sudden issue with little toe rubbing

I’ve had problems recently with finding shoes that fit.  I found I went from a 10.5 to 11.5 in size, I’m 39 yrs old.

I also have a pair of minimal new balance, I think the 1010 trails.  They are very flat in the toe box and I can’t wear them with socks.  My little toe rubs on them.

Maybe look into something like the solomon speed cross 3, they have a really narrow heel, maybe size up bigger than usual.

Is it possible that your foot size has changed recently and lengthened? Before I learned that my feet were lengthening, the first symptom was the little toes suddenly feeling like they were sticking out more than usual, causing blisters on their sides. Before this problem, these boots were super comfy for 2 years. Wrapping both little toes with tape solved the problem for a while, but after a year it became obvious my old shoes were just too short and that my feet had changed. A similar problem occurred with three separate pairs of footwear over a year or so: trail runners, light mountaineering boots and mountaineering double boots. I’ve found new trail runners and hiking boots that fit well now, and hopefully they will continue to fit if my feet remain the same size.

Since you seem to be having the problem across shoe brands, it may be time to see a good sports podiatrist. They have all sorts of ways of figuring out what is going on, including gait analysis.

Go to a shoe store and have your feet measured (in thick socks) on a Brannock Device. It is very possible that your feet have suddenly grown a bit. Yes, I know this is supposed to be ‘not possible’ for adults – but too many of us have experienced it. I went up from size 8 to size 10 after age 50.

And do NOT buy any shoes which are less than your measured width! (One of my favourite rants.)

Cheers

Roger – did your size change from 8 to 10 happen all at once, or gradually over multiple years? It would great to avoid buying all new footwear due to lengthening feet, then having to do it all over again a year or so later as it keeps progressing. Having Pinocchio toes can get expensive.

Hi Lester

Short answer – don’t know.

It SEEMED to happen during a 3-month long walking trip in Europe, but I strongly suspect I started that trip with under-sized shoes. So maybe I only had an increase of one size during the trip.

I do remember having to buy some new shoes because the ones I was wearing were just too light for the conditions. I was sliding around on a thin snow layer on granite slabs… Not good for safety. So the guy in the sports store in a small town in France did the right thing and hauled out the Brannock and measured me. Oh dear … But he was able to find me a very nice pair of low-cut joggers in my size and width and with good soles. They lasted me very well.

Later on the same thing happened to my wife – by two sizes as well. Her case was a bit more traumatic, with bleeding inside the foot half-way through a trip. Fixing that was complicated too. My thanks in each case to some really helpful French shop people.

Pinocchio toes .. I like it. But I value my feet far more than the small cost of a correctly fitted pair of joggers. Far, far more.

Cheers

Roger, I know what my measured length is. I always give myself a solid thumb width or more in toe room. Measured width, what width? There is toe width, midfoot width, and heel width. Too narrow or too wide in one or more of those areas can cause issues. And most of the shoes brands I’ve encountered down come in a standardized measurement of width, if they even come in widths at all. It’s usually normal width, whatever width the decide for the shoe, and a wide width which is a wider version of whatever their normal width is. And then there is vertical volume in the instep area and vertical volume in the toes. This is not an issue of my feet growing a size, it’s an issue with my little toe excessively extending/splaying out and rubbing the toe box. I am very accustomed to sizing very large and needing to remove the insole out of the shoe to accommodate my wide toes and high instep and then ending up with sloppy shoes. It’s a problem of needing oversized, wide shoes, that are wider that the profile of my foot in order to give extra material for my high instep, then everything is sloppy. I only wear very specific types of footwear, totally flat and very flexible with lots of ground feel, so that limits my choices.

Hi Justin

In addition to a somewhat standardised shoe sizing, there is also a standardised shoe width. Now, granted, US shoe sizes are 1/2 a size different from UK shoe sizes, and Euro shoe sizes and Japanese shoe sizes sometime use a totally different scale (millimetres I think).

Step 1: Google ‘Brannock Device’ and read up on it. Widths range from A (really narrow) through B, C, D, EE and 4E. I think New Balance even have a few shoes in 6E width.

Step 2: ask the leading outdoors shoe companies what their shoe widths are on this scale. Most of them offer a D fitting as ‘average’, and nothing else. Pity help the poor walker with a 4E width foot trying to wear a D fitting. It leads to nasty blisters, which is why i keep preaching ‘measure your foot width’.

Actually using a Brannock Device will show you that ‘shoe width’ is measured across the widest part of the foot. That solves a lot of shoe fitting problems, but not all. The next step is to look at the ‘last’ used for the shoe. New Balance used to have a really good web page about this, but I am not sure whether it is still there. The origin of the term lies in the wooden lasts or formers bootmakers used to use to shape the leather for a pair of boots. Anyhow, there are high-arch lasts, narrow-heel lasts, long pointy-toe lasts, … and so on.

For those of us with too many decades of walking with a pack, the 4E width is a common choice. Well, a common width, anyhow. Many walkers seem to have never heard of ‘shoe width’, so they just suffer. Many shoe companies don’t even publish the widths of their shoes: I had to ask them for this.

Why don’t shoe companies publicise this more? Because when you get shoes made in China these days, the factory wants an order of (say) 1,000 of each model or size. It’s expensive enough getting 6 – 8 different shoe sizes made in two colours, but having to add several width fittings in each size becomes too expensive for any but the biggest companies. And of course the common retailers only want the ‘average’ size because they have limited shelf space and want to keep their capex down.

Even Nike prefer to offer a range of colours for most of their shoes rather than a range of widths. Not that any of their ‘shoes’ would suit BPL walkers, but they are a big company. New Balance offers two or three widths in most models, sometimes in two or three colours. And 4E is a standard size for their serious footwear.

It may be that your little toes are extra splayed. That would be difficult. You could try sandals and cut off the strap that goes over the little toe. The person in this photo was nearly crippled by her narrow-fitting sandals on a long walk. She had layers of Duct tape wrapped around her feet. Eventually, in desperation, she cut that strap off (black arrows), and within a day or two her feet were recovering fine.

(photo from  blog post at Backpackgeartest many years ago.)

Mind you, if you want to see REALLY BAD feet, and I mean feet which could upset your lunch, search on ‘ugly feet’ at http://www.runnersworld.com . Quote: ‘Oh, I had to pull the toenails off.’

End of sermon – for now :-)

Cheers

Sounds like weak feet.   You need to toughen up your feet so they aren’t so sensitive.

I measure right around or just under a size 8 with an e width. My feet seem to have shrunk a half size in the past year. Finding a shoe that fits is one thing, but there are probably less than 10 models of shoes in existence that hit my specifications for a shoe, not considering fit. That makes things difficult. As far as measuring length of a brannock device, I find it of little use. The brands I’m used to dealing with are very inconsistent with length. I usually order 3 sizes online and returns 2 pairs. And standardized width measurement is not an actual thing with most shoes brands I’ve dealt with, maybe it’s different with Australian shoe brands? In a standardized width shoe, if you measure a size 2e width and get a 2e shoe, would it provide adequate room for toe splay or would you want more like a 3e width? Or does that depend on the shoe brand?

I tried on a half size up (9 2e) in the new balance mt 10v4’s, still the same rubbing issue. So that shoe won’t work for now. I have some 9.5 2e mt 10v3’s that I normally use with thick wool socks and goretex socks, well at least those work, 1.5 sizes up, but really sloppy fit.

I went ahead and ordered some luna sandals. I’ve tried sandals with a toe strap but I tent to twist my foot to the right or left when stepping off my foretoot, so I end up with my toes shoving into the sides of the toe strap. I can’t wear flip flops because my heel will walk off of them. I think I need an in between the toe huarache.

Yeah, Australian shoe sizes tend to be fairly reliable.

Fwiiw, I have found the NB shoe sizes equally reliable, to the point that I am game to order a couple of pairs from the USA without prior fitting. Given the cost of postage to Oz, buy 3 and return 2 is not a viable option here.

I live most of the time in flip-flops. Some are better than others.

cheers

Not a quick fix but

I would suggest a book by Katy Bowman called “Whole Body Barefoot.” While the subtitle directs it towards the neophyte it has some very good info on how to correct for abnormalities brought on by modern life.

Would also recommend her book “Move Your DNA”.

Sounds more like a love affair with twisting your feet while walking, than a shoe fit issue.

Have you tried working on your form ?   You might want to try working on your form so that your technique for walking doesn’t require twisting your foot.

Justin, how long have you been using flat/minimal shoes?  I’ve had foot problems for a while (Plantar Fasciitis/Fasciosis) and about a month ago did a complete 180 and now use ‘barefoot’ shoes exclusively.  I recently put on a pair of Nike shoes that used to be a bit large on me, but now all my toes touch the edges and I can’t wear them.  Your foot will start to splay out to its natural and anatomically correct position – just like a child’s foot before they start wearing shoes.

Anyway, you might try looking at Lems shoes.  I wear their 9to5 model for work, but they have a running/outdoor model that is very similar to my NB MT10.

At any rate, if your toes are splaying out, it’s most likely a good thing.

http://naturalfootgear.com/

About 8 years. I tried on the primals and they didn’t have enough vertical volume for me. The 9to5’s fit ok but I sold them as I didn’t like the style.

I really like those brown 9to5 shoes.  How do they hold up?

Justin I have the same little toe rubbing problem with my new balance.  especially if I don’t wear socks.  I think part or all of the problem is the minimal or quick dry shoes don’t have enough cushion in them.  I have a pair of reebok sneakers on now and while my toe still touches and rubs the side it doesn’t get raw and sore.  The toe has cushion built into it.

If you have shoes are are comfortable but “sloopy” you could try the “fuzzy” mole skin to tighten up the loose areas.  Easy and cheap enough to try and you can always remove it if it doesn’t work.  I’ve done this before and it worked for me.  But I don’t typically have problems finding shoes that fit.

At any rate, if your toes are splaying out, it’s most likely a good thing.

The hard alternative is Chinese foot-binding; the soft alternative is narrow pointy shoes.

Cheers