Some time back, Tom Demerly and others mentioned injecting blisters with tincture benzoin. How bad does this hurt? I have about a dime-sized blister on my instep and a race on Saturday. Should I inject it with this stuff?
Question answered. It hurts like a bastard. I’ve had heel spurs injected, four screws in the head, and arterial blood gas drawn. This hurt worse. But, if it fixes my blister, it’ll be worth it.
It depends on the size of the blister. Now, in terms of pain, if it hurts *too bad *it seems to trip some type of “circuit breaker” and you kind of zone out for a second or two and don’t even feel it. Make sure you aren’t in a place where if you fall over you’ll be injured. The problem is, once the “circuits” re-set it still hurts rather urgently.
I’ve done the tincture injection on small to moderate sized blisters and, if you simply put a sock or wash cloth in your mouth, it isn’t all that bad. Just be ready for it. It is best to have another person handle the needle too. If the sensation is surprising to you it is possible you may drop or hurl the syringe, risking further discomfort.
Stuff a sock in your mouth, close your eyes and hang on. It will be over before you know it.
my fun with tincture of benzoin:
I am a corpsman in the navy (medic for you army pukes), when I was a young sailor boy, my first 5 years was as a grunt (infantry) corpsman. After long runs or force marches, those young tough bad ass marines would come to me with those little (ok, sometimes big) blisters. I would aspirate all the fluid out of the blister with a needle and syringe, and then inject some tincture of benzoin. I can assure you, that I never saw that marine again for blisters, nor the two or three other marines he told about his trip to medical. I would also get a big kick out of the tears that flowed, the scream like a girl, and occasional marine that passed out (usually the biggest and badest marine). OH WHAT JOY!
So, to answer your question, YES it hurts like hell…But, it works! You can also take the whimpy way out and use some NU-SKIN…liquid band-aid…
SUCK IT UP MARINE!
HOO YAH NAVY!
Exactly. If you do it enough, it actually starts to feel good… You tell yourself.
Well, I did what you did–aspirated the blister and injected the tincture bezoin. It stung pretty good. But, since I did that last night, I have had to drain the blister two more times. What’s your advice–reinject it or leave it alone (other than draining it)? I have a race Saturday morning.
Ooh rah!
My twins do ballet. they get blisters frequently. they say that dancers just peel off the top and put second skin on there. Not the way I treat them, but they have to keep on keepin’ on so that’s what they do.
Having the same life experiences and career path as DVFMFIDC I can attest to the pain that the patient will endure and that it works. Not likely to get a blister there again.
Well, I injected my blister on Wednesday and it did sting a bit. Well, okay, a lot. Actually, it sort of stung and burned at the same time. Anyway, by race day on Saturday that thing was sealed together and I biked and ran with no problems. It was worth it.
Do not use the stuff on saddle sores…
interesting … I did a quick google search on this stuff and found out it is a common transgender care product … basically they use it to keep hormone patches attached to their skin … wonder how Tom and the ‘Others’ discovered it … lol …JK
In my adventure racing days (the long ones), we would also use super glue on our blisters after we opened and cleaned them - very effective. Tincture was very commonly used.
Someone said you wouldn’t get a blister there again. So what is that stuff? What is it doing to prevent blisters?
“Stuff a sock in your mouth, close your eyes and hang on. It will be over before you know it.”
I spoke those exact words to my wife last night.
Out of desperation, I got the idea (from ST) to inject a large blister with SuperGlue. The pain was compared to the benzoin injection, and I can tell you that the Glue FUCKING HURT!!! I’ll never do it - or any other blister injection procedure - again. And no, it is not toxic; and yes, it was a dumb idea.
It is also used by people with ostomies to protect the skin where the appliance is glued to it. Also, people put it on cold sores on their lips.
I don’t know exactly how it works, but my blister is now covered by very tough layer of skin that seems to be well adhered to the underlying skin. I am going with no band-aid or anything on it with no pain at all. I imagine in a couple of weeks that dead skin layer will peel off and I’l have nice pink new skin underneath.
Dunno about shooting up. But here’s what I do with blisters, which works very well: Take a needle and white thread and dip it in alcohol. Lace the needle through the blister and pull it through, leaving 1" of thread not yet through. Cut the needle-side thread 1" from the blister so you have threaded your blister with 1" hanging out each side After a day or two, pull the thread out.
This will wick away the fluid, which often keep developing after you have popped the blister the first time. This will allow the blistered skin to settle back down and bond with the sub layer.
Often this allows the blistered skin and area to recover without losing a layer of skin.