Calf pain - any advice?

Hi Again,


Just ahd another throught......how about your socks, once you have them pulled up do you turn the tops over?, if you have thickish socks this may cause the calfs to ache in some cases as in effect you have an extra layer of sock over the calf muscle constricting the muscle slightly....and if they start to roll down could become uncomfortable.....but this is quite a long shot i think, but thought i would give it a punt.


All the best

jon.

Hi Nitty - just in case you are prone to leg cramps anyway, it can help to eat bananas! Our son-in-law suffers from leg cramps when skiing (due to an old footballing injury) and if he has a banana at breakfast and two or three more during the skiing day, it really helps him. I think it is something to do with potassium.

Couple of things to throw in:

- The boots may have been selected because they have wider cuffs, but are they wide enough? You need to be able, with them done up, to lean forward and be able to stick 2 fingers between the back of your calves and the inside of the boot.

- Do you drink enough water when you are out? It may just be dehydration and muscle cramps.

- Socks are very important, I had a pair that I thought were great but they made my calves ache. They fitted my feet perfectly, but the tops were very tight, and almost cut off the circulation. They were my most expensive pair, they are now in the bin.

- Silly things you take for granted, like not having thermals or linings of sallos tucked inside the boots?

- Are the boots set in the right position for you, ie canting? It may be worth changing the setting and see how you get on. Ask at the ski shop.

Maybe its just the boots, and you need some new ones? Try some different makes on to see how they feel.

Good luck

Thanks Tony, and everyone else.

The canting was checked when the boots were fitted, so I hope that's right. The cuffs definitely have plenty of room, and I still have length on the buckles to widen them further if necessary. I wore them round the house again last night and there doesn't seem to be any pressure points anywhere, and I'm always careful not to have any clothing creases or seams in my boots.

I'm now leaning more towards the other advice that I know I can follow to improve things, like proper exercise and stretching before skiing, being better hydrated (I was conscious of being thirsty the other day when we went to the Castleford slope), and hubby says he'll watch me skiing to help me try to improve my skiing posture.

Thankfully my ski-school lessons start a bit later this year so it won't be such a mad rush to get myself and two small children kitted up and out on the slopes first thing in the morning! I'll have a bit of time to make sure I'm properly prepared before setting off, for once!!
I also found that wearing compression socks overnight afterwards was a great help.

Feeling a bit more optimistic now.

By the way, we're going to Selva Val Gardena, so if anyone knows where to go if I still have problems, that would be great to know.

Nitty

Do you get the pain in your calf walking around the house in your boots, or only when you're ski-ing? And is it just the same if you're on an artificial slope in the U.K.?

I used to have a circulatory problem in my right leg, which started with getting kicked on the vein in a rugby match and ended with superficial thrombophlebitis after the birth of my first daughter, followed by complete removal of that section of the vein.

Anyway, I used to get a pain in my calf, and I used to have to do special exercises (like the ones you do on the plane to stop DVT) which involved rotating my foot etc. This helped quite a bit. And even now I avoid standing for long periods if I can, and when I'm sitting I try and find something to rest my leg up on.

Best of luck with getting it sorted,

Ally

i have the same problem, i have just purchased a pair of atomic live fit 70w boots, skiied them about 4 times now on the dry slopes and they kill my calf muscles.. i had them heat moulded in the shop.. hoping they get better soon :)

jcat wrote:i have the same problem, i have just purchased a pair of atomic live fit 70w boots, skiied them about 4 times now on the dry slopes and they kill my calf muscles.. i had them heat moulded in the shop.. hoping they get better soon :)

You likely don't need the spoiler in the cuff. Try the boots with the spoiler removed. The spoiler is that rotatable piece of plastic that sticks up past the top, at the back of the boot cuff.

This is a ladies boot, it might not have a spoiler. What is the circumference of your calves at the top of the boots?