New figure skates usually feel stiff and a little uncomfortable for the first few sessions, but they shouldn't leave you in real pain. Lace bite at the front of the ankle, a heel that lifts and sore ankle bones each have their own causes, and most of them ease once you change how you lace and add some padding. When that isn't enough, a skate tech can adjust the boot itself.
Key takeaways
- Some discomfort is normal while new boots break in. Sharp pain, numbness that doesn't stop when you loosen your laces, or a blister in the same place every session means the fit needs a look.
- Lace bite is soreness at the front of the ankle from the tongue and laces pressing down. Easing the laces over that spot and padding under the tongue often help.
- If your heel lifts when you bend your knees, check your lacing around the ankle first, then ask a fitter whether the boot is too big.
- Sore ankle bones usually need padding over the bone, or a skate tech to punch or heat-shape the boot at that spot. Leave stretching and heat to the shop, since home methods can damage a boot.
Plenty of adult skaters assume sore feet come with figure skating, so they skate through pain they don't have to put up with. Figure skate boots are stiff so they can support your ankle, and a new pair takes time to shape to your feet, so some discomfort early on is expected. Pain in the same spot every session is a different thing, and it usually has a cause you can find and a fix that costs very little.
This page goes through lace bite, heel slip and sore ankle bones, then numb toes and cramping arches, with what tends to cause each one and what you can try before booking a fitting. If you're still choosing skates, our guide to fitting figure skates covers sizing and lacing in more detail, and the boot match quiz can help you narrow down a boot.
What's normal in new boots, and what isn't
Skate maker Jackson Ultima says breaking in new skates can be uncomfortable but shouldn't be painful, which is a good way to think about it. Stiffness and a bit of pressure come with a new pair, and so do feet that are glad to get out of the boots. U.S. Figure Skating is firmer, saying not to skate in boots that cause pain or blisters and to go back to your skate tech as soon as you feel pain.
Sharp or shooting pain, numbness or tingling that doesn't stop when you loosen your laces, and blisters in the same place every time are all signs that something needs changing. So is a sore spot that gets worse each session, or pain that's still there the next day when you press on it. None of this means your skates are ruined, just that the fit needs a closer look.
Coming back after time off can bring its own aches, even in boots you've had for years. Healthline lists diving back in at full speed after a break as one trigger for lace bite, along with new boots, tight laces and old or cheap skates. That's worth remembering if, like me, you skate off and on, and it's a good reason to keep your first few sessions back short.
Lace bite
Lace bite is soreness at the front of the ankle, where the tongue and laces press down as you bend. Healthline describes it as irritation of the tendons there, and a review of figure skating injuries in the journal Sports Health puts it down to friction against the boot tongue. It's usually tender to press and can look red or a little swollen, and Healthline says it can feel like a bruise you can't see.
New boots are a common trigger, and so are laces pulled too tight around the ankle. Riedell's lacing guide warns that overtightening there can cause discomfort or even lace bite, which is easy to do when a new boot feels wobbly. Old or inexpensive skates can cause it too, and if yours are older, ask a skate tech to look at the tongue, since the Sports Health review suggests firmer tongue padding as one fix.
Start by easing the laces over the sore spot. In a Golden Skate forum thread about lace bite, skaters suggest lacing a little looser through the eyelets just before the hooks, where the boot bends with your ankle, while keeping the laces snug lower down so your foot doesn't slide. The review also mentions keeping the tongue centered, and a skate tech can add a small hook to the tongue if yours keeps sliding to one side. If you want to check the rest of your lacing while you're at it, our guide to how to lace figure skates goes through it from the toe up.
Padding takes the pressure off while the boot softens. Healthline mentions ankle sleeves and pads that sit between your foot and the skate, and several skaters in that Golden Skate thread recommend gel pads. We carry CRS Cross lace bite gel pads, a stretchy toeless sleeve with a gel pad over the top of your foot and the front of your ankle. CRS Cross items ship separately, straight from CRS Cross, so they aren't part of our free shipping.
Heel slip
Your heel should stay down in the back of the boot when you bend your knees or rise onto your toes, and Riedell's sizing guide says it should stay firmly in place without lifting. A heel that slides up and down makes you feel unsteady, and all that rubbing is how a lot of heel blisters start. The Sports Health review also links heel slippage to soreness and a painful bump at the back of the heel.
Check your lacing before you blame the boot, because loose laces around the bend of the ankle let the heel lift even in a boot that fits. Riedell's lacing guide suggests a couple of twists in the laces at the top of the eyelets, before the hooks, which holds the heel in place and still lets your ankle bend. Above that, go a little easier through the hooks so you can bend your knees properly.
If your heel still lifts with good lacing, the boot may be too long or too wide for your foot. Riedell's quick check is the gap between the two rows of eyelets when you're laced up, and if they almost meet, the boot is too long, too wide or both. Makers shape heels differently, and Jackson builds some boots with a narrower heel for a better heel lock, so a fitter may suggest another model rather than more padding.
For a boot that's only slightly roomy at the back, padding can help. The review suggests heel padding made from moleskin, foam or silicone, and your fitter can show you where it should go. Thick socks or two pairs won't fix it, though. Riedell says thick socks limit the support the boot gives you and can create bumps inside it, which just gives you new places to rub.
Sore ankle bones
The bony bumps on either side of your ankle press against the stiff sides of a new boot, and when the boot rubs over the bone, the area can get sore and swollen. The Sports Health review says this usually settles with protective padding or a change of boot. Physio Mobility, a physiotherapy clinic, puts it down to friction over the ankle bone and lists having the skate punched out over the tender spot as a treatment.
Padding over the bone is the first thing to try. A gel disc sits over the ankle bone and cushions it, and the gel is tacky enough to stay put under a sock without any adhesive. We carry CRS Cross ankle gel discs in two sizes, and the CRS Cross gel pads with hook fastener backing do a similar job but grip onto your socks or the boot lining.
If the bone still hurts with padding, take the boots to your fitter or skate tech. They can punch the boot, stretching the leather out at just that spot, or reshape one area with heat. Edea says shaping is a job for technicians and warns that an oven will damage its boots, and Jackson asks skaters to have heat molding done by a dealer. A podiatry practice adds that these changes are best made a little at a time.
Numb toes and sore arches
Numb or tingling toes usually mean something is squeezing. Riedell says boots laced too tightly can cause numbness and pain, so start by loosening the laces over your toes and the top of your foot. Laces also stretch as the boot settles, and Jackson suggests retying as it shapes to your foot. If the numbness doesn't go away with the laces loose, the boot may be too narrow, and that's one for your fitter.
A cramping arch can come from the same tight laces, or from a stiff new boot your foot hasn't settled into yet, and short breaks with your laces loosened help while it does. Some feet need more support under the arch than the boot's own footbed gives. Riedell makes an insole kit with arch supports in three heights, and your fitter can tell you whether something like that would suit your feet.
Breaking in new boots gently
If new boots are arriving for Christmas, plan your first sessions in them as short and easy ones. U.S. Figure Skating suggests starting with edges, moves in the field and choreography, which get you bending and help the boot form around your foot, then moving on to spins and leaving jumps until last. Jackson's advice is much the same, to go easy on jumps and spins at first and build up your time on the ice gradually.
Lace a little more gently than you will once the boots are broken in. Jackson suggests leaving the top hook unlaced for the first few sessions, and U.S. Figure Skating says the same if lacing to the top makes it hard to bend your knees. Check your laces partway through a session, since laces stretch as the boot settles, and retie if your heel starts to lift.
Some skate shops suggest wearing new boots around the house for short spells, laced up with hard guards on, so they start to soften before you're on the ice. If you try it, keep the guards on the whole time, since hard floors are rough on blades. Our CRS Cross guards, soakers and towel set has hard guards for walking and soakers for storing your blades dry, and Skate Care 101 covers the rest of looking after a new pair.
Many boots can also be heat molded, where a skate tech warms the boot so it shapes to your foot as it cools. Jackson describes its boots as built to fit tight when cold and then molded with heat, and Riedell calls its boots heat activated. Not every boot can be molded, and each maker has its own method, so ask your fitter whether yours can be and have it done at the shop.
Secondhand boots
Secondhand boots come with someone else's break-in done. That can work in your favor if their feet were shaped like yours, but a boot that softened around a different foot can press where a new one wouldn't, or leave room where you need support, which is why one skate shop's guide to buying used says they'll feel different from new. Try them on with your skating socks or tights and check for heel lift and pressure on your ankle bones.
Look closely at the ankles, too. MIT's skating club notes that old boots can crease so deeply at the ankle that they no longer give support, and lacing can't put that support back. A fitter or skate tech can sometimes punch or reshape a used boot to suit you, so it's worth asking before you give up on a pair that's nearly right. Our guide to new vs used figure skates has a fuller checklist for buying used.
Fresh laces are worth it on a secondhand pair, since laces stretch with use and you don't know how old the ones in the boots are. Our CRS Cross figure skate laces come as two pairs in lengths from 80 to 146 inches, so you'll have a spare for your bag. Check the length against your boot size before you order, because Riedell points out that laces that are too long are a trip hazard.
When to see a skate tech or a doctor
Go back to your fitter or skate tech if the same spot still hurts after a few sessions, if you get blisters every time you skate, or if your heel lifts however you lace. Jackson's advice is to return to your skate tech if your skates cause sores, bumps or significant pain. It even suggests a check about a month after you buy new skates to see how the blades are mounted, so follow-up visits are normal.
Boot problems are for a fitter or skate tech, and pain that doesn't settle with rest is for a doctor or physio. This is general advice from adult skaters, not medical advice, and someone who can see your feet and your boots in person will always know more than this page can.
