Shin bone bruising? Boots? Help?

**vailcat** · 03-27-2007, 10:58 AM

If I go out charging hard for a day blasting through crud and doing some hucking I get massive shin bone pain. None of the tissue hurts. It is the bone only from slamming into my boot. The area that is worse is basically from the bottom of my bottom buckle on the shin up to the bottom of the top buckle. The pain on a 1-10 scale gets up there to about a 9 when I hit a chunk of crud or any change in snow density while mashed against the fronts of my boots. It makes skiiing impossible. I have to literally sideslide of the hill once it gets going full tilt.OUCH!!
I have done many things to try to rememdy this. I have surefoot liners in my Salomon X-wave 9's with booster straps. From there I have cut out the plastic on the tongues where my shin bone lines up at and put extra padding in the cut out area. Also with the help of craig at mso in silverthorne we made some shinguards out of insoles by heating them up and placing them over my shins. I took extra precaution by putting in some harder foam padding on the inside of the guard with a notch cut out for my shin bone. The guard is then placed outside the sock right on the shin. The fit is pretty goood and the comfort is quite impressive. After all of this I still cannot last more than a day and a half (about a day longer than before the guards)before the pain gets to the point where I need to shut it down for about 7 days before we start the process all over again.
I have been to a doctor and she didn't think it was a stress fracture (both legs are the same)more an equipment problem combined with my skinny ankles. I can take my hand and wrap them around my ankle and touch my fingers. Does anybody else have such scrawny chicken legs? Has anybody else had this problem and made a boot switch and it cured the problem? What are my options? This has caused me to miss way too many days for the last 2 years. I have talked to hundreds of ski tech guys and none of them have seen a case as bad as mind. Opinions, taunts anything is welcome for I am at a dead end and have no idea what to do. Thanks.

**BigAirSkier1580** · 03-27-2007, 11:05 AM

Skiing in the backseat at all? Even getting a backseat landing every now and again will trigger really intense pain in my shins. Basically feels like someone clubs me in the shins with a baseball bat.

It helped a bit putting the boot stance as upright as I could get it. And making sure I was landing forward as much as I could.

**vailcat** · 03-27-2007, 01:10 PM

That was brought to my attention a couple years ago when I'd get in the backseat a bit but nowadays I'm licking my tips as much as possible. My main focus skiing is staying forward and I try to take it as far forward as possible always.

**H-wood** · 03-28-2007, 02:19 AM

You have a skinny ankle (and presumable lower leg) and in you're in a very wide boot- one that fits people with thick ankles. It may not be the cause of the problem, but it's not helping.

You need to be in the narrowest possible boot- one that hugs you're ankle as much as possible. Raichle/Full Tilt, plug boots like nordica dobermann...

Ice helps, but you'll need to take some time off to let your shins heal.

**steved** · 03-28-2007, 02:42 PM

Right-On the mark guys....same scenario here vailcat...had my first ~2week layoff due to the inside corner bruise a month ago...talk about cabin-angst! H-wood, I haven't tried it YET, but I'm pondering the strategy of trying to fill in, as much as possible, one's liner cuff portion. Maybe trying to insert a middle-ground material of medium-density (high-density foam or rubber) between the cuff's shell and the liner's foam(which could also be hyper-stuffed as well)...? I guess one of the main issues would be to preserve/develop comfortable/compatible angles in that middle-ground material...epoxying it onto the shell?(maybe) *More or less functioning somwhat like an orthotic(of a different kind).

Random rambling I know....
steve

**H-wood** · 03-28-2007, 02:54 PM

SteveD-
the fact that you're even mentioning this, suggests that you're boots are too big/too high volume. you need to start with boots that are too tight, and then expand/grind/modify where needed.
The idea is to find a shell that fits the shape of your foot/ankle/leg as closely as possible- stuffing the boot full of extra material might help, but not as much as a shell that fits.

**steved** · 03-28-2007, 03:29 PM

I understand what your saying H-wood....mucho thanks. I'm quite adamant about my lower shell fit, but I guess I have been kind of forgetting it from the ankles on up...

steve

**vailcat** · 12-31-2007, 04:57 PM

Well my problem is cured. Andrew at Grizzly Outfitters at Big Sky said I was a perfect candidate for a dalbello 3 piece and I can tell you as soon as I stepped in I was gonna be money. My old sollies have a higher flex point thereby turning my shin area that was sore into the main fulcrum of the boot. This all along was the biggest reason for my soreness. The krypton pro id that i have hinges at a point much more in line with my ankle which gives it a truer flex with my leg. That and the fact that the dalbello is a 3 piece makes my skiing continuously for months on end once again possible.

I just charged hard for 4 full days and i honestly have had zero pain and never felt so good in my life skiing!!!

As I had said previously it wasn't a backseat problem but hey whatever. If anyone out there has similar problems and can fit in a dalbello or full tilt do it and you will never regret it. Happy new year!

**mtbakersnow** · 01-16-2008, 08:26 AM

Originally Posted by vailcat

Well my problem is cured. Andrew at Grizzly Outfitters at Big Sky said I was a perfect candidate for a dalbello 3 piece and I can tell you as soon as I stepped in I was gonna be money. My old sollies have a higher flex point thereby turning my shin area that was sore into the main fulcrum of the boot. This all along was the biggest reason for my soreness. The krypton pro id that i have hinges at a point much more in line with my ankle which gives it a truer flex with my leg. That and the fact that the dalbello is a 3 piece makes my skiing continuously for months on end once again possible.

I just charged hard for 4 full days and i honestly have had zero pain and never felt so good in my life skiing!!!

As I had said previously it wasn't a backseat problem but hey whatever. If anyone out there has similar problems and can fit in a dalbello or full tilt do it and you will never regret it. Happy new year!

Vailcat,
You sound then EXACTLY as I feel now regarding shins. In fact, it is amazing, your words could be mine, word for word about the shin bang problem. It drives me mad! Ironically enough, I too am skiing on the Salomon
9's, yellow/orange color. Same, skinny lower legs, high calves, etc. Can you tell me exactly the Dabello boots you purchased ... as I would love to try some on myself. Feel free to directly e-mail me, I would be grateful. Thanks!