Anyone else have this problem from overuse? I think if you have, "big toe joint" is enough said, you should know what I mean without further explanation.

Any suggestions other than the obvious? Throwing out the slippers and sticking with more supportive lace-ups? Is a little toe curl going to be acceptable, or do you find yourself going back to flat-toed shoes like some of the ones from La Sportiva. I just got a pair of Boreal Piranas.

Mine hasn't developed into a bunion yet, praying it doesn't get there...

Yep, try a bigger, stiffer shoe. After a couple of months, I could go back to the slippers and stay pain-free.

hmm, the Piranas I just bought (in an attempt to fix the problem) are stiffer, but perhaps not exactly bigger.

well, I'll keep my fingers (but not toes) crossed...

Stiff climbing shoes and orthotics with regular shoes the rest of the time. Pain will go away, but stiffness will remain. It sucks.

I don't want to scare you but my similar symptom was one of osteoarthritis relieved only by surgery.

I used to blame too-tight-shoe syndrome on salesfolk who hadn't been climbing very long, if at all. "Yea, they're supposed to hurt".

Now I think it's the boulderers. Too many of them seem to feel that you need to fit a shoe with your toes all curled under. If they can stand the pain they wonder why they blow their shoes apart in half a season.

Oh well, it assures the rest of us of a steady supply of our favorite shoes on EBay. "Barely used, bought them too small"

Try a different style of shoe. The anasazi laceups give me horrible big-toe-joint, but the anasazi velcros don't. Same size even. Go figure!

GO

I don't size my shoes too tight anymore... I size them appropriately, but I do prefer a SLIGHT bit of toe curl. Even my Mythos were hard to get right, but I think I sized them properly. In fact, even the "culprit" shoes, my Anasazis, were sized properly. Slight bit of toe curl. I think those are just too floppy or shaped wrong or something.

I just don't like the climbing-with-flat-toes feeling or I would have just started using my Mythos again instead of buying yet another pair of different shoes...

5.10 T-Rocks are built on the same last as the Anasazi velcro but the velcros gave me some horrible worsening joint pain while T-Rocks (and a pair of similarly fitting Red Chilies) did not. Both were sized to curl toes under slightly.

Right now I'm out of the game for a few weeks until my toes heal up, it seems. Probably the only thing I will be doing will be bouldering in the cave. I've been ignoring the worsening Anasazi pain for too long and it finally bit me.

I had this same problem with my new Marathons. I took the shoes (and my feet) to see my sports orthopod. He looked at me, then at my shoes, than back at me and started laughing! - we've know each other for 25 years. "But doc," I said, "the shoes have to be tight in order for me to climb hard." He was laughing so hard he could hardly contain himself. He put his arm around me and said, "And I have to charge you for the visit."

A little rest and one size up helped a lot.

Best, Kim