[pct-l] nerve problems in feet/bigger size shoe needed

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On Apr 3, 2010, at 7:36 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> I'm taking an informal survey.
> After our first year of long distance hiking, Ray started to  
> experience
>   nerve problems in his feet that have persisted to this day.  He  
> has a
> sense that his feet are under pressure, even when barefoot, and
> sometimes a persistent tingle.  Not anything that would be  
> described as
> pain.
> Has anyone else experienced this?
>
> Both of us have gone to larger shoe sizes.  In my 30's I wore men's  
> size
> 8 running shoes and hiking boots.  Since our first year of long  
> distance
> hiking (1996)I have been wearing men's size 10 1/2.  Ray has gone from
> size 11 to size 13 in all his shoes.
> Is this common?  Only among hikers? Or is this a natural  
> consequence of
> aging?
> Marion and Ray

I'm 45. My feet hurt a lot more now than before the trail. I've  
always had a hard time finding shoes that fit and don't hurt and it  
is worse now. My toes used to be scrunched together. Now they are  
separated from each other. This means I have to buy bigger shoes than  
before by about 1 or 2 sizes. No numbness or tingling. Just general  
soreness after hiking that goes away the next day, plus tendonitis  
and sesamoiditis.

Every time I bring stuff like this up to my doctor he just says it's  
part of getting old (welcome to the ibuprofen club, he says) and part  
of doing too much and that I should take it easy. But I like a life  
of adventure, so I live with the pain.

Diane


Books I've written:
~ Piper's Flight
~ Adventure and Magic
~ Santa Barbara Hikes