First aid for blisters

What is the consensus about what to carry - and how to use it - for blisters?

First of all: break or not break?
Second: What is the proper way to use a moleskin. It always seemed to me that applying moleskin directly over a blister would aggrevate the situation when you tried to pull it off.

What ate your comments?

IMHO, Spenco is the standard for now. YMMV.

REI as well as others carry it. google Spenco blister.

I don't get them the way I used to, but here's what I do:

I usually carry a needle and a lighter in my EDC, so I heat up the tip of the needle, then let it cool, then poke it into the edge of the blister and roll my finger over the blister to squeeze out the juice.

I put the moleskin right over the blister and leave it there until it starts to roll or otherwise come off by itself.

My ditzy sister pulls off the moleskin as soon as she gets home. That way, the top of the blister tends to come off with the moleskin, it usually hurts, & she's now got a raw sore on her foot that she has to deal with.

I have absolutely nothing to back it up, but I feel that the skin of the top of the blister may still be alive, just separated from the deeper part of the skin. If it is alive and the source of friction is removed, it may heal back to the skin underneath. If it's dead, it is still a source of protection until the raw part starts to heal.

I DID read something somewhere that said if exterior skin cuts and abrasions are covered and kept moist (as with Neosporin, etc), it will heal faster and is not as likely to scar.

Sue

For Foot and ankle blisters, we take a sewing needle with a small piece of cotton thread (both prepared by heat and alcohol to be somewhat sterile) Run the needle through the edge of the blister on one side all the way through to the other side so that the thread stays through the blister to act as a drain for the fluid. We then use spenco to cover as instructed on the package.

In the past some of our people used Duct Tape, but found out that the duct tape stuck so well to the skin that when the duct tape was removed it took off more skin than necessary.

Thanks
Ted Fisher
Vermilion County Search and Rescue

I've found that if I put a bandage over a blister and strap it down tight, the blister will shrink down and reattach. It's not attached very firmly, but if you protect it for a few days the skin under it will have had a change to grow out by the time the blister detaches and tears off.

EDIT: I'll have to try that spenco stuff. It looks like it might be a more efficient way of doing what I'm already doing.

Where are some of our MD forumites when we need them!
I was taught not to make any unnecessary new holes in my body, including piercing a blister. I slather it with NewSkin or something like that... pad it with moleskin.. and leave it alone.

Probably all here would agree that if you're getting blisters on your feet, you're doing something wrong. That's one of the most important areas of preventive maintenance I can think of for outdoorspersons: pad hotspots BEFORE you get a blister, and check your feet frequently and carefully.

he's absolute right, prevention is usually beter than curing.

I personally can't remember having blisters on my feet ! Don't know why, i just don't get blisters on my feets. I walked about 25 Km's tuesday with a pack on, with just one layer of crappy socks and still didn't get blisters. But wenn i expect my self to walk long distances i still wear a thin layer of coolmax sock, with a good quality wol hiking sock over them to minimize friction. Some people tape there feets to reduce friction. I have done that in the past, but i think it was to much hassle for my self, since i don't get blisters there... i'm so lucky <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

I use moleskin. But then I rarely get blisters. But then I rarely wear shoes outside of the office. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

For what it is worth....

If it is just a hot spot, a bit of duct tape.

If it a true blister, wash, pierce, drain, a dab of neosporin, and duct tape.

But I wait for the tape to come off in it's own due time. For some reason, it seams to leave a thin callous where the blister had been.

But that is my self-witchdoctoring.

Ok, we need time to wake up and check the forum from this side of the world! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

For tense blisters - you may pierce a few holes in the blister with a sterilised / sterile needle to drain the fluid. Never deroof the blister i.e. leave the skin on!!

Apply whatever tape over the blister - Micropore, bandaid, moleskin, ducttape etc - make sure the surrounding normal skin is included in the taped area. The idea here is to compress the loose skin down and the surrounding normal skin will provide support for the tape.
The tape is to provide cushioning and prevent further trauma to the area and to prevent the blister from reforming.
The type of tape used will depend on what you have on hand and whether you want the treated area to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Duct tape will do, but moleskin looks and feels nicer.....

There is no point in apply tape to the blister only without incluing some surrounding normal skin. The roof of the blister will be mobile and more likely to tear and lead to more trauma and an open wound.

Finally, DON'T rip off the tape as soon as you get home. When to take off the tape depends the type of tape used and how long its been on the skin. Leave for at least 24 h before attempting to remove. For some types of duct tape - good luck, micropore tape - easiest to remove, moleskin - remove with care...
Of course don't deroof the blister while you are attempting to remove the tape.....

If in doubt, seek your local MD!

HTH

<img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

My ex-wife is a marathon runner. On the rare occasions when she got a blister [usually from getting her feet wet] she first washed the area really well with something anti-bacterial, drained it, and put on a piece of Spenco or moleskin MUCH larger than the blister and much larger than you would think necessary. The object of the game being to spread the pressure, and make any friction more difuse. Leave the dressing on as long as possible.

Worked for her - I have never seen her incapacitated.

Blister Care from Web MD:

Home treatment for unbroken small blisters:
Home treatment for an unbroken blister smaller than 1 in.(2.54 cm) includes the following:
Home treatment for an unbroken blister larger than 1 in.(2.54 cm) includes the following:

Home treatment for blisters that have already broken:
Home treatment for blisters that have already broken:

Pete

If I'm at home or work I don't put anything on the blisters. I pop them with whatever sharp object is handy, and keep on with what I'm doing. They are usually sore for a couple of days after the skin peels but never a big problem. I get them on my hands any time I do any real work - amazing how a mouse and keyboard don't build up callouses. The only time I get blisters on my feet is when I run barefoot on the treadmill. <Insert wisecrack about my intellect>

It may sound dumb, but I think of it as an experiment. If I was in a non-standard situation (in the woods or facing a long walk) I would take more appropriate measures. And I always have moleskin, tape, bandages, and neosporin in my kit.

I recently got two big blisters while on a 65 mile walk. There was one an each heel after the first 15 miles. I finished the walk with the blister uncut. I found it was best to tighten up my shoes and were two pares of socks. The idea was to have the sock absorb the friction while reducing friction with tighter shoes.

... and I was beginning to think I was the only one that ran barefoot on the treadmill. Great way to toughen up the the balls of your feet. Also a lot less stress on the knees. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Moleskin - . Don't pierce the blister. Cut a pad of moleskin (or other tape) that will surround the blister by 1/2 inch all round. Cut a hole in the middle of the moleskin to accomodate the blister. Place moleskin "doughnut" over and around blister. Tape over moleskin and blister. Now the moleskin takes the pressure, and the blister is still covered.

bones does the same thing I do. The whole idea of moleskin is not to put it over the blister, but use it to pad around the blister and get rid of the rubbing on that area.

Reading it now.. very interesting, thanks Pete!

(BTW just treated my first decubitus wound, pretty serious. Was black and deep: 12mm)

Blist-o-ban is made by the SAM splint folks and is amazing. You can use it to prevent, stop and treat blisters. Everything else is obsolete; no joke.

Especialy if you have to cover a lot of distance... and stopping for a couple of days is not an option. A blister will be tender and will slow you down no matter what you do to it. I usually care for other people's blisters because it's not much of an issue for me. Most people will be substantially handicaped even by a well threated & cared for blister.

I saw these socks in a sports store:

www.wrightsock.com

They are more expensive than normal socks or even simpler socks with Dupont's Coolmax stuff. Do you have any experience with them and are they worth it?

Frankie

My lady swears by these, and usually wears them everywhere that casual wear is appropriate. She has finally convinced me to try them, so I have a package on order (the style I wanted was not in stock). I will let you know.

Thanks KI6IW

If you are prone to sweaty *cough* smelly *cough* feet, avoid Coolmax like the plague, for socks that is.

I find that Coolmax works great for T-shirts and shorts in the gym, but it is worthless for socks. They can't wick moisture as well in your sneakers or boots because the heat is trapped inside the shoe.

I find my Coolmax socks remain humid throughout the day (at the office and in the outdoors as well) with uninteresting results (...), so I would stick with a blend of cotton, acrylic, polyester, nylon and merino wool.

Check this stuff out. It is far superior to anything else available.
It has be extensively tested by marathon runners.

http://www.sammedical.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/SamSite.woa/wa/Products/BlistOBan

The best treatment I’ve found for blisters is prevention. After getting a blister I’ve never had any of the blister treatments work worth a damn. In my case me feet tend to sweet so nothing stays in place for long. I’m now very careful about boot selection and find that Merrell boot fit my feet best. I always have them fitted while wearing SmartWool Hiking socks and Wigwam Sock Liners. Using sock liners was the key to curing getting blisters in the first place. I found that wearing well fitting breathable leather/Gortex or nylon/leather boots with the proper socks has freed me of blister on the longest hikes. Forget the foot powder, all it does is gum up you boots and socks. Instead, every hour or two I’ll rotate on a dry pair of socks with liners and give my feet a quick rubdown with alcohol from a small spray bottle. I put the damp socks in a mesh ditty bag outside my pack to dry for the next changing. While this may take a few extra minutes in the course of the day not having to deal with blisters is a huge payoff.

I had never heard of this stuff before, the Blist-O-Ban bandages you referred to. I noticed that they come from the people that brought us the vernerable SAM Splint, so I was interested, but, never saw them in stores. Today, I picked up a small hiking FAK for my boy's backpack, and they include a Blist-O-Ban bandage, as well as traditional moleskin.

Haven't used it yet, but, the technology looks promising. I read some of the info on the SAM Medical Products web site you had in your note.

Heck, if it's good enough for Adventure Medical Kits to put in their products, it's worth checking out. I agree with the other folks that said it's much better to work at avoiding the blisters in the first place. We spend a lot of time talking to our young skulls full of mush before every hiking trip, but, invariably, one of them didn't wear liners, or decent socks, or had poor fitting boots... so we need to break out the moleskin. Maybe now we'll have another thing for the bag of tricks.

I use bubble wrap over areas where I am prone to blisters and friends have used it over a sterile cover when they have gotten blister and we have had to keep moving.

>bubble wrap

That's a good point, these new bandages are like sanitary, self adhesive versions of bubble wrap. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
[color:"blue"] American Inventor could never compete with the ETS crowd. [/color]

Blistoban can be used to prevent, stop and heal blisters.
What did you buy;an AMK light and fast Trail or Adventurer?

Try telling a drill instructor at Infantry Training School that you can't go on training because your feet hurt. It took me about 2 weeks of constant humping up & down hills at Camp Pendleton before my feet were tough enough to avoid blisters.

>>>What did you buy;an AMK light and fast Trail or Adventurer?

It's the Trail model. Nice basic kit for day hiking. They packaged it in a convenient format. It has room to allow you to augment it with additional supplies for your needs.

I also like their Ultralight kits, for backpacking, with the waterproof inner bags, but, this Fast and Light format is more convenient to get what you need out of the zippered compartments. (It's not waterproof, so I have my son keep it in a ziplock freezer bag.)

Here's a sure-fire, though unconventional, way to prevent blisters: go barefoot.

Obviously this only work in relatively warm weather, and on most trails you'll go a bit slower barefoot, but it's the healthiest and most comfortable way to go, and you'll never get a blister this way. Although I'll admit some really rocky trails can be painful, others are a real pleasure. It also takes a little time for your feet to toughen up, and for most people it takes a bit longer for the foot and ankle muscles to develop.