Need Some Skate Selection Advice...

[rachael7 1]

One of the women on my team, a very good friend of mine and a crucial power forward, has a difficult skate fitting problem - she broke her ankle and now has some very odd shapes to contend with in getting back into a skate. Prior to the injury, she was wearing One95 skates in a 4.5EE and was happy with the fit and performance. Now though, there are several problems that I think will need a new skate, at least temporarily, and I'm hoping the experts here can help me shorten the list of possibilities and narrow the search. There are two main fit issues:

1. The Achilles area on the injured leg is swollen and is likely to remain so for some time. So instead of narrowing laterally above the heel, where the boot would normally lock in, her ankle is pretty much straight up. There is also no more pronounced heel at all, when looking from the side, as there is on her uninjured leg. Basically, think 'cankle', but made from muscle, bone, and swelling, rather than fat.

2. She has hardware in the ankle that has to stay for like a year. She'll be cleared to skate way before that though, so the boot needs to accommodate the hardware without wearing holes in her skin. The hardware is a plate/screws on the outside of the fibula, just above the malleolus, and a pair of bands that wrap around the fibula and tibia, anchored in the center two holes of the plate. The plate obviously causes a linear protrusion along the outside of her leg. The bands don't protrude much themselves, but they are knotted on the outside of the leg, which causes two significant lumps at the center of the fibular plate.

This is a fairly common skating injury (bi-molleolar fracture with grade 3 high ankle sprain), so I'm hoping people here will have some experience in getting that sort of foot back into a boot. My thought is to deal with problem #2 by fashioning a shield on the outside of the ankle to reduce pressure on the hardware. I figure it will be a molded piece of plastic with a bit of padding on it. That obviously will make her ankle considerably larger and require a boot with more room. That's straightforward enough. But the greater concern for me is the girth around the Achilles. She'll need a different boot, with a totally different sort of heel lock. And to compound matters, what boot can accommodate that, while still getting a reasonable lock on her other, supreme-shaped, foot? My only thought is RBK, for the pump, obviously. That has the advantage of being adjustable as her foot returns to a more normal shape and also accommodating the difference between the two feet. Any other suggestions about how to get her back on the ice? Thanks for the help!

[jbatafuco 6]

One of the women on my team, a very good friend of mine and a crucial power forward, has a difficult skate fitting problem - she broke her ankle and now has some very odd shapes to contend with in getting back into a skate. Prior to the injury, she was wearing One95 skates in a 4.5EE and was happy with the fit and performance. Now though, there are several problems that I think will need a new skate, at least temporarily, and I'm hoping the experts here can help me shorten the list of possibilities and narrow the search. There are two main fit issues:

1. The Achilles area on the injured leg is swollen and is likely to remain so for some time. So instead of narrowing laterally above the heel, where the boot would normally lock in, her ankle is pretty much straight up. There is also no more pronounced heel at all, when looking from the side, as there is on her uninjured leg. Basically, think 'cankle', but made from muscle, bone, and swelling, rather than fat.

2. She has hardware in the ankle that has to stay for like a year. She'll be cleared to skate way before that though, so the boot needs to accommodate the hardware without wearing holes in her skin. The hardware is a plate/screws on the outside of the fibula, just above the malleolus, and a pair of bands that wrap around the fibula and tibia, anchored in the center two holes of the plate. The plate obviously causes a linear protrusion along the outside of her leg. The bands don't protrude much themselves, but they are knotted on the outside of the leg, which causes two significant lumps at the center of the fibular plate.

This is a fairly common skating injury (bi-molleolar fracture with grade 3 high ankle sprain), so I'm hoping people here will have some experience in getting that sort of foot back into a boot. My thought is to deal with problem #2 by fashioning a shield on the outside of the ankle to reduce pressure on the hardware. I figure it will be a molded piece of plastic with a bit of padding on it. That obviously will make her ankle considerably larger and require a boot with more room. That's straightforward enough. But the greater concern for me is the girth around the Achilles. She'll need a different boot, with a totally different sort of heel lock. And to compound matters, what boot can accommodate that, while still getting a reasonable lock on her other, supreme-shaped, foot? My only thought is RBK, for the pump, obviously. That has the advantage of being adjustable as her foot returns to a more normal shape and also accommodating the difference between the two feet. Any other suggestions about how to get her back on the ice? Thanks for the help!

While I have no first hand experience with them, the MLX skates appear to be extremely pliable when baked and can be baked multiple times if need be to compensate for changes in the ankle as it gets better.

[Axxion89 32]

I would say the CCM skates using U foam would be a good fit since the foam molds to the shape of your entire foot and personally for me its doing wonders.

[SCUBASTEVE 0]

One of the women on my team, a very good friend of mine and a crucial power forward, has a difficult skate fitting problem - she broke her ankle and now has some very odd shapes to contend with in getting back into a skate. Prior to the injury, she was wearing One95 skates in a 4.5EE and was happy with the fit and performance. Now though, there are several problems that I think will need a new skate, at least temporarily, and I'm hoping the experts here can help me shorten the list of possibilities and narrow the search. There are two main fit issues:

1. The Achilles area on the injured leg is swollen and is likely to remain so for some time. So instead of narrowing laterally above the heel, where the boot would normally lock in, her ankle is pretty much straight up. There is also no more pronounced heel at all, when looking from the side, as there is on her uninjured leg. Basically, think 'cankle', but made from muscle, bone, and swelling, rather than fat.

2. She has hardware in the ankle that has to stay for like a year. She'll be cleared to skate way before that though, so the boot needs to accommodate the hardware without wearing holes in her skin. The hardware is a plate/screws on the outside of the fibula, just above the malleolus, and a pair of bands that wrap around the fibula and tibia, anchored in the center two holes of the plate. The plate obviously causes a linear protrusion along the outside of her leg. The bands don't protrude much themselves, but they are knotted on the outside of the leg, which causes two significant lumps at the center of the fibular plate.

This is a fairly common skating injury (bi-molleolar fracture with grade 3 high ankle sprain), so I'm hoping people here will have some experience in getting that sort of foot back into a boot. My thought is to deal with problem #2 by fashioning a shield on the outside of the ankle to reduce pressure on the hardware. I figure it will be a molded piece of plastic with a bit of padding on it. That obviously will make her ankle considerably larger and require a boot with more room. That's straightforward enough. But the greater concern for me is the girth around the Achilles. She'll need a different boot, with a totally different sort of heel lock. And to compound matters, what boot can accommodate that, while still getting a reasonable lock on her other, supreme-shaped, foot? My only thought is RBK, for the pump, obviously. That has the advantage of being adjustable as her foot returns to a more normal shape and also accommodating the difference between the two feet. Any other suggestions about how to get her back on the ice? Thanks for the help!

i have first hand experience with the mlx skate an for her issue i would go with these skates, when you take them out of the oven they are litteraly like a piece of stiff fabric, the boot will form around your foot like no other skate has done before. i can see the shape of my ankle bone on the outside of the boot. an it didnt look like that before i baked them... so what i am saying is you can do anything you want with it. if she needs room in certain areas of the boot she can do it litterally in the lockerroom with a heat gun an some thinking. i got rid of my total ones , which were by far the best skate i have ever worn, until i bought these mlx skates. incredible thats all i can say... i have a foot problem as well an this boot solved all my problems....i just bought mine an i know for a fact the 50% code works one of them is oct1250

good luck!!! an i would just email the guys at mlx an ask them. they know what they are talking about.....

[JR Boucicaut 3815]

Scubasteve - Do you have something against the letter D? I love when someone tries to give technical advice on a skate and at the same time, sound ignorant because they don't use proper grammar.

Actually, I'd just rebake the ONE95 before looking at a new skate.

[ktang 34]

I had the plates and screws in my ankle / lower leg for a few months. I got a piece of high density foam padding from a hockey shop and made a few doughnuts to keep pressure away from the screw and plate protrusions at the ankle knobs. I was using Vector Pros at the time, and its ankle pocket cut-out also helped to accomodate the hardware. I was back on the ice 5 weeks after surgery, and playing at 7 weeks (good surgeon and physio therapist).

For the lack of heel definition, I think that there is a Graf skate option that deals with that.

[rachael7 1]

Thanks for the suggestions, gang, and keep 'em coming if there's anything else I should consider

[SCUBASTEVE 0]

Scubasteve - Do you have something against the letter D? I love when someone tries to give technical advice on a skate and at the same time, sound ignorant because they don't use proper grammar.

Actually, I'd just rebake the ONE95 before looking at a new skate.

jr not really sure why you are knocking me, putting me down like i am retarded. it is not about proper grammer it is about giving advice, whether i can spell or not, i went thru my post anD have no clue what you are talking about, having a problem with the letter d?? is it becasue i put "an" instead of "and". this isnt an english lesson anD i am sure she got what i was saying, its about giving advice, i was not being ignorant, i was not "lacking knowledge or education" in this post, i just did not use the letter d to your liking. that is not ignorance. it might be something different like a grammer mistake, but it is not ignorant!

i understand you have a lot to do with this site anD I and we appreciate that, but putting other forum members down because we may have a grammer issue, seriously!

i thought this site an the people involved are better then that.. we are all here to help one another, all i did was try an offer my opinion on her issue, someone brought up the skate an i let them know from a first haand experiance. and from the sounds of it she needs more then rebaking of the 95's . i have basically gone thru the same issue as this person. i tried everything i could with my one95's they just didnt have that room to accomadate my foot issue, they were not able to form the way i needed them to. but i guess its a start, i am on my 7th pair of skates in 18 months so i have a little more experience then most others with trying to make skates work for your feet. so if you want to call someome out dont do it for grammer issues, who knows i could be foreign TRYING to type in english, you dont thats the thing. rachael7 sorry for this, obviously my grammer prevented me from gettting my point across...

[JR Boucicaut 3815]

I'm stating a fact.

IF you want to be credible, take the time and write it right. There's a reason why books aren't published in shorthand.

By reading at that post, I would've pegged you for 13 years old. According to your profile, you're 33.

See what I mean? Perception is reality in a lot of cases.

And as far as experience goes, MY experience dictates that you attempt to manipulate the current skate before trying another. And MY experience dictates not to recommend a skate that may not work for her, like you did. Oh yeah, I forgot, MLXs are made off of unicorn lasts.

[chippa13 1844]

jr not really sure why you are knocking me, putting me down like i am retarded. it is not about proper grammer it is about giving advice, whether i can spell or not, i went thru my post anD have no clue what you are talking about, having a problem with the letter d?? is it becasue i put "an" instead of "and". this isnt an english lesson anD i am sure she got what i was saying, its about giving advice, i was not being ignorant, i was not "lacking knowledge or education" in this post, i just did not use the letter d to your liking. that is not ignorance. it might be something different like a grammer mistake, but it is not ignorant!

i understand you have a lot to do with this site anD I and we appreciate that, but putting other forum members down because we may have a grammer issue, seriously!

i thought this site an the people involved are better then that.. we are all here to help one another, all i did was try an offer my opinion on her issue, someone brought up the skate an i let them know from a first haand experiance. and from the sounds of it she needs more then rebaking of the 95's . i have basically gone thru the same issue as this person. i tried everything i could with my one95's they just didnt have that room to accomadate my foot issue, they were not able to form the way i needed them to. but i guess its a start, i am on my 7th pair of skates in 18 months so i have a little more experience then most others with trying to make skates work for your feet. so if you want to call someome out dont do it for grammer issues, who knows i could be foreign TRYING to type in english, you dont thats the thing. rachael7 sorry for this, obviously my grammer prevented me from gettting my point across...

Remember, people have to read what you write. A little proper punctuation, effort in spelling, and use of capital letters when necessary make it a much more pleasant experience. I'm not asking for War and Peace or a Shakespearean sonnet but it does make it a lot easier to read and understand a post when a little proper grammar gets sprinkled in.

[CAmmon 2]

I prefer a lot of proper grammar, not a little. As for your friend, I would wait until she gets cleared to skate to do anything about a skate. I imagine swelling will go down in a few weeks, so anything sort of boot sizing done now will be worthless. I had inline Rbk 6k pumps that helped a lot as far as closing down the ankle. It was a pretty wide heel to me but take that with a grain of salt as it was improperly fit (8 1/2 to 7 with a proper fitting).

[Machinehead2k5 32]

I had the plates and screws in my ankle / lower leg for a few months. I got a piece of high density foam padding from a hockey shop and made a few doughnuts to keep pressure away from the screw and plate protrusions at the ankle knobs. I was using Vector Pros at the time, and its ankle pocket cut-out also helped to accomodate the hardware. I was back on the ice 5 weeks after surgery, and playing at 7 weeks (good surgeon and physio therapist).

I'm guessing your friend (Rachael) and KTang's ankle look like mine in my avatar post surgery. I've used a dr. scholl in sole to keep the pressure off of the ankle when skating. I use RBK 9ks. I wear my ankle brace and slide in a cut up insole on the outside of my ankle where the screws/plate is. Didn't have a problem skating with it at all. However being timid on the ice is something she'll have to get over, as will I when I start playing again late November.

[epstud74 24]

Can she fit into a Graf Ultra G7?

Those skates are pretty good for wearing ankle braces etc

[rachael7 1]

Thank you all for the excellent tips. Carl, you are probably right about not doing anything for a while yet. As near as I can tell, she won't be cleared to skate for another 6 weeks or so, and a lot can change in that time. 6k and 9k are both excellent suggestions, if JR's idea of just rebaking the One95s doesn't work. JR also pointed me to http://www.silipos.com/home/home.aspx who may be able to help me with some sort of padding if none of the cut up insole/foam ideas work. Thanks again for the help, guys!

[danno25nh 3]

While MLX may seem like a good idea due to the ability to mold them I wonder if perhaps they are too stiff.

I'd strongly recommend putting together some padding/brace then fitting a boot to the finished product. Keeping the skin around the internal fixation device from pulling and tearing will be very important

[rachael7 1]

While MLX may seem like a good idea due to the ability to mold them I wonder if perhaps they are too stiff.

I'd strongly recommend putting together some padding/brace then fitting a boot to the finished product. Keeping the skin around the internal fixation device from pulling and tearing will be very important

That is precisely my concern. It's a pretty good size plate in there, and looking closer at the x-rays, it extend from the very bottom of the fibula, at the malleolus, up about 6 inches or so. Pretty crude looking hardware, honestly. Definitely will have to have the padding/bracing figured out first, so we can make sure the boot will accomodate.

[danno25nh 3]

That is precisely my concern. It's a pretty good size plate in there, and looking closer at the x-rays, it extend from the very bottom of the fibula, at the malleolus, up about 6 inches or so. Pretty crude looking hardware, honestly. Definitely will have to have the padding/bracing figured out first, so we can make sure the boot will accomodate.

If you can get some help from a prosthetic technician (Every VA hospital employs at least one) you'd likely get some very good advice or help on making the brace and protection.

A really good one would be able to help you modify the boot if need be. Of course that would require replacement once she gets finished with her surgeries and rehab.

[Wagsgr8 0]

While MLX may seem like a good idea due to the ability to mold them I wonder if perhaps they are too stiff.

I'd strongly recommend putting together some padding/brace then fitting a boot to the finished product. Keeping the skin around the internal fixation device from pulling and tearing will be very important

My suggestion is to go with the MLX skates. She can try to use them without any type of "contraption." Then she can reheat and mold them to whatever device she thinks will help her. And she could do this repeatedly. I use MLX and they are the most moldable skate I have ever seen. It is incredible. I forget who mentioned it - but the 50% discount is still functional hfboards50 is the one I used. $419 shipped.

[JR Boucicaut 3815]

ONCE AGAIN -

It's pretty foolish to recommend a skate for her NOT knowing what her foot type is.

I cannot stress this enough.

Rach - we'll sort her out.