Punch Out Fail, Boots ruined?

[tinglingstars]

Hello,

so I fear I have messed up and ruined my boots :/

I have Risport RF3s that fit well over all. I've worn them for the latter half of last season when I started skating and then ever since the rinks opened this past November, I've been on the ice 2-3 times a week with them.

I had them heat molded and punched out originally at the left ball of the foot area and that's it for adjustments.

Now since wearing them more often, I've often had pain on the outside of my right ankle. Sometimes it would be perfectly fine, other days the pain would be so bad I could hardly skate at all because my ankle dug into the boot so bad.

So when I had to get the blades sharpened now, I made the trip to the skate shop to get them punched out at the ankle too. There's only like 4 pro shops in the whole Country, so it's a whole act.
I showed them where, at the time, I though it hurt, they put a little sticker on it and I left the skates there and got them back in the mail a week later.
They did the job well, the punch out is Exactly where I showed them.

But now after skating on them for the first time since that, I've gotten off with THE WORST ankle pain. Like, before it was uncomfortable but as soon as I had the skates off, it was fine.
Today when I took them off, my ankle screamed and was super red and the pain still persists a good while after having taken the skates off.

I think it's because I might've been like 1cm off from where it hurt when I showed them where to punch out?
It's just so difficult to show on the outside of the boot where it hurts inside, since you can't see and feel through it and I'm so bad with body perception to start with. and apparently I messed up and now what was sometimes bad but often fine before is unmanageable pain wise.

What do I even do now? I can't easily get them punched out again, since the shop is so far away. And I don't even know if it's gonna be possible at all?
Since the area where it has been punched and where I apparently actually need it overlaps?

Please tell me if I've ruined these still new-ish boots completely?

 

[tstop4me]

Hello,

so I fear I have messed up and ruined my boots :/

I have Risport RF3s that fit well over all. I've worn them for the latter half of last season when I started skating and then ever since the rinks opened this past November, I've been on the ice 2-3 times a week with them.

I had them heat molded and punched out originally at the left ball of the foot area and that's it for adjustments.

Now since wearing them more often, I've often had pain on the outside of my right ankle. Sometimes it would be perfectly fine, other days the pain would be so bad I could hardly skate at all because my ankle dug into the boot so bad.

So when I had to get the blades sharpened now, I made the trip to the skate shop to get them punched out at the ankle too. There's only like 4 pro shops in the whole Country, so it's a whole act.
I showed them where, at the time, I though it hurt, they put a little sticker on it and I left the skates there and got them back in the mail a week later.
They did the job well, the punch out is Exactly where I showed them.

But now after skating on them for the first time since that, I've gotten off with THE WORST ankle pain. Like, before it was uncomfortable but as soon as I had the skates off, it was fine.
Today when I took them off, my ankle screamed and was super red and the pain still persists a good while after having taken the skates off.

I think it's because I might've been like 1cm off from where it hurt when I showed them where to punch out?
It's just so difficult to show on the outside of the boot where it hurts inside, since you can't see and feel through it and I'm so bad with body perception to start with. and apparently I messed up and now what was sometimes bad but often fine before is unmanageable pain wise.

What do I even do now? I can't easily get them punched out again, since the shop is so far away. And I don't even know if it's gonna be possible at all?
Since the area where it has been punched and where I apparently actually need it overlaps?

Please tell me if I've ruined these still new-ish boots completely?

Your best bet is to go back to the shop in person. Of course, call them up first to discuss your situation.

Let them look at the boot and look at your foot. Lace up and have them probe around for pressure points. Depending on the extent and severity of the currently modified region of the boot and the extent and severity of the needed future modified region of the boot, they may be able to reshape a larger region to encompass both. But they will need an in-person inspection to determine what can be done.

 

[Query]

I doubt you have ruined the boots, though it is possible they fit you so badly that infrequent punching isn't enough. If at all reasonably possible, traveling to that store again really would make the most sense.

I wonder if the long travel distance is an issue. A good major punch should really take overnight or longer to do - some say 24 hours. If you asked them to do it more quickly, a substantial leather stretch might not hold. And did they use spot heat to help the stretch?

There are tools we could recommend to re-punch yourself, if you really need to keep redoing this, because the boot cannot hold sufficient stretch for very long. But as with many things, there are things to learn, and knowledge specific to your boot model to be investigated (e.g., safe temperatures to which the punch spot can be raised, because leather stretching works a lot better hot).

Did you mean Risport RF3 "Pro"?

BTW, some people leave their boots in hot unventilated cars, or in other non-temperature-controlled environments. I've even heard of people putting their boots on a wood stove to dry them out. Either mostly undoes any heat mold or punch (stretch) the store has done, or at least that used to be true, when stretching a skate was mostly just stretching leather. I hope you don't do these things, but have done your best to make sure they don't get much above body temperature after heat molding and punching.

Another properly done heat mold (done BEFORE any more punching, because the heat mold will undo punching) might help a lot.

I would encourage you to act quickly, because this might be potentially bad for the long term health your feet, though a foot doctor could tell whether that is true better.

BTW are your feet still growing? Or is there any other reason (such as pregnancy) why your feet size might be changing? (E.g., have you noticed any other shoes getting tighter). And did you wear the same thickness socks at the store as you use to skate?

Oh one last question: Is the pain point a high pressure point (which is what punching solves), or a low pressure point (which causes your skin to rub there)?

 

[tstop4me]

Another properly done heat mold (done BEFORE any more punching, because the heat mold will undo punching) might help a lot.

<<Emphasis added>> Not necessarily. And we don't have enough info to determine.

 

[tstop4me]

I wonder if the long travel distance is an issue. A good major punch should really take overnight or longer to do - some say 24 hours. If you asked them to do it more quickly, a substantial leather stretch might not hold. And did they use spot heat to help the stretch?

But the OP wrote:

So when I had to get the blades sharpened now, I made the trip to the skate shop to get them punched out at the ankle too. There's only like 4 pro shops in the whole Country, so it's a whole act.
I showed them where, at the time, I though it hurt, they put a little sticker on it and I left the skates there and got them back in the mail a week later.

<<Emphasis added>> So, not likely one of those quickie punch outs.

 

[Query]

Oh.

 

[Query]

The moderator(s) cancelled one of my posts, that mentioned a specific reason that some people's feet vary in size with time, saying it was inappropriate.

I won't re-mention that reason. But variation in foot size and shape with time is apparently a well known factor in the shoe fitting industry - at least for very snugly fitting footwear like ice skates, certain dance shoes, and certain rock climbing shoes. It mostly doesn't matter for footwear that fits loosely, or which is more adjustable in size using laces or other means. But the stiffness expected of figure skates limits the amount of adjustment we can easily make.

As a more appropriate example, especially if you have poor blood circulation, standing up for a long time, or sitting with your feet well below your heart, causes blood to pool in your feet, which makes them larger. (It's why some people wear compression socks or stockings.) I have relatives with this condition, so I may eventually develop it.

Other factors can affect foot size and shape too. E.g., exercise (including skating hard...) causes your heart to pump harder, which to some extent reduces such pooling, so your feet get a little smaller. I haven't noticed this, but perhaps I'm not in good enough physical condition to make it noticeable. I wonder if even drinking a lot of water could make a noticeable difference - though again, I haven't noticed it.

It is therefore commonly said that you should fit such footwear while your feet are at their largest size - because to some extent you can adjust footwear that is temporally a little too large by changing the insoles, and other means.

Presumably some of you have already noticed that skates feel tighter some times than others. That could affect pain from pressure on your feet, at some times, but not others.

But as I said, pain can also be caused by low pressure on that part of your feet, because the boot will rub against the foot (or sock) more where there is low pressure. So it's very important that you figure out (by feel) whether the spot(s) that hurt have low or high pressure from the boot on them, when the problem occurs, since the solutions are different.

Good luck!