Heel Bruising Question

How many get them? How often?

I rode two days last weekend and now my heels are real sore, but not too sore to go his weekend.....

I can't say it's ever happened to me.

What type of bindings do you have? }

Yeah, I seem to get it every year especially landing a scarecrow hard on the front foot. I ice it and everything, it sucks to get cause it can nag on all season.

never got any, i bet it sucks though

i have had em before but never from wakeboarding. had em from playin ball barefoot. it does suck once u get one. they last quite a while. if ur gettin them while ridin i would recomend some new bindings. try somethin from the new hyperlite lineup. the foot padding is super comfy and i would say theres alomst 100 percent chance theres no way ull bruise ur heels in them. good luck.

Yea never had em from wakeboarding, but had em from playing bball barefoot.. They do suck

I bruised my heels occasionally back in the 98ish days when foot beds aren't half the quality they are today.

Bindings, what type?? LF EXOS, I've been pounding the s--- out of mine since 03' and never had swolen/bruised or twisted ankles,heels!

Sorry, just checked your profile...Found out your reason for bruised heels....
Remedy: Switch to an IO

I used to bruise my heels on double-ups when I had Ultras, but with my Transits I've never had that problem.

Nice boat btw.

It may be fallen arches due to the impact, something about strained tendons that are being torn from your heel upon impact create the pain which may not be a bruise, but sure as hell feels like one. Think of it this way, as you land, the majority of your impact can be on the balls of your feet and your heels, better arch supports spread out the impact. I have been killing mine during the past few summers to the point of not being able to walk barefoot. My orthopedic doc. cousin recommended better arch supports. I am going to actually glue in dr. scholls arch supports this summer to my bindings. HO actually used to have adjustable arch supports in their high end slalom bindings in the nineties. You would adjust them by cranking up a little ramp in the baseplate under the footbeds with an allen wrench. Not a bad idea for the wake industry-HELLO OUT THERE! Definitely get some arch supports for your shoes for now and see if it makes an improvement.

schooledrider (rmcronin) - interesting. Here's something to think about. My ultras had more arch support than my Transits, so maybe I had too much arch support, causing the bruising sensation from landings?

Thanks for the info everyone. That is an interresting idea on the arch supports. What would be cool is if you could adjust the arch support with a air pump. Probably my main problem is my bindings, 98' HL 3060's, which have been great until I started riding behind my new boat, now I'm getting more air than ever. I'll get some arch supports and glue them in and see how that works.

Sorry Jeff, I'm not an I/O kind of guy, I'd rather live with the pain....

(Message edited by byrd on March 19, 2006)

98... yeah that's the old school technology I was talking about. Try on some new boots the footbeds are all much improved.

Heck yea I bruise my heel. Drives me crazy. I aggrivated it for the first time last Fall, when I was running I put my heel in a hole, twisted my foot and my knee, both bothered me really bad for a couple days, but the heel bothered me for weeks afterwards. I thought it had gone away until Friday, I was on the trampoline, and came down with my heel in one of the tiny holes on the tramp...well, it's not tiny any more and neitehr is my heel...

Try some LF bindings, by far the most comfortable and supportive /ive tried. The footbed cushions your landings plus it has arch supports. I have the transits

Last summer I went out and just carved around, went off the wake fora small jump and wam...my heel bruised up super fast. I got back in the boat and couldnt even stand up. Took a few days off work it hurt for about a week and a half. Have no idea what that was all about.

Try some Zeus 06. Probably the best heel support on any binding out.

I'm just coming off a bruised heel. The key is to wear good arch supports in your shoes that DON'T have them.....ie. dress shoes, or boots. If you take care of them off the water, you shouldn't have many issues while riding. I will say....it seems that once you "break" an arch, you have issues with them. Get some "orthodics"...it's like a heel cushion and arch support in one.

HOw do you put arch supports on flip flops???? JK, good advice....

Hey, those 3060's are old school. Get some new bindings that have a thick, cushy footbed. I used to get heal bruises with my old Belmonts. Bindings have gotten soooo much better.

Like Leo said, I love my '06 Zeus'. Super comfy with tons of support.

Byrd,
I have found in the past that the footbed cushion is less import than if you get heel lift in your bindings. If your bindings don't hold your heel down, then when your heel comes up and you land, your heel smashes down on the foot bed. I had some super thick comfy bindings and I could get about 1/2" lift on my heel when standing on the board, land in the flats a couple of times and bruised heels. I agree with all the comments with the new bindings, but when trying them on, make sure you have good support holding your heel firmly in place and there will be more of a benefit.

I just typed this out for a hockey forum I'm on; It's about my heel problems...

"I have a mild case of planter-fascitois. It really only acts up on me severely during soccer season in the fall when I'm doing alot of running, and I think this is due to the flexing of the foot. Also, this past winter while snowboarding, I took a hard impact on my heel (where the problem originates) and it almost felt as if it was shattered.

This past fall I got insoles that help with my arches and supporting them. They're not cheap walmart gel pads, they actually support my entire arch. I got them from a local store called Good Feet, and they're definately not a gimmic. They significantly reduce the pain and stress on my feet when wearing them in my soccer cleats, and I wear them almost daily in my school shoes. I did not have them in my snowboard boots when I took the impact mentioned above, but I believe they would have prevented some of the pain. Also, I do not regularly wear them in my goal skates due to the strange way they fit in the skates. Also, I found it not as necessary as the bed of my foot does not bend and flex in my skates as it does in shoes.

This is just my personal experience but I reccomend trying this out and hit me up if you have any questions..."

I have not used them in my wake bindings but an X-1 is on the way this spring so I know the impacts are going to get harder than before behing the old I/O. My only hope is that I ordered a pair of the new Zeus' so hopefully that will help, as I feel it would be a bit sloppy gluing the arch supports in.

Byrd.....funny you bring that up, but I believe we, as a wake and surf culture who spend more than average time in flip flops during the year, are prone to deal with arch and heel issues.....well except maybe the poser high school/college crowd that seem to wear them everyday now. I will say, out of all my flip flops...my Rainbows are the most comfy. I love all my Reefs, but if I wear them a few days in a row, I have some heel pain.

Ha, ha, I agree. During the summer I think the most supportive thing I wear is my wakeboard bindings. BTW I really like the Sanuk flip flops. They have pretty good arch support.