blisters!

Friith said:

I wonder if anyone has any tips on how to deal with
blisters once they form and, perhaps more importantly, how
to avoid them?

Avoid them by toughening your feet (walk around without
shoes and socks as much as possible at home, keeping feet
inside socks all day doesn't give them any reason to
harden). Beyond that, well fitted footwear and good quality
socks, and if you are prone to blisters in a particular
place tape them up in advance as preventative maintenance.

If your feet get wet they may be more prone to blistering as
the moisture softens the skin, but note that waterproof
footwear will not only stop water getting in but make life
hotter and sweatier (and thus wetter!) inside.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer Tel 44 1382 660111
ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382
640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net
[email hidden] dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

(Friith) said:

Hello

Earlier this week I contracted a blister on my heel,
because of, I think, unsuitable socks (tennis socks) which
got wet as I walked through long grass.

I wonder if anyone has any tips on how to deal with
blisters once they form and, perhaps more importantly, how
to avoid them?

Sorry if this has been a previous thread.

T.

As the previous reply said; avoid them in the first place if
you can. Once you have them there are two schools of thought

1. Leave them alone
2. Burst them with a sterile needle

Having discussed this with my wife (a GP) and a consultant
dermatologist their view was leave them alone as they are
nature's protection. Puncturing them just introduces another
way for infection to get in.

You may find that specialist plasters like comspeed help
with small blisters but I just find they come off. If you
keep walking with blisters they do eventually harden up and
stop giving you pain but it is murder for a couple of days!

PS Get some reall;y good quality socks (and keep your feet
dry); I find that they do make a difference.

"John" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 10 Jun 2004 09:32:04 GMT, [email hidden] (Friith)
wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

As the previous reply said; avoid them in the first
place if you can. Once you have them there are two
schools of thought

1. Leave them alone
2. Burst them with a sterile needle

Having discussed this with my wife (a GP) and a consultant
dermatologist their view was leave them alone as they are
nature's protection. Puncturing them just introduces
another way for infection to get in.

<snip>

I always burst them with a needle and cover them with an
ordinary plaster with the lint bit removed. This reduces the
pressure on the affected part and increases comfort levels
dramatically. My experience is that to leave the blister
alone after a day's walking is to invite it to get larger
[and more painful the next day].

I've never experienced infection following bursting with a
needle - sterile or not! It is important to puncture the
blister in the correct manner though. The needle should be
parallel to the underlying skin, and then the only part of
the skin that gets punctured is the blister. If you come in
at an angle to the underlying skin you run the risk of
pricking the tender skin under the blister and this could
well lead to infection.

Roger C

Always carry small roll of duct tape which works really
well, especially if you catch the blister before its really
developed. The smooth surface prevents more friction and
spreads the load.

. Mark Cavendish Cardiff, Wales

Mark Cavendish said:

Always carry small roll of duct tape which works really
well, especially if you catch the blister before its really
developed. The smooth surface prevents more friction and
spreads the load.

I've heard of Duck tape being used but I'd have thought that
it's adhesiveness would have caused problems once you came
to take it off; any experience of this?

SteveO

NE Climbers & walkers chat forum;
thenmc.org.ukindex.phpOpen ↗

NMC website: thenmc.org.ukthenmc.org.ukOpen ↗

I always make shore that I stop as soon as I feel a blister starting to
form. normally they can be stopped by tightening your boots. if your heals
able to move up and down against the back of your boot that will cause them,
its also the same if your feet can move back and forth, that causes them on
your toes and the ball of your foot. the problem I find is getting the laces
right so that they are tight enough to stop blisters forming, but not to
tight that they start to squash parts of my feet and ankles. I recently
started using compeed which seem really good, but expensive. I was using
spenco blister kits but I found that blisters could get worse under the
plasters that come in the kit. the soothing gel pads also caused the
plasters to come of and worked there way out from under them when ever I
used them.
"Mark Cavendish" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Always carry small roll of duct tape which works really
well, especially if you catch the blister before its
really developed. The smooth surface prevents more
friction and spreads the load.

. Mark Cavendish Cardiff, Wales

Steve said:

I've heard of Duck tape being used but I'd have thought
that it's adhesiveness would have caused problems once you
came to take it off; any experience of this?

[aside - duct tape == Duck tape == gaffer tape]

I like to use it up front as preventative maintenance. If
you wish to take pressure off an existing blister it's
often best to build up a ring around it, rather than
cover it over.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer Tel 44 1382 660111
ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382
640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net
[email hidden] dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

Peter Clinch said:

Steve said:

I've heard of Duck tape being used but I'd have thought
that it's adhesiveness would have caused problems once
you came to take it off; any experience of this?

[aside - duct tape == Duck tape == gaffer tape]

I like to use it up front as preventative maintenance. If
you wish to take pressure off an existing blister it's
often best to build up a ring around it, rather than
cover it over.

I gues you could do that - I've only used it as a prelude to
blisters or after they've burst! And its not that sticky on
skin (I'd guess the moisture in the skin prevents it
sticking well) so it comes off very easily . Mark Cavendish
Cardiff, Wales

Mark Cavendish said:

its not that sticky on skin (I'd guess the moisture in the
skin prevents it sticking well) so it comes off very easily

Useful to know, ta!

SteveO

NE Climbers & walkers chat forum;
thenmc.org.ukindex.phpOpen ↗

NMC website: thenmc.org.ukthenmc.org.ukOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

its not that sticky on skin (I'd guess the moisture in
the skin prevents it sticking well) so it comes off
very easily

Useful to know, ta!

First of all, hello to the group - I've been lurking here
for a month or so and finally think I have something
worth adding!

OK then, as well as walking I also do a lot of rowing and
our crew have found through a lot of experimentation (when
you have 5 sessions a week you get time to try things out!)
that the best thing for blisters on our hands is PVC
electrical insulation tape. This is because it's sticky
enough to stay on, even when you're pulling hard on the
blade, thin enough to not rumple up and cause more problems
and shiny enough to cut down on any friction blisters! I
haven't actually tried this on my feet for walking as my
boots don't affect me too badly but I guess it would work
well as much the same properties are needed.

Dave

PS If you want to see how bad our blisters can get after
rowing check out this picture of me on training camp this
yearc.uk/boatclub/photos/showlarge.php?image=gallerys%2F2003-
04+Part+II%2F04+Training+Camp+2004%2Flarge%2FTrainingCam-
p040002.JPG I must admit that this picture still freaks
me out even though it is of me! It's the product of about
200km of rowing in 6 days!

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

If you want to see how bad our blisters can get after
rowing check out this picture of me on training camp this
yearac.uk/boatclub/photos/showlarge.php?image=gallerys%2F2003-
04+Part+II%2F04+Training+Camp+2004%2Flarge%2FTrainingCamp-
040002.JPG

Or, better: tinyurl.com2sbltOpen ↗
--
Fran If you need my email address please ask.

Dave Randman said:

the best thing for blisters on our hands is PVC electrical
insulation tape. This is because it's sticky enough to stay
on, even when you're pulling hard on the blade, thin enough
to not rumple up and cause more problems and shiny enough
to cut down on any friction blisters!

Interesting stuff

Quoted message said:

I must admit that this picture still freaks me out even
though it is of me! It's the product of about 200km of
rowing in 6 days!

Ah, its well seen you're still a bairn ;-) get a few more
years under your belt looking inthe shaving mirror every
morning and you'll really _know_ gruesome when it stares
back at you!!

SteveO

NE Climbers & walkers chat forum;
thenmc.org.ukindex.phpOpen ↗

NMC website: thenmc.org.ukthenmc.org.ukOpen ↗