Long Story short, my newish boots have made me fully realize that I suffer from Morton's Neuroma. My last 15 mile trip with a heavy pack left my feet buzzing and 4 days later they are still buzzing. I am afraid I need some new hiking boots and some good insoles.

A google search shows that I am far from alone on this issue. Many folks suffer from it and find relief from the right combo of boots and inserts.

Hopefully some folks can recommend some boots for me to look at. My feet are your typical 9.5 US and it looks like I have a somewhat narrow heel but have a wide ball of the foot and toe area.

I currently use some Asolo TPS boots that are medium width. Great boots and I cringe at retiring them with 100 miles on em, but the pain and aftershock is too great. I am also worried that I will permanently damage the nerves so I need to switch out and bite the bullet.

If anyone knows some good wide toebox boots suited for backpacking that have a narrow type heel cup I would appreciate the info. Also, anyone who has dealt with Neuroma and kept doing what they do, their advice is appreciated.

I am pretty sad as the backcountry is really important to me and I have a bunch more to do this year. hopefully I can get the boots and insoles that keep me cranking.

Thanks in advance

I get these neuromas from time to time. One thing is to try a cortisone shot before resorting to changing boots. When I develop a neuroma, it is painful when I run, but I get minimal discomfort when I have on a heavy hiking or mountaineering boot.

Are you certain it's a neuroma? I'm curious about your "buzzing" symptom.

Mountain Impulse wrote:I get these neuromas from time to time. One thing is to try a cortisone shot before resorting to changing boots. When I develop a neuroma, it is painful when I run, but I get minimal discomfort when I have on a heavy hiking or mountaineering boot.

Are you certain it's a neuroma? I'm curious about your "buzzing" symptom.

MI, thanks for the response.

When Hiking I get electrical shocks in the toes and foot pain on the balls of the feet. This is consistent with Neuroma. Usually it subsided when I came off the trail. This time it is hanging on. The buzzing is the nerves going back and forth between numb and feeling kind of like when you get numb from cold or an impact to a nerve and the feeling comes back. It's better today and will probably be gone by the weekend.

I am pretty sure I am developing a neuroma and need to ditch my boots. I think if I keep wearing them and don't get some good inserts I will make it worse.

Kaylands have a wide toe box.

fluxlib wrote:I am pretty sure I am developing a neuroma and need to ditch my boots. I think if I keep wearing them and don't get some good inserts I will make it worse.

I've used metatarsal pads. Sometimes they seem to work, i.e., alleviate the pain by spreading out the bones/tissue so that the nerve isn't pinched, and sometimes the pads just feel like a big lump in my shoes, especially in a running shoe, and don't really help.

Good luck with the insert.

Thanks for the responses thus far.

I had a pair of Merrell wilderness that lasted forever and were so formed to my feet that I never had any issue really. They finally died after 3 soles, so I replaced with the Asolo's which are a more modern boot. I think I messed up by assuming that the Medium was fine. Thus my troubles began, could be getting older too though. Really like the boots except for the toe width which is something that can cause the Neuroma. I am a hiker and scrambler, but I think good footwear is pretty universal for everyone in the outdoors.

I'm totally with you on this one. After way too much trial and error, here you go:

Backpacking: Lowa Tibet Pro GTX® (Wide Width)

Mountaineering: LA SPORTIVA Nepal EVO GTX

High Altitude Mountaineering: Still in progress. Tried Asolo Base Camp GV, but had numb pinky toes for a month after. Probably needed more break-in time, but they worked.


I didn't try the La Sportiva's until last in my epic "wide foot narrow heel" boot quest because I always heard they ran narrow. Not the Nepals if you size up a bit from what you would normally wear. The best part is that there is no heel slip at all.

Good Luck

I have a short wide foot and have had good luck with Meindle, Han Wag, and Lowa

In my experience Scarpa's generally have a wider toe box (using the Scarpa Phantom Guide's myself).

Good luck!

Thanks again for the responses. The neuroma is calming down a week later and all seems well. I feel pretty dumb now because looking back at mail ordering boots without trying them on seems pretty risky. My foot is a 9.5 length without a doubt, it's the width thing that I never really knew about and it seems that my foot is on the wider side around the metatarsal area where the neuroma is. Not the boots fault, mine completely.

I tried on a pair of Merrell perimeters yesterday and they had a ton more room than my old boots in the toes. I guess I better just try a bunch of Scrapas, Lowas, Merrells, and whatever I can get my feet into. Gonna do this with an insert and a pair of socks on too.

Foolish, but lesson learned.

How stiff do the boots need to be? Vasque sells many wide-toe-box hiking shoes in wide sizes.

I use a shoe stretcher (carefully) to widen the toe area.

I ended up trying on about 8 pairs of boots in varying widths and materials. I felt so picky but I was very nervous about buying the wrong boots and repeating my problems.

I had on a pair of Vasque Summit GTX's that felt great. Really nicely made boots with high quality leather and the sole had some forgiveness in it. They were just a tad skinny on the metatarsal area and that concerned me. I am sure they would have stretched a bit. I almost wrapped em up and went hiking but I tried a pair of Merrells that fit the bill too.

I ended up purchasing the Merrell perimeters. They are pretty wide and have a nice toebox as well. They may be a tad shorter than I like, but they were very comfortable and the salesperson helping me assured they would stretch out pretty well. I like that they have a toe rand, the sierra beats the crap out of boots. I popped in a pair of Down Under insoles and I was ready to go. I hiked about 5 miles in them up and down about 1000 ft. They are grippy and my foot problems were minimal in my right foot and non-existent in my left. I kept them on for a couple hours after the hike too.

I do think I need a gel insert. I bought some 40 dollar ones but am gonna try a pair of Spenco gels to see if they help diffuse the pressure under my metatarsal joints. I think I simply have bad feet and need to go the extra distance with footbeds and the right boots.

Thanks all for the suggestions.