Monday, March 11, 2013

SOLE Footbeds a cure for "hot feet"

 I use SOLE footbeds to replace, literally, "the liners" shoe companies put inside their shoes. The liners in both running shoes and everyday walking shoes really provide no support I have found.  However, replacing them with SOLE footbeds provides the comfort and support your foot needs.  I replace even my cycling shoes (both road and mountain bike) with SOLE footbeds.  I used to suffer from what cyclist call "hot foot".  It was a burning pain in the ball of my foot moving towards my toes. To me it occurred on long rides or rides with a lot of climbing. The burning is really not heat but rather pressure on nerves in the foot that create a burning like sensation. Dumping or squirting water on your feet will not put the "fire" out. The sensation is caused from wearing too tight of shoe. Here are a few tips of how you can remedy the "hot foot" burning pain.
    1. Use a Thin Sport SOLE custom footbeds and/or thinner socks such as the Lightweight Sport SOLE sock.  This will give your foot more room to swell with out restriction. 
    2. Adjust your shoe straps. Keep the straps closest to your toes (near the bottom of the shoe) the loosest for more room.
    3. Sometimes re-focusing the pressure helps.  Do this by moving your cleats to the rear by as much as 8 mm which sometimes means drilling new holes in the bottom of your cycling shoe. You will want to lower your saddle about the same distance you have moved the cleat back. 
    4. With shoes coming from European manufacturers, sometimes the toe box runs small.  Look for a pair with a wide toe box and a stiff sole.