syndrome. I have found steroid injections to be really effective so far, and once they no longer work there is a surgery option which I'm told is 99% effective permanently. I do sympathise and know how you feel about it affecting a hobby you're passionate about, I had the same problem in the summer trying to control the throttle and brake on a powerful motorbike with a numb hand

Superduke_Chris
Cheers for the comment. Biker myelf so appreciate the problem. The skiboots I have had made for me, almost (90%)remove the problem of numb feet so I'm hoping to avoid steroids and eventual surgery. All I really wanted to know was whether or not my skiing 'could' improve past my present linked parallel skid turns to classy sweeping or rapid carvers that look to me like they may generate feelings very close to "getting your knee down".