Little toe "jam"

I have a little problem, namely, the little toe on my left foot. It gets a bit swollen and sore after every hike that is over five or six miles. My shoes (Keen Targhee hiking shoes) don't feel tight or cramped.

The symptoms are not severe, but I am afraid it will get worse, especially considering I have a weekend backpacking trip coming up and will be doing over 20 miles.

I know this is minor compared to a lot of more serious issues people have, but I thought I would put this out there for feedback / suggestions.

“The symptoms are not severe, but I am afraid it will get worse”

You have very good insight. What you feel now will get worse when you quadruple the mileage.

It’s hard to know these things when the shoe is first bought because these problems only come out with mileage.

Others will have suggestions, but here’s mine: if you truly want to go, smother in bodyglide and with the 1st inkling of a hot spot, get a bandaid on it.

-Barry

smother the bodyglide on before anything happens.

you could also try a different pair of boots/shoes to see if the problem returns

Wow, that is so strange. I also have Keen Targhee's and get blisters on the bottom of the little toe of my left foot every time I hike more than 12 miles or so. Never the right foot, just the left. I've been using body glide but it does not help that toe. I used to get other toe blisters that the body glide seems to help, but not that one toe. Drives me crazy. I got the Targhee's specifically for the wide toe box to prevent this kind of thing which has been worse in other boots.

The next thing I'm going to try is different socks. A friend swears by these liner socks that have 'fingers' in them for the toes. Not sure how else to describe them, they're like gloves for you feet, where regular socks are like mittens. I'll get a chance to try them out on a longish hike over the weekend of the 15th. I'll let you know how they work.

-k

Dancers have toe problems, perhaps every bit as often as do backpackers. There are a number of products to solve specific foot problems associated with the stresses and loads of dancing.

Bunheads..... a manufacturer and distributor of foot problem aids for dancers.

Bunheads

or just www.bunheads.com and look in /products/gel products.

I recently found this and had good success with stopping painful irritation in one toe with the stretch gel cap product. Maybe they will do something about your problem.