In the past, I saw stuff on the Internet claiming that there can be medical problems if shoes or boots contact the sides or front of the toes, and I have mentioned that in this forum.
I saw a podiatrist yesterday, partly because I had occasional numbness and cramps in my big toes. (Not, BTW, just when skating.) The Podiatrist said that might be arthritis or internal swelling; asked me to get x-rays, and prescribed an anti-inflammatory gel.
During the appointment I asked her about toe contact. She said that isn't necessarily true, that such contact is usually fine. Though I suppose she meant reasonable pressure, not high pressure.
BTW she is not, AFAIK, a certified sports podiatrist (though her Bio says she treats and does surgery for sports injuries), and is not one of the few sports podiatrists that skaters in this region are often advised to see. Unfortunately, no sports podiatrists are covered by my insurance, so I saw a podiatrist who was. She didn't even know what a ball and ring (or hoke and ball) pliers were, and suggested that one could deal with tight contact points by putting a tennis ball inside a shoe (which I think might help for a very soft shoe, but not with most ice skates, unless
perhaps it were done while heat molding).
Is that consistent with what the other podiatrists have said to members of these forums?I know some people on this forum have mentioned that they skate (jump?) best if the front of their toe(s) do touch the front of the skate.
I also asked her about my understanding that one should normally have fairly uniform pressure over the rest of the foot. She didn't seem to think that was all that important. She did, however, give me a prescription for orthopedic shoes (I don't know if they provide skate boots too - that would be really nice, since I really should get new skate boots
), and said the cost of such shoes would be covered for me, I think partly because I am diabetic.
She also said that I would probably not develop "diabetic feet" (i.e., neuropathy = a lack of feeling in the feet), if I control my glucose and A1C levels down with medicines (as I am mostly doing). I hope she is right, because it would be much harder to correctly fit shoes and boots if I do.