So my last race left me with blisters on both arches of my feet. I need to keep up with the training while at the same time let the blisters heal and not get worse. Any tips for proper treatment of blisters?
saul you can go ahead and use your real name
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I had this problem a while back. Vaseline and band-aids (to keep the lubricant on the wound and padded) over the blisters, coupled with loosening the laces a bit allowed me to run every day and still let it heal.
Laces too tight on a couple of runs is what caused it in the first place.
Duoderm is good stuff if the skin is broken.
if not, moleskin - cut a “donut” out of it and then the blister goes in the middle.
Air.
Grab one of those safety pins off of your bib number. Sterilize it with some rubbing alcohol or by passing it through a flame. Also put some rubbing alcohol on the blister. Then stab that sucker and squeeze all the juices out. Maybe rub a little more alcohol on the skin around it afterward, because an infection would suck.
This will get rid of the hydrowhatever pressure in there and keep the skin intact. The next day you won’t even know that you had a blister. The skin will thicken later and then you’ll have a blisterproof callous. As soon as you drain the blister you can run on it again without any problem.
I always bring alcohol pads with me to races because I looove draining blisters right afterward. Satisfying.
x2 on draining them (unless it’s a blood blister). Gently insert the needle along the outer edge of the blister, that way you can push from the other side and fully drain it.
In addition to what others have said, go by epson salt from Walgreens or another drug store. Put 1 cup of epson salt in very hot water and soak your feet 4 times a day for about 15-20 minutes. Do it for about a week.
This treatment worked wonders for my feet. Got most of the advice by google searching trail running and blisters. Also Zombie Runner has a website for trail runners and they had blister treatment kits you could purchase that had all of the tapes, ointment, etc., plus care instructions for just about every blister issue. Nice resource to have for future blisters.
Tear the outer layer of the blister off, get rid of the fluid, and paint it up with New Skin. It will be massively painful but suck it up and as soon as the New Skin dries you will be ready to roll.
Or, there is a product out there called “second skin” by spenco. It is a moist gel film. Works best if you cut out a piece that completely covers the blister. Put it in place. Then cover the film and the surrounding area with strong athletic tape. If there is anywhere the film can squeeze out to, it will. So it must be completely surrounded.
You can get New Skin at the local drugstore. It’s in a small brown bottle that is about the size of a bottle of “white out”.
Not sure where you can buy the second skin stuff any more. I think the last place I got it was REI.
whatever you do, don’t rip off the “roof” of the blister - it’s a surefire way to get it infected (and make it hurt for longer)
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