Haglund's deformity boot fitter recommendations??

Defreeski

Member
Hey everybody, wondering if anybody has Haglund's deformity and if you guys have any boot fitter's you went to that helped solve your problems. Would really appreciate the recommendation. (Looking for anywhere in the mid-atlantic, North East as far as VT/NH, or SLC area.)

About 5 years ago living in mammoth, I was using Salomon's Ghost 100's which had an awful design where the baseplate part of heel was soft so it would absorb landings.. Well, if you landed switch with enough force, your heal would sink and absorb the landing but then it would create more space inside the boot and my heals in turn would slam the back part of the boot every time I landed switch. At that time, I was skiing Mammoth's bigger jump section and so the force was great enough that the fluid-filled sac (bursa) in between my achilles tendon and heel bone became inflamed and created a bony enlargement on the back of both my heal's and is now very sensitive in ski boot's especially.

It really sucks and I haven't been able to ski the same since. It is painful every time I ski, and I normally just take a bunch of Advil, try not to land switch as much, absolutely don't butter, and push through the pain.

At the moment, I am skiing in Atomic's Hawx Ultra 120 which i modified to have the 130 flex. It is one of the few boots that work for me that won't break my bank and after one of the boots pretty much blew up on me in the park, Atomic sent me brand new one's so I'd like to stick with them for now. I am using stock liners and will probably get some intuition liners to see if that helps at all.. Have been meaning to get them any way.

Any recommendations of your trusted boot fitting experts would be much appreciated!
 
Where are you now?

If you can drive in the northeast, your options are limitless.

If you're near the Catskills, Marc Stewart at Windham is great.

If you're near S. VT, Green Mountain Orthotic Lab or the Boot Pro are highly recommended.

If you're near N. VT, Inner Bootworks or Race Stock Sports (P.J. Dewey) are some of the best.
 
If you’re willing, check out Fire On The Mountain in Dover, New Hampshire (about an hour north of Boston). The boot fitter Andy has been fitting for almost 30 years and the man can do anything. I work there and he fit me up in a pair of Scarpa Maestrale RSs I got. I have an atrocious instep, narrow heel and wide forefoot and my boots are now the most comfortable thing I’ve ever had on my feet
 
14074237:amccahill93 said:
I got my bone spurs and bursa removed surgically bc no matter how much boot work I did it always hurt

Oh man.. That's what I'm trying to avoid. Figured I'd try getting boots fit better first. What was recovery like?
 
14074146:.MASSHOLE. said:
Where are you now?

If you can drive in the northeast, your options are limitless.

If you're near the Catskills, Marc Stewart at Windham is great.

If you're near S. VT, Green Mountain Orthotic Lab or the Boot Pro are highly recommended.

If you're near N. VT, Inner Bootworks or Race Stock Sports (P.J. Dewey) are some of the best.

Thanks!! I'm local to Philly at the moment, but am willing to take a trip for someone highly recommended.
 
Stitches were in for 6 weeks and completely healed 2 months in. I'm glad I did it, worth every minute spent on the couch the first time I put on my boots and didnt lose feeling in my foot from pain. Mine was on top of my foot though with a nerve and blood vessel running over it. Yours sounds like maybe it's a trickier spot, but I really recommend it if it's an option. Hold out till spring if you can and then do it

14074337:Defreeski said:
Oh man.. That's what I'm trying to avoid. Figured I'd try getting boots fit better first. What was recovery like?
 
14074377:amccahill93 said:
Stitches were in for 6 weeks and completely healed 2 months in. I'm glad I did it, worth every minute spent on the couch the first time I put on my boots and didnt lose feeling in my foot from pain. Mine was on top of my foot though with a nerve and blood vessel running over it. Yours sounds like maybe it's a trickier spot, but I really recommend it if it's an option. Hold out till spring if you can and then do it

Oh wow! That's actually not as bad as I thought it'd be. I'm definitely gonna inquire more about that. I know exactly what nerve/blood vessel you are talking about. I get some pain up there sometimes but I don't think it's what you were going through.
 
14074337:Defreeski said:
Oh man.. That's what I'm trying to avoid. Figured I'd try getting boots fit better first. What was recovery like?

Normally, boot-fitters grind in this area but you will not want to grind the shell of a Hawx Ultra. The shell on the Ultra is super moldable and a boot-fitter can punch the shell exactly in the spot where you need it.

The next step will be getting the liner to move into the space that is created and that should also be do-able by taking a heat gun to the specific area of the liner and massaging it into the created space by hand.
 
Billy Kaplan is in Philadelphia suburbs 215 760-8226

He's a little under the radar but is one of the best.

Get multiple opinions on Haglunds surgery. It is very serious business.

Basically they disconnect your achilles to do it. Lots of potential complications.

Also if you have a flexible foot and no foot bed every time your foot pronates it is banging into the shell.

Go see Billy.
 
14074506:Turnfarmer said:
Billy Kaplan is in Philadelphia suburbs 215 760-8226

He's a little under the radar but is one of the best.

Get multiple opinions on Haglunds surgery. It is very serious business.

Basically they disconnect your achilles to do it. Lots of potential complications.

Also if you have a flexible foot and no foot bed every time your foot pronates it is banging into the shell.

Go see Billy.

Hey thanks! Does he work at Buckman's in philly or something? I'll hit him up.. Appreciate the help.

Yeah I try and stay away from surgery whenever possible so hopefully this will work out!
 
14074446:onenerdykid said:
Normally, boot-fitters grind in this area but you will not want to grind the shell of a Hawx Ultra. The shell on the Ultra is super moldable and a boot-fitter can punch the shell exactly in the spot where you need it.

The next step will be getting the liner to move into the space that is created and that should also be do-able by taking a heat gun to the specific area of the liner and massaging it into the created space by hand.

Thanks! I've only skied in these boots several times/3 times last season so they aren't very broken in I think still. I hope I don't make a mistake of getting these area's worked on before they are broken in a little more.
 
No Billy is on his own.

Though Buckmans has various people in various shops who could do a simple heel punch and footbeds. Especially that Boot, the plastic moves like pizza dough. Biggest issue is to not overheat it.

Billy has 4 sewing machines for doing different liner mod tasks. Different level.
 
Yeah billy does amazing linerwork but that level may not really be needed

I have found creating space like onenerdy advised by punching and then making sure the foot is moving as little as possible will work in most cases.

I have worked on some bad cases and have even created a padding inside the punch before which can work nicely.

Good footbeds are a must I find so see who you can find that does the best footbeds and shell work in your area.

Billy is for sure worth a look though.
 
14074828:tomPietrowski said:
Yeah billy does amazing linerwork but that level may not really be needed

I have found creating space like onenerdy advised by punching and then making sure the foot is moving as little as possible will work in most cases.

I have worked on some bad cases and have even created a padding inside the punch before which can work nicely.

Good footbeds are a must I find so see who you can find that does the best footbeds and shell work in your area.

Billy is for sure worth a look though.

Thanks! I got all set up with an apponitment with Billy. I've wanted to get some liner work done in other area's anyway actually so works out perfectly.
 
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