Balls of feet hurt. Help.

September 7, 2008 7:23 AM

The balls of my feet are tender and burn. How can I stop this?

Last week I went for a long hike and at the end of that hike the balls of my feet were burning from friction. It's now been a week and they are still burning. I don't have blisters, no corns etc, but I do have calluses and these calluses are what are tender. Each morning I start the day fine, but if I take a long walk or hike or take a spinning class, off I go again with the tender burn on the balls. I've searched all over the web but most everything references blisters and I don't have those. My shoes fit fine. I've had this happen after a long hike before but it usually resolves itself more quickly. What can I do? Should I buy better cushioned socks? Please don't tell me to lay off, my big bum can't take it. Also, I should add I have pretty pronounced calluses on the balls of my feet and have for a long time -- my husband calls them my chimpanzee pads--so the calluses aren't new, but I have been exercising more intensely/longer duration etc of late so maybe my chimp pads and reacting and getting bigger to protect against friction. Please help. Pretty soon I will be walking like a chimp from this it's so uncomfortable.

posted by beelover to health & fitness (13 comments total)

Salt water.

Seriously, super saturate (mix salt into water until it won't all mix in) some warm water with salt and soak your feet in it. It'll toughen the skin, promote skin growth, and your feet will feel better afterward.

Do this a few times, and any time your feet feel "hot" again from walking/hiking.

I use a salt paste any time I rip the calluses off my hands lifting, and it works great.
posted by Loto at 7:37 AM on September 7, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

While hiking/walking, use Body Glide on the balls of your feet. It's a lubricant, so it reduces the friction between your skin and your socks. I'm training for an endurance walking event and have the same problem and the Body Glide has been a lifesaver (er, a foot saver). You can get it at most sports equipment stores or online.

Good luck!
posted by jengineer at 8:25 AM on September 7, 2008

Up heah in Vuhmont, we recommend Bag Balm. They make it for cows' udders, but it's great on human feet.
posted by beagle at 9:15 AM on September 7, 2008

Band-Aid Blister Block also works well for me. It's like a little deodorant stick by the rest of the bandages and first aid stuff at the store. Slather it on liberally.
posted by sevenless at 9:51 AM on September 7, 2008

these calluses are what are tender

runner here. fought with that a bunch of times.

what you need is a salicylic acid gel. bazuka is a great and very strong product but your local rite-aid should have multiple other options as well. you may have to ask for it but it won't require a prescription.

it'll probably come with a little stick. you'll apply it to the callusses in the evening (be careful as it will eat the skin around it as well) and overnight it'll attack them pretty rigurously. do it for a week and scrub the loose skin off when necessary and you'll be callus-free.

it's easy to do as long as you remember not to walk on your clean carpet after applying this stuff.
posted by krautland at 10:28 AM on September 7, 2008

Krautland, does this mean the pain is caused by the calluses? I get this exact problem when I hike for more than six hours or so. I went for a nine hour hike a couple weeks ago and my feet hurt so bad by the end of it that I could barely walk. I'm not seeing how getting rid of the calluses would prevent the pain though since it seems like a problem that's happening underneath the skin. Lube is an interesting idea.
posted by Dr. Send at 10:45 AM on September 7, 2008

Krautland, does this mean the pain is caused by the calluses?

yes. place something else that's hard and unforgiving in your shoe if you don't believe me. a penny will do just fine. walk around on that for an hour and you'll have the same effect. the callus is nothing but hard skin. let go off it and you will have that area feel just like all the other soft, cushy areas of your feet after your walk.
posted by krautland at 1:24 PM on September 7, 2008

also: these gels are a couple bucks and you won't harm your feet by trying this. there is no downside to getting rid of a callus.
posted by krautland at 1:25 PM on September 7, 2008

How's the arch support in your shoes? If it's not already good, adding insole arch supports will transfer some of the weight off your balls (heh heh... sorry, your "tender burn on the balls" phrase gave me a Beavis moment) and redistribute it over your entire sole. Otherwise your balls are bearing the weight of your entire body. Dr. Scholl's makes a bunch of different styles that are available in drugstores and only a few bucks a pop.

For socks, my podiatrist swears by Thorlo. I do like the Thorlos I have, but they're so thick I can't wear them with my street shoes, only my hiking boots--which I had to deliberately purchase a size big to accommodate the Thorlo socks. So unless your current hiking boots are already kind of roomy, they might not work for you.
posted by cirocco at 1:56 PM on September 7, 2008

You could also try dual-layer socks. I have some socks that have an inner layer that stays tight to my foot and an outer layer that stays tight to the shoe. Granted, they're dressy socks, but I think there should be options for less-dressy forms. The brand is WrightSock, and the model that I have is "lite".
posted by Xoder at 2:54 PM on September 7, 2008

holy smokes! look at all of these fantastic answers. thank you! i had wondered about getting rid of the calluses since i assumed they were protecting my feet, but it makes sense they may be the problem. i think i am going to try everything --- replenish the thorlo socks, burn the chimp pads, and get some lube for my balls. (sorry, the last one was simply to tickle the beavis responder.) i really appreciate it.
posted by beelover at 4:18 PM on September 7, 2008

I'm not sure if you want to get rid of the calluses - I have been warned by the coaches for my endurance event to NOT remove mine (no pedicures, no scrubbing, no callus treatments, etc.) because my feet have built them up to keep me from getting blisters. I have walked 500 miles in training in the last 4 months and have not had a single blister, so it seems to be working!

Also, the kind of sock you wear is really important - I have tried about 10 kinds of socks and found that I prefer smartwool ultra light running socks for preventing hot spots (the lanolin in the wool helps the sock slide relative to the shoe and prevent friction from that motion from heating up a spot on your foot). So the body glide reduces friction between foot and sock, and the wool socks reduce friction between foot and shoe and this ends up meaning no blisters, which makes for happy training!
posted by jengineer at 6:41 PM on September 7, 2008

I have been warned by the coaches for my endurance event to NOT remove mine (no pedicures, no scrubbing, no callus treatments, etc.) because my feet have built them up to keep me from getting blisters.

with all due respect ... your coaches are either blowing smoke or taking your for a ride. it's dead skin. dead, hardened skin. leaving it on only does one thing: enable infections.
posted by krautland at 8:26 AM on September 8, 2008