Skates "biting" into my ankle

[skatingintexas]

I have SP Teri skates that I got in about June of last year. I feel like they are broken in, but recently my skates have started to kinda bit into my ankles when I do edges or go into spins. If I loosen my skates, they feel too lose to skate in. I wear bunga pads already. Does anyone have any other ideas about extra padding or tips on how to prevent this? Thanks! 

[Loops]

My old skates chewed th flesh around the top of my boot
There was usually bloot. Silipos sleeves saved the day. Are the different from he bunga ones you're using?

[skatingintexas]

After I quick google, they're the same thing. Maybe I should rephrase a little. It's not so much biting as causing ankle pain. Does that make sense? Like where the boot hits the ankle it hurts, but isn't cutting into it.

[Loops]

Is the problem at the top of the skate? If so I don't know what to tell you.  We did used to put cosmetic sponges around our ankles but that would serve the same purpose as the gel sleeves. But if it's down further in the shaft of the boot maybe you could have it punched out?

Maybe talk to your skate tech?

Good luck!

[DressmakingMomma]

If the pain is by your inner or outer ankle bones, you may be rolling your foot in or out. Do you pronate or supplinate? My dd's inner ankles hurt (she pronates quite a bit), but once a heel wedge was added under her insole to roll her foot back into a neutral position, she felt good.

[Christy]

If you are talking about the top of the boots then you could try putting moleskin around them to provide extra padding.

[skatingintexas]

@dressmakingmomma I don't think my foot is rolling. The skates I have are custom because not only do I have a wide foot, it's thick (weird, I know), and I have a very low arch so none of the shelf bought or even semi-custom worked with me. I've had 3 pairs of skates and I've been skating for only 4 years. As for talking to a skate tech, we don't really have on I got measured for my skates at a competition and the closest skate shop is four hours away. Although I am going there for another reason later this month... I might try the moleskin, maybe it will give me just a little more padding and that will be enough. Thanks for all the advice so far! This is a wonderful site!

[Query]

To have a comprehensive discussion, it would help to know:

1. Where is it biting? Front, back, inside, outside... ?

2. What model skate?

3. If your foot is in the air, and you point it as far as you can, does it bite?

4. How about if you do the opposite (flex it as far as you can)?

(My belief is that the answer to 3 and 4 should be no, if the boot fits properly. There are things you can do.)

5. If you pronate or supinate (i.e., bend your ankle sideways a bit), does it bite?

6. What type of liner does your boot have? I.E., is it just leather, nice soft fleece...?

7. What thickness of socks are you wearing - none, thin liner, ordinary, thick? I have recently moved to having more space inside my boots (we can discuss this if you don't know how), and wearing thick fuzzy ski socks - the opposite of what I used to think was right. I love the way it feels! But I'm not sure that would work if you are doing high level jumps.

8. How tight does your boot feel in general?

[sarahspins]

Like where the boot hits the ankle it hurts, but isn't cutting into it.

It sounds to me like you need to get them punched at the ankles - that will allow you to tie them sufficiently tight for support but stop the pressure on your ankle bones.  Sometimes with newer skates this punching doesn't seem necessary at first, but as the skates break in and the interior padding compresses, they allow more pressure to be put on the ankle bones, and then you do need them punched.  ANY pro shop with a punch press can do this, even if all they primarily serve are hockey skaters.  You'll need to mark where the center of each punch should be before dropping them off.

[icedancer]

I'm also wondering which SP Teri boot you are wearing - they are notoriously stiff boots - hard to really break in - and yes, you might just need them punched out at the ankles.

[AgnesNitt]

Rather than loosening your laces, why not try tying them different ways? Maybe don't tie at the ankle, maybe pull down on the laces rather than up. Youtube figure skate tying videos. The one from skater's landing is instructive. I've also seen others. There's lots of techniques.

[skatingintexas]

Thanks for all the responses. They are custom and the man how sized me and everything actually put down to have them made so that they weren't as hard so it would be easier to break in. Our pro shop recently closed, so I'll try the some of the other ideas and see what works.

[PhysicsOnIce]

If you are dealing with Sp-Teri's, call George directly, specially if this are fully customs boots. He and his son Erin are wonderful, they will definitively give an idea of what might be going on. I had rather serious problems with my skates which did not really show up until about 2 to 3 months after I purchased them.

Could it be possible that you took a fall that hit the ankle pretty hard and may have caused some unseen bruising to either the ankle bone or ankle bursa? I am assuming that it is on the inside of your ankle.

[skatingintexas]

If you are dealing with Sp-Teri's, call George directly, specially if this are fully customs boots. He and his son Erin are wonderful, they will definitively give an idea of what might be going on. I had rather serious problems with my skates which did not really show up until about 2 to 3 months after I purchased them.

Could it be possible that you took a fall that hit the ankle pretty hard and may have caused some unseen bruising to either the ankle bone or ankle bursa? I am assuming that it is on the inside of your ankle.

It's actually more the outside. These last few times it hasn't been bothering me, but I will keep that in mind if it starts up again! Thanks everyone!

[Query]

It is very important that you have close-to-equal pressure on different parts of the sides and bottom of your feet, otherwise you will get a high pressure point where it touches most. Does it?

Even if it was custom, it probably still needed to be heat molded to your foot. Did the fitter do that?