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You try on a new pair in the gym shop. Your toes curl right up and it hurts just to stand. The staff member says: "Climbing shoes are supposed to be this tight. They'll stretch." You buy them. Three months later your big toenail has gone black, and your heel still aches after the shoes come off.
This post is about feet and climbing shoes: why shoes hurt, what researchers find on climbers' feet, whether "the tighter the better" has a cost, and how to choose and wear shoes. By the end you should be able to tell whether your shoes are too tight.
Three things are not in this post. Ankle sprains and fractures from bouldering landings are in Bouldering Falls and the Ankle. Heel hooks that injure the knee and the back of the thigh are in The Knee and Heel Hooks. Finger skin care will get its own post.
This post is not a diagnosis. If foot pain persists, your foot changes shape, or numbness won't go away, see an orthopaedic or rehabilitation doctor. See "When to see a doctor" near the end.
Why climbing shoes hurt
Climbing shoes are designed for a different job from everyday shoes. German doctors Volker Schöffl and Thomas Küpper describe two basic elements of modern climbing shoes in their 2013 review of foot injuries. One is downturn, which puts pressure on the toes. The other is asymmetry, which concentrates pressure on the big toe. That's why Footwork teaches you to stand on the big-toe side of the shoe.
The problem is the size people wear. If the shoe is smaller than the foot, the foot has to shorten to fit. The review describes the mechanism: the foot rolls toward its outer edge (supination) and the toes curl. An Italian study of 144 climbers (Buda 2013) says this posture raises the arch and loads the outer edge of the foot, which favours rolling outward.
The common saying: "Climbing shoes are meant to hurt." Plenty of people do wear them that way. A British study (McHenry 2015) measured feet and shoes with a ruler and found almost everyone's shoes were too tight; nine in ten climbers had foot pain while climbing. But Schöffl's review concludes the opposite: high-level athletes may need a tight fit, while the vast majority of recreational climbers need a shoe that supports the foot and doesn't hurt.
How many sizes down? Studies range from less than one size to almost four. Measurement methods (ruler or self-report) and sizing systems differ, so they can't be compared directly. The steadier finding is that the better the climber, the tighter the shoe; McHenry and the American Jenkins 2022 both saw this trend.
Shoe downsizing across studies
| Study | Sample | Sizes smaller than street shoes |
|---|---|---|
| McHenry 2015 | UK, 56 climbers, measured with a ruler | almost 4 (UK sizes) |
| Buda 2013 | Italy, 144 climbers | 2.3 |
| Schöffl & Winkelmann 1999 (cited in Schöffl 2013) | 30 high-level men | 2.3 |
| Carioti 2026 | podiatry clinic, 156 indoor climbers | 1.3 (EU sizes) |
| Jenkins 2022 | US online survey, 417 climbers | 0.83 |
Jenkins's authors themselves called the difference "less than expected".
Something you can do tonight: Take your shoes off and look at the tops of your toes. In the 30 high-level climbers Schöffl cites, every one had calluses and pressure marks on top of the big toe. If your feet look the same, your shoes are pushing your toes back.
What researchers find on climbers' feet
First, the level of evidence: almost everything below comes from cross-sectional studies that examine a group of climbers at one point in time. They can say "climbers often have these problems"; they can't show the shoes caused them.
Nails and skin: the most common
Among Buda's 144 climbers, 86% had foot pathology, and the most common was nail disease, in about two-thirds. A podiatry clinic study in Milan (Carioti 2026) looked more closely. Most lesions were thickened skin (hyperkeratosis), followed by nail changes from trauma such as subungual hematoma and nails lifting off the bed. Both clustered on the big toe. Fungal nail infections were relatively rare.
Bunions: more common in high-level climbers
Hallux valgus, or a bunion, is when the big toe angles toward the second toe. Schöffl's review cites a 1999 study that X-rayed a climber standing in climbing shoes: the big-toe angle was larger than barefoot. Among 30 long-time high-level male climbers, more than half had hallux valgus, while the figure the authors cite for adult men in general is in single digits.
A Spanish study of 53 climbers (Cobos-Moreno 2022) found claw toes and bursitis at the base of the big toe most often. Chronic foot problems were linked to years of climbing, not to age.
Bunion numbers and caveats
- Schöffl & Winkelmann 1999 (numbers as reported in the Schöffl 2013 review): 14° barefoot, 21° in the shoe; 53% had hallux valgus, 20% on both feet; cut-off 20°; 4.5% in men aged 17–44 in general.
- The same review cites Killian 1998: 34% across all levels, 53% among 5.12 climbers (about UIAA 8.3–9.0).
- The review's authors also report seeing more climbers with hallux rigidus (a stiff big-toe joint) in recent years, some needing surgery. That's a clinical observation, not a statistic.
- Cut-offs for grading bunions differ between sources. The Climbing Doctor uses 14° and 20° to define three grades, which is not the same as Schöffl's 20° definition.
The heel: pressed by the shoe's opening
Buda found retrocalcaneal bursitis (a painful swelling at the upper back of the heel) in about one climber in five. The authors' explanation is the back edge of the shoe opening pressing on the heel. High-cut shoes, high difficulty and competitive level were all linked to foot problems.
Numbness and tingling
Schöffl's review cites Killian 1998: 65% of climbers had experienced tingling or numbness in the feet. A study of nerve compression (Peters 2001) found a handful of lower-limb nerve compressions among climbers who came in with symptoms. Treatment included appropriate climbing shoes; surgery was rarely needed.
People often say tight shoes cause Morton's neuroma. There is no climbing-specific data. The review only says constricting shoes greatly worsen these symptoms, citing a general podiatry textbook.
Something you can do tonight: After taking your shoes off, spend a minute checking five places.
- Is your big toenail turning black?
- Is the base of your big toe sticking out or red?
- Are there calluses on top of your toes?
- Is the upper back of your heel swollen?
- Is the sole or any toe still numb?
Write it down and check again next month.
Do tighter shoes mean more injuries?
The research disagrees. Three findings side by side:
- No link with pain: Schöffl's review reports Killian 1998's survey: better climbers wore smaller shoes, but the amount of downsizing did not correlate with pain.
- A weak link with lesion count: Carioti 2026 found that the bigger the size difference, the more lesions on the foot, but the authors stress that the effect is small and the sample came from a podiatry clinic.
- Downturned shoes and more serious injuries: A prospective study that followed boulderers in German-speaking countries for a year (Auer 2021) found that people wearing heavily downturned shoes more often had moderate or worse injuries (UIAA 2 or above). That's an association; it doesn't show the shoes caused them.
Schöffl's review also proposes a mechanism: a tight shoe changes how force spreads through the foot, making injury more likely when you land on your feet or swing into the wall in a fall. That's the authors' biomechanical reasoning. Physical therapist Kaile Sauro writes in The Climbing Doctor's shoe guide that a shoe that's too small holds the ankle in a more downturned position, which makes a previously sprained ankle more likely to roll again.
The same Auer study found that lower-limb injuries happened more often than others when people jumped off the wall.
Something you can do tonight: When you boulder in downturned shoes, climb down after topping out instead of jumping from the top. Downturned shoes plus jumping: avoid at least one of the two.
How to choose and wear shoes
The points below are Schöffl's review conclusions and physical therapists' practical advice. Evidence level: expert opinion; no intervention study has tested which approach reduces injuries.
- Have two pairs. Schöffl recommends an extra, loose-fitting training shoe. The Climbing Doctor is more specific: wear a comfortable pair close to your street size for warm-ups and easy volume, and save the tight pair for when you're pushing your limit.
- Take your shoes off while belaying and between boulder problems. Give your feet a break.
- If it hurts too much to stand on, go up a size. Sauro's reasoning: the more weight your feet can take, the less load goes through your fingers and arms.
- Match the shoe shape to your feet.
- Pain at the base of the big toe (bunion): a wide toe box matters most; lace-ups let you loosen just the forefoot.
- Pain at the back of the heel: an opening that doesn't press on the heel, and a less aggressive heel cup.
- Ankles that keep rolling: a bigger shoe, even your street size.
- Wear street shoes that fit, too. The Climbing Doctor cites McHenry's study: climbers even wore their everyday shoes a size too small, so their feet were under pressure all day.
The common saying: "You'll get athlete's foot from rental shoes." A Danish study (Wriedt 2025) swabbed 103 pairs of rental climbing shoes and cultured no dermatophytes from any of them.
Shoes don't necessarily get more comfortable with experience. Jenkins's survey found that the older climbers were and the longer they had climbed, the less satisfied they were with their shoes. As early as 2001, Dutch researchers (van der Putten 2001) noted that foot injuries and deformities are more frequent at higher levels, yet are accepted as the unavoidable price of performance.
Something you can do tonight: Open your shoe cupboard and sort your climbing shoes into two groups: "comfortable for a whole session" and "ten minutes, tops". If you only have the second kind, make your next pair one you can wear all session.
When to see a doctor
The research doesn't give a referral checklist for shoe-related foot pain. These are the situations where I'd get an orthopaedic or rehabilitation doctor to take a look; for which department to choose in Taiwan, see the series overview, Climbing Injuries Overview:
- Pain that continues after the shoes come off, or that affects walking.
- A bump at the base of the big toe that keeps growing or hurting more.
- Numbness or tingling in the sole or toes that doesn't fade once the shoes are off.
- Redness, swelling, warmth or pus around a nail. A dermatologist can also see nail and skin problems.
The checks and shoe advice here are prevention. If your foot has already changed shape or keeps hurting, leave treatment, including any exercise programme, to a doctor or physical therapist.
Practice: four scenarios
Answers are under each question. Think first, then look.
1. The shop assistant says: "Climbing shoes are meant to hurt. Tighter is better." You've been climbing for three months.
Answer
Schöffl's review recommends the opposite: the vast majority of recreational climbers need a shoe that supports the foot and doesn't hurt; tight shoes are for high-level athletes pushing their limit. As a new climber, buy a pair you can wear for a whole session.
2. Your big toenail has recently turned black, but it doesn't hurt. A friend says: "Every climber has that. No big deal."
Answer
Nail problems are indeed the most common foot problem in climbers, mostly on the big toe. But "common" doesn't mean "fine": it means your shoe keeps pressing on the big toe. Check whether the shoe is too small and consider a looser pair for everyday sessions. If the area around the nail turns red, swollen or pus-filled, or the dark patch keeps spreading, see a doctor.
3. You sprained your right ankle last year, and lately that foot feels unstable when you boulder. Your bouldering shoes are very downturned and two sizes small.
Answer
The physical therapist's advice is to pick a bigger shoe if your ankle is unstable, even your street size, because a too-small shoe holds the ankle in a position that makes it easier to roll again. Climb down after problems instead of jumping. If the instability or pain persists, have a doctor or physical therapist assess it; what to do after a sprain is in Bouldering Falls and the Ankle.
4. You want to push your grade, but you have a bunion, and the base of your big toe hurts in tight shoes.
Answer
Choose a shoe with a wide toe box, ideally lace-ups so you can loosen just the forefoot, wear it only for hard attempts, and wear a looser pair the rest of the time. If the pain or the bunion keeps getting worse, see an orthopaedic or rehabilitation doctor instead of pushing through.
Next step
Foot problems mostly build up slowly. The next post, Spine, Lower Back and Neck, goes back to falls: the most serious injury from hitting the ground is to the spine. It also covers low back pain in climbers and whether "belayer's neck" has any evidence behind it.
References
- Schöffl V, Küpper T. Feet injuries in rock climbers. World J Orthop 2013;4(4):218–228
- Buda R et al. Foot overuse diseases in rock climbing: an epidemiologic study. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 2013;103(2):113–120
- McHenry RD et al. Footwear in rock climbing: current practice. Foot (Edinb) 2015;25(3):152–158
- Jenkins DW et al. Rock-climbing shoes: a survey of attitudes and practices. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 2022;112(3)
- Carioti G et al. Clinical assessment of nail and skin lesions in indoor climbers. World J Methodol 2026;16(3):121149
- Cobos-Moreno P et al. Epidemiological study of foot injuries in the practice of sport climbing. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022;19(7):4302
- Killian RB et al. Foot and ankle injuries related to rock climbing: the role of footwear. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 1998;88(8):365–374
- Peters P. Nerve compression syndromes in sport climbers. Int J Sports Med 2001;22(8):611–617
- van der Putten EP, Snijder CJ. Shoe design for prevention of injuries in sport climbing. Appl Ergon 2001;32(4):379–387
- Auer J et al. Indoor bouldering: a prospective injury evaluation. Wilderness Environ Med 2021;32(2):160–167
- Wriedt TR et al. Rental shoes are not a source of tinea pedis. Dan Med J 2025;72(9):A03250148
- Foot Pain Climbing: Choose the Right Shoe (Kaile Sauro, DPT, The Climbing Doctor, 2023)
- Footwork Techniques to Prevent or Reduce Bunion Pain (The Climbing Doctor, 2023)