Pain on my first Camino.

Question

I'll keep it brief. I started in Irún, and now I'm in Bilbao on the Northern route. I had a pretty decent go of it until Larrabetzu when the foot pain made it difficult to walk around later after getting to my room.

I'm flatfooted, about 10kg overweight and not very trained up for hiking but I do run a few times a week back home. My pack is probably right at 10kg.

My question: what kind of pain is normal after your 20-30km days? Any ways to mitigate it? I'm wearing some hiking shoes with cleats. Maybe that's doing it since the pain is mostly on flat, street terrain? Any advice is helpful.

in CaminoDeSantiagoby Mydnight69Camino del Norte

81%

13d

unseemly_turbidity

13d

See if you can pick up a golf ball while you're shopping for inner soles/trainers. Use it to massage the muscles around the arch of your foot by putting some weight on it and rolling it around on the floor.

kattattonik

13d

A lot of the Norte is on roads/hard paths so it sounds as though you might need a more cushioned shoe (Hoka trail runner for example) possibly with a hiking insole for further cushioning. At the end of the day you shouldn't have pain really - tired and sore perhaps, but pain means you need to correct the cause imo.

Mydnight69

Camino del Norte

13d

Indeed. The shoes I have were wonderful for hiking up those super muddy trails outside of the towns but not so great for walking on the road. Today's goal besides rest is looking for good insoles.

Subject-Effect4537

13d

Get poles at declathlon. They reduce the weight you put on your feet tremendously! If the sticks don’t have rubber stoppers on them already, buy some. They’re cheap. You’ll want to use the rubber stoppers on paved terrain. I actually never took mine off.

Appropriate-Ad-1281

13d

I’m a few weeks ahead of you.

I was thrilled to have my boots/ankle support for that first week.

But now that the terrain has leveled out (somewhat) they occasionally feel like a liability

kattattonik

13d

There's a Decathlon in Bilbao - they generally have a limited range of insoles.

rest_api

Francés: caminoapp.org

13d

About 3/4 of my way through my first I had intense pain in the arch of my foot, it took me hours to start my walk out of Leon, and thought I’d have to quit. Pharmacies were charging an extortionate amount for a sole insert so I stuffed a load of tissue under the arch of my foot and that was good enough to get me to Santiago

Mydnight69

Camino del Norte

13d

Sounds harrowing. I've had sore feet before but never pain like this. The pain is indeed around my arches.

pissshitfuckcuntcock

13d

Which part of the foot exactly are you feeling the pain, solely at the bottom, or in the ankle or top? If it’s just general soreness at the bottom then you can probably manage it by icing it at the end of each day or putting them in cold water. Take anti-histamine and ibuprofen for the swelling. Maybe switch up the shoes for runners and then buy some gel insoles, they sell them for about 10 or so euro at Decathlon. If the pain is on your achilles tendon, or on the top part of your foot that could mean a stress fracture or a tear in the tendon and that is going take rest and time.

Mydnight69

Camino del Norte

13d

The pain is on the inside of my feet around the ankles. I did a lot of martial arts and kickboxing as a kid and it left me with messed up ankles. I believe the pain is due to I'm flatfooted and too heavy. We're hitting up Decathlon today, so I'll be looking for insoles.

I just saw your handle on here and it gave me a good laugh. Love it. Hahaha

pissshitfuckcuntcock

13d

Haha yeah, I think its from a Radiohead lyric 🤔

I have no experience with pain in that area, but I think it should be manageable and is just general soreness. Someone better qualified should answer that though.

Subject-Effect4537

13d

Try finding a podiatrist or “zapeteria.” I couldn’t find insoles at decathlon, but was able to have them direct me to a dedicated shoe store where they were sold.

Throwaway_elle_T

13d

I’ve been having trouble with foot pain too (from an injury). Perhaps try a rest day with RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) then if you can buy some tape anywhere try taping your foot. Wrap it around, tight but not too tight, to support your arch. Gently stretch as often as you can. If you can find a clinic that offers shockwave therapy that can help; it promotes bloodflow for healing and also helps soothe the pain receptors.

Subject-Effect4537

13d

Walking sticks and ibuprofeno. Watch a YouTube video on how to use them, it’s easy. I’ve still had foot pain every day, but the ibuprofeno helped tremendously. They’ll have it at any pharmacy’s just make sure you take it with food.

I’m also flat footed. Also keep in mind that it’s worse in the morning!! After getting started and moving your feet it should quiet down a little bit. Also, this is probably bad advice, but my pain would disappear in the afternoon after a rum and Coke Zero. Definitely not an every day solution, but boy did it get me through some difficult long days at the end, lol.

Mydnight69

Camino del Norte

13d

Just had my lunch pintxo and beer, indeed it does help. Taking a day in Bilbao for rest.

LofiLute

13d

Rest. I had a policy of taking 2 or 3 days off when I reached a major city on the Frances, and that really helped manage my foot pain. You may just need to take it easier than others.

Also someone else mentioned a Rum and Coke Zero at the end of the day, and I second that. When I got to my albergue the first thing I did after setting settled in was find a pub and have a beer or two. Way better than ibuprofen.

TrashPanda_34

13d

I had the same issues and pushed myself too hard with the pain, so I eventually had to stop. My ankles were really swollen from wearing the wrong shoes for my feet and carrying extra weight. My suggestions, as others have said: walking poles, shoes with insoles, and make sure the shoes are not tied too tightly (for extra space in case of swelling). Rest, ice, elevation, and ibuprofen at night. Rest days when needed to deal with the pain. I was too stubborn to follow this regimen so I learned the hard way.

Ps. Walk your own Camino. I got discouraged by a few peregrinos shaming me for not having prepared better for these types of issues. There’s no shame. Just do what you need to do.

guy_cloutier

13d

I discovered what plantar fasciitis means during my camino. Extreme pain. Get a good pair of super cushioned shoes like Hoka Bondi (every brand have their own). It's not a miracle, but it help.

Lower your mileage for a few days, get good insoles, buy hiking sticks and slackpack if you can.