Blister Care

[toddnick]

This may have been discussed somewhere, but I couldn't find it in a quick search. What do you bring along on your hiking trips to deal with blisters. It didn't happen last year but one of my big fears is having a nasty blister the first day of hiking and having to wait days for it to recover and losing good trail days....

[Ear Mountain]

toddnick,
As you probably know the first defense against blisters is properly fitting boots of good quality that are well broken in. The breaking in process also involves conditioning your feet to wear the boots all day on the rough trails found in Glacier.

If I develop a blister I like to use something like Spenco's 2nd Skin to cover it then cover that with adhesive tape.

[Glowski]

I have the most problems with blisters if my feet are wet and or sweaty. On this trip, I switched socks when they got wet/damp with a dry pair, and let the wet pair dry on the outside of my backpack. I switched socks several times on the longer hikes, I didn't have a problem with blisters at all!

VAL

[llholmes1948]

Here is a link to an earlier discussion on this topic:

http://glacierparkchat.com/phpBB3/viewt ... =14&t=1574

And a link to another discussion from the hiking section (which probably should have been posted in this section instead):

http://glacierparkchat.com/phpBB3/viewt ... f=2&t=3133

[dorf]

Here's a shot of my buddy's heels after 1.5 days in the Beartooths. He stupidly used new boot inserts without taking them for a test drive...



I gave up all my moleskin and told him to stick a patch right on the broken skin. He was able to complete the next 6 days without problems and even beat the other 4 of us back to the trailhead hiking out. The night this shot was taken he was seriously considering finding a trail and bailing.

[toddnick]

Wow! I don't like even looking at the size of those wounds. I would have bailed rather than spend 6 more days with heels like that!

It seems like everyone has their own view of the "best" way to treat blisters from duct tape (I saw this in several places on-line), to some other specialized tapes, to moleskin, to pads, to large band-aids.

I've been breaking in my boots but just got a nice-sized blister on my heel last week (from a 15 mile hike) which should be healed up by my trip, but now I'm getting paranoid about blisters!!!!

[NotABear]

Toddnick,

I had major blister issues on that Chief Logpole hike that terrorized me for the rest of the week. This year I made sure my boots were broken in and ready (bought them last November ). I even wore them to the gym for the tread mill and stair climber. It's the only place I can get an incline liiving here in flat Florida. I thought I was good to go until a month before the trip when I brought my pack, loaded to 27 pounds, to the gym. The load on the inclined treadmill changed everything giving me a large heel blister.

Point to the story: Don't wait for a blister to do your heels in moleskin. Every morning of our July trip started with doing both heels in mole skin. Also, if you have any large, thick calluses, you might want to cut/file them down. When my feet would get real damp, the calluses would pull at the skin around and below them. One caused a small blister that would have gotten worse if I didn't stop, dry off, wrap it in mole skin, and change to a dry pair of socks.

It's that whole "ounce of provention" thing.

[Straight Arrow]

P

[goose]

I am no expert on blisters, but it looks to me that if anyone is getting heel blisters, then their boots just aren't fitting right. Boots should fit perfectly. No hot spots and no heel slipping in or out. Superfeet keep the heel back, at the expense of a high arch, but other inserts may help, too. Lastly, be aware that one's feet can change from year to year; so even if a boot is worn-in, one might need to try a thinner or thicker sock. This year, I felt like I had more "volume" in the front of my boot, so I wore two pairs of smartwool socks for each hike.

David

[Hockey Ref]

Nasty, nasty, nasty!

[goose]

I showed the pictures of Dorf's friend to a orhopedic specialist. He remarked,
"Technically, the wounds are indeed "superficial"; but you'd have to be an idiot to continue hiking with those!"

David

[dorf]

Gee, and all this time we thought he was an idiot for hiking with new insoles

Still gotta give him props for completing the trip despite our subtle hints that maybe he should bail.

[Farmgirl]

did he hike in the crocs??

[Jen]

I am feeling very lucky about my 16 days and no gaping wounds! I love my men's Merrells!

[ND Sol]

That hurts just to look at.

I like using Advance Healing Blister Block Cushions by Band-Aid:

http://ucanhealth.com/local/merchandise ... y_Band-Aid

I have also been putting Blister Block on my feet each morning. Not sure how much of a difference it is making.

https://www.bandaid.com/couponBlisterBlock.jsp

Though it is mentally difficult to do, when you feel a hot spot, you should stop and treat it. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure so to speak.