How to Stop Steel Toe Boots From Hurting?

For several individuals, steel toes are the quintessential definition of protective work boots. With these boots, a steel insert helps shield your toes from physical hazards like rolling or falling objects. While steel toes offer these important benefits, they also have some shortcomings. For instance, these boots can cause discomfort due to their heaviness. Also, the dense piece of steel fitted at the toe region occupies considerable space leaving less wiggle space for your toes.

See also: Steel Toe Vs Composite Toe

The steel toes may thus rub against your baby toe, big toe, or the upper section of your foot causing discomfort. Happily, there are ways to stop your steel toe boots from hurting your feet. Below 6 hacks to make your work boots a lot more comfortable.

How to Make Steel Toe Boots More Comfortable

Choose Proper Fitting Steel Toe Boots

Your steel toe boots may be causing you discomfort because they are excessively loose or tight for your feet. Thus, you must do proper research to find a pair that fits your feet properly. If you recently purchased a pair and can no longer return them, keep reading to discover other methods you can use to lessen the pain.

See also: How Should Boots Fit?

Properly Break-in the Boots

If you fail to properly break-in your steel toe boots, you will almost certainly experience some discomfort when you wear them to work. When your steel toes arrive, spend a couple of minutes each day wearing them around your home. This will help break-in the boots as well as allow the shoes to mold to the outline and contours of your foot.

Tie the Laces Properly

Your steel toes may be causing you discomfort because the laces are tied wrongly. The boots may fit better if you strip off the laces and redo them from scratch. Before redoing the laces, be sure to wear the boots as well as the socks you typically wear with the boots. You should aim to achieve a snug fit especially around the toe region. If the toe region is well secured, there will be less space for your feet to slide around thus reducing the rubbing of your toes against the metal piece.

Wear Thick Socks

If the pain you are experiencing is caused by excessive movement of your feet within the steel toes, then wearing thick socks can help stuff the excess room as well as add a bit of padding. You can achieve similar results by wearing an additional pair of socks if your socks are not thick enough.

Improve Arch Support

If your steel toe boots offer little or no arch support then you can expect them to hurt your feet. To achieve the ideal fit, the ball of your feet needs to overlap with the widest section of the shoe’s sole. This way, your foot’s arch perfectly corresponds with the boot’s arch thereby giving you supreme comfort and support.

To improve arch support, you can utilize off-the-shelf orthotics sometimes referred to as arch supports. These are specially crafted to deliver mild support to your foot’s arch and help distribute your body weight more evenly down the underside of your foot. You can also opt to purchase new steel toe boots that offer the appropriate degree of arch support for your feet.

Stretch Your Boots

You can increase the length and width of your steel toes by about half an inch by stretching them. This will give your feet more wiggle room thereby enhancing the boot’s overall comfort.

Wearing ill-fitting steel toe boots will not only cause you pain, they can also result in other foot conditions. You should consider purchasing a new pair if you have applied these tips and still continue to experience pain from your steel toes.