burning sidewalks scolding my feet...oh and your injuries?

okay..so while most of you are talking about how freaking cold it is for the barefooters...It is soo hot over here and my feet will probably end up melting by the end of the season.
also i stepped on glass
its gonna be a rough summer


yeeeah


so to make this thread have a point to it...What is everyone's worst barefooting injury?

 

I envy you. It's freakin cold here, I hate cold. I would much rather have hot than cold. Does it ever get real cold there? or cold at all?

 

yeah, it gets pretty damn freezing here as well. each season is pretty vivid.

 

Cold here too, but the summers are hot.This past summer I sat down nude on a large, dark colored rock while hiking naked in the woods, and it felt like my ass was frying, I jumped up after a few seconds, and mu cheeks were bright red on the area for a day or so.

 

..

 

I stepped in some hot tar, not hot enough to do any damage, but engough to make it very uncomfortable.


I agree with heero, I much rather it be hot than cold. It was 87 yesterday (southeast Texas) and it'll be lucky to get to 53 today and stay that way through the week.

I hate that BS people say, "I prefer cold because you can always put on more cloths", yeah until you're the size of a blimp and then you can't move. Regardless how much I have on, once my feet get cold, I'm cold. I much prefer heat, even if I'm sweating like a pig, I'm far more comfortable than being cold. COLD SUCKS.

oh, heero.. Yesterday, I stopped in at RS to get a surge protector strip and went in barefoot. Neither of the two guys there (both early 20's aged) gave me any hassle and one of them said I looked comfortable and how he hated having to wear "these stupid assed hard shoes" and much prefered flip flops. The other agreed.

 

Well I'm from Maine, and the heat we do get here is oppressive to me. Let's just say I like it warm. Not hot. Northern summers are wonderful. Anything much over 80F, especially with humidity, turns me into mush. Also, I do like winter, but I agree it's too long here. We Mainers always welcome an early spring, on the rare occasion it happens.

I probably barefoot longer each year than most people here, except for the ones who are in really tropical regions, because I can begin early and end late in weather that would be impossible for most. It is only in the cold core of winter that I simply cannot.

 

To answer your original question. My most common problem is thorns from roses, quince, etc, because I am outdoors all the time and I earn my living taking care of such barbed subjects. I end up having to dig out a thorn at least every other week from April thru October. I've gotten tough enough that I sometimes don't notice a thorn until a local infection starts, and once I notice that I take care of it and the infection goes away at once.

My worst and most painful come from sharp sticks in the forest, where I can walk nicely all the time. But when I don't pay attention, in shuffle mode, I can get a sharp pointy stab on the top of my foot---bleeds a lot, but no infection. Spruce points are the worst, in this climate.

 

Whats my worse barefooting injury?

Well I stubbed my toe on the corner of a sofa and broke it. How could I tell it was broken. Well with my little toe poking out at a funny angle it was quite obvious what had happened. If you look in my gallery you can see what I mean. Warning though it looks quite graphic!

Matt

 

My worst injury from going barefoot was actually really strange, and I'm not sure exactly how it happened...I was barefoot at a park, and I had to cross an asphalt bike path. As I was about halfway across, my right second toenail caught on some part of the asphalt, and tore the nail in half and pulled it away from the nail bed. I still don't really know how, because I am religious about keeping my nails short, and the tips smooth. Luckily it didn't get infected, and I didn't end up losing the nail either, but it sure as heck hurt, and I was bleeding like a stuck pig.

 

Last spring, I was playing soccer in my front yard with my son and I was BF. I went to kick the ball and my big toe on the left foot got caught in the grass and got bent under farther than it normally can go. Hurt like hell for several months. Then, about 2 months ago, my son made me mad and I kicked him in the ass and jambed the big toe on my right foot. It still hurts. All my other injuries are minor in comparisson.

 

My worst barefoot injury was when I was walking in a park on Randall's Island (in New York City) back in like 1999. I was playing disc golf on the small course there, and I stepped on a fallen twig from some tree that had thorny branches.

A thorn pierced my sole (I'll be darned if I can remember even which foot it was, let alone where on the sole: I think it was the left foot right by the border of the white arch skin and the tough pad at the ball of my foot) and after doing so, it broke off under the skin.

I sat down and used the tip of a very sharp pocket knife to dig out the thorn. It had gone straight into my sole, and when I managed to pry it out (I had to widen the hole it had made by a bit) I saw that it was every bit of an 1/8th -- possibly a 1/4 -- of an inch long! Nasty!!


Oh, and one time I was walking in flip-flops and kicked a concrete parking divider in the dark, making a bloodblister under my big toenail. The toenail never did fall off, but the blister went quite far back and most of the nail detached for the better part of year until it all grew back to normal. But that wasn't really a barefooting injury, though. Anyone wearing any kind of sandal could have had it happen to them.


-Jeffrey

 

riding my baike barefoot and dropping the chain drive part on my toe. i didn't even know it was bleeding until my kid told me.

 

I've had my share of injuries but none serious enough to require a doctor or make me feel shoes were the answer.
Broken both little toes on roots in the woods, at different times. Didn't need to tape 'em as I have enough muscle tone to keep them in place. They are both straighter now than before the breaks.
Scratches and cuts are common on the tops and sides of my feet from sticks, thorns and carelessness. I've found stepping down straight is good but, sometimes my feet swing back or to the side and will catch on things.
Glass is something I rarely have a problem with and often go out of my way to crunch some under my feet. Maybe 1 time in 100 will a shard cause a problem to us barefooters.
My toes were runover one time by a stroller pushing mom and developed purple welts that looked like little grapes. the grapes lasted over a week and would swell up at the end of the day. The mom never appologized and was rather rude, I bet the kid will be the same way.
Hot pavement has never been a problem for me even when in the caribean. However hot sand will sometimes cause problems on non-weight bearing areas like underneath the toe knuckles. I've even had little water blisters on the top of my toe knuckles. (very strange indeed) anyone else experience those?
Frostbite is very dangerous and very very painfull. It can damage the capilaries and cause long lasting circulatory problems. Play it safe in the snow and ice. My most recent experience was two winters ago on a windy 10f degree day. I got blackish spots under my sole pad that were excruciating. It hasn't stopped me from going bf in the snow but I'm more carefull now when temps dip below the teens. I'm sure previous frostbite played a part in that injury.
I love hiking barefoot and will continue to expand my barefooting. It's worth the risks. and so much more fun

 

One time I stepped in a puddle in which there was something sharp, probably glass because it made a small cut underneath my left big toe. Have to watch those rocks when walking barefoot through the woods. I jamed the end of a big toe on a rock sticking out from the ground, hurt like a bitch, but no damage.

 

I've broken both my little toes -once indoors, btw, when I was getting ready for bed, so while it was a foot injury it wasn't a specific 'barefooters' injury, anyone but the most rabid slipper-wearing shoddie would've been barefoot at the time. My two worst cuts were also in places many people would've been barefoot; cut myself when I slipped on seaweed when wading along the sea shore, where there were many rocks & oysters. Some people were wearing boots there when gathering oysters & tiny sea snails, because it was slippery of course, but I wasn't the only barefoot wader. And the other time I ran into the vacuum cleaner when I hadn't put it away, in the middle of the night on a bathroom run. The first cut didn't even bleed, it was all the way through my callouses but stopped just short of the blood vessels, however it was pretty long so still sorta annoying. I was only a beach/back yard barefooter at the time but it was midsummer and it was tender for at least a week. The second was the only injury I've ever had that bled more than a drop or two, but it healed extremely quick, only hurt a little the next day and then it was fine.

Even though I did finally post in this thread, I sorta think it's silly 'barefoot injuries' come up so often here... not just from curious shoddies, who truly don't know any better, but from other barefooters. I don't think I've ever seen a thread 'what is your worst hand injury' or 'have you ever had a bad head injury'. Just in case anyone is interested, and also to off-set the 'barefeet are dangerous' thing in case any shoddies read this thread: I've slammed my thumb in the door when I was little, got bit to the bone in my right middle finger by a horse when I was a teenager, got a scrape from another horse on the back of my hand that was really shallow but still scarred, slammed another finger sorta bad when unloading a heavy canoe into the water... oh and don't forget paper cuts, they're not serious but they always hurt like hell... stuffed envelopes at my first job every month when the monthly bills went out way-back-when that wasn't all done by email yet and always got at least one cut. So far from my hands. I've been lucky and never seriously bumped my head, once fell off a horse and hit my head but not bad enough to do real damage.

Okay all that was off-topic in 'bare it', but I've rarely if ever seen such threads in other forums either! What I'm getting at is we shouldn't let ourselves be influenced by these concerned non-barefooters too much... that they ask us because they're not used to seeing bare feet is one thing, but amongst ourselves, regular barefooters, stubbing a toe shouldn't really be different from any other injuries that just happen sometimes.

 

I don't really have any barefoot stories. I guess I'm just a lucky one. I do burn my feet a lot though when I'm walking in the summer. I hate shoes. The winter however, forces me to wear socks and shoes. Last winter though I used to wear flip flops all the time.

 

I have a real problem according to go barefeet.I think ive got a allergic reaction in the summer.I get little cracks underneath my toes.They hurt like hell.They dont bleed.But they show open flesch.Anyone fammiliar with this problem.

 

Wow, do I feel wimpy now! No stories- the worst I've gotten (so far) was stepping on tiny bits of broken glass that are impossible to get out, and when I keep stubbing the front of my big toe ont he sidewalk as I walk! Ugh. Oh wait, yes, 2 summers ago my friend and I were camping, and walking barefoot to the water, when I accidentally kicked a broken stick that was laying on the ground, and it managed to shove it's way under my toenail! Oh jeeze, I would like to recommend trying to *avoid* this one- not a pleasant experience!

 

Umm.. the most recent would have to be the incident where | was playing soccer barefoot. | slipped in a patch of wet grass while trying to-- -Wait- that was my ankle | busted up... not my foot. Nevermind.

|'ve never gotten anything serious. What | consider serious is something that would make me limp or prevent me from walking. Blahblahblah. If it causes me pain |'ll notice it. |'ll usually not notice any injuries other than that because- they're just my feet. | don't really think about them. They're just there!