How to treat your foot blister
How to treat a foot blister Where you start is your choice! Best case scenario is you start at blister prevention. It's your best chance of a no-fuss and pain-free experience. Failing that, if you're lucky you'll get a warning and start at hot-spot management. If not, you'll be negotiating the slippery slope of blister treatment ... but let me warn you ... it's complicated! 1. Blister prevention Prevention is your best chance of a no-fuss and pain-free experience. The most effective blister management strategy starts before you walk out the door. It should be in place before you even begin. Have a flick through this slide deck to discover your 14 options. How to choose a blister prevention strategy - that works from Rebecca Rushton 2. Hot-spot management If you neglect prevention, you might still get lucky and avoid a blister. You might get a brief sensation of heat called a hot-spot. This is your warning that a blister is about to form. Be grateful for the warning and act immediately! This is your small window of opportunity to prevent a blister. Hot-spot management is just like blister prevention. The only difference is you have to drop everything and do it immediately. And you obviously need to have the right equipment with you. That's not always possible. Do you run with a blister kit? To manage a hot-spot, use the same prevention strategies in the slide deck above. Get in early enough and you might avoid going any further down the slippery slope of foot blister treatment. Blister treatment is tricky! It rarely provides 100% pain relief, requires ongoing intervention, you need to have gear on-hand and the method used depends on lots of variables. My advice ... avoid it! 3. Blister treatment So you've missed the blister prevention boat. What comes next? The exact course of action depends on the integrity of the blister roof. The blister roof will either be intact, torn or deroofed. So let's have a look at how blister treatment changes depending on what's happened to your blister roof. 3a) Blister roof intact HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO: Dress your blister Reduce pressure Reduce friction Monitor regularly for blister roof tearing We know the majority of blisters will tear ("pop") if you put your shoes back on and just hope for the best. So the very least you can do is dress your blister to keep it clean, just in case. You'll need an island dressing. These have an absorbent pad (that doesn't stick to your blister) surrounded by adhesive, like Primapore. It's important not to stick anything to the blister. Or the blister roof might tear when you remove the dressing. How to treat an intact blister - image credit HOW TO TREAT AN INTACT BLISTER - IMAGE CREDIT Primapore island dressing won't tear your blister roof - image credit PRIMAPORE ISLAND DRESSING WON'T TEAR YOUR BLISTER ROOF - IMAGE CREDIT 3b) Blister roof torn HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO: Apply antiseptic (like Betadine) Dress your blister Reduce pressure Reduce f
