I’ve just bought a lovely new pair of winter boots and they seriously are the business - great fit and toasty warm. However, just like every single other pair of boots I’ve ever worn, they do dig into the back of my leg, just above the heel, eventually causing a blister Apart from plasters, does anyone have the same problem and found a solution?
Reminds me of basic training in 1966. I had to stuff cotton balls around my ankles, but after a few weeks my skin toughened up a bit (somehow) and I was able to wear combat boots without the cotton.
I have had a similar issue with a pair of hiking boots. There was pressure where my achilles tendon met the top of my heel bone. I had to rip out the insoles and replace them with thinner ones.
In your case, if it’s just light friction, I’d wear the new boots with moleskin on my heel until my skin toughened up and got used to the new boots.
Moleskin. Or if that’s not enough, Molefoam.
Could be a couple of things. Start by changing how you lace your boots - I know from running that if I’m not very particular about how tight I lace my shoes in particular areas I can get some nasty blisters. It took me a while to figure out that I needed the shoe tighter in the areas where I was blistering - stops my foot from sliding around relative to the shoe.
Many boots have an eyelet or two set back midway from your instep towards your heel (imagine a 45 degree angle going from instep to heel, along that line). You can lace your boot tighter there to draw your foot back tighter into the heel cup, then make the lacing that goes up the shin snugger if needed to keep everything in place. Not so tight that it’s uncomfortable but you don’t want your foot wiggling around loose and sloppy in the boot.
What kind of socks do you wear? Cotton socks are awful, make sure that you are wearing some kind of decent wool/wool blend/synthetic sock. My run of the mill socks are inexpensive wool/nylon types that I get at CostCo - about $10 for four pairs, they’re great. Your local REI or camping/outdoors store will carry them as well. They cost more than cheapo cotton socks but are absolutely worth it. Unlike cotton, these will not soak up moisture and bunch up/stick to your skin. Instead they pull moisture away from your foot to the outer layer of the sock where it can evaporate. Wet feet and socks that stick to your skin are two of the major causes of blisters. If you’re really having problems a nice thin pair of liner socks is a great addition - typically a very thin polypropylene sock, they cost about $6 a pair and last for years. You wear them under your regular sock and like thermal underwear they move moisture away from your skin very quickly so your feet stay dry. They’re also slippery so you have two layers of sock sliding against each other which really cuts down on friction.
Since you’ve had this problem with other boots I’m willing to bet it’s not something wrong with the build of your current pair but check that there’s no funny lump of material in that area, a seam or anything like that that might be rubbing on the skin.
As ever, many thanks to everyone who replied - it’s given me some ideas to try.
I’m currently wearing cashmere/nylon mix pair of socks or just basic cotton ones so I’ll definitely look into getting proper socks. I’ll experiment with the lacing too, see if making them tighter at the ankle helps.
Thanks, everyone! 