blisters...tips to prevent? tips to treat them ?

[Traveller]

Rip it apart and put salt on it 

Not to sound argumentative, but just wanted to note. Its better to not peel off the top if you dont have to. Skin is the organ (yes organ) that keeps all the crawlies on the outside from getting in. Its the first line of defence. The fluid that is between the first and second layers of skin(epidermis & dermis) is chocked full of goodness. It is a saline/lymph/nutrient fluid. Its good for you if it is clear. If it is tinted red, it means you have a deep blister and it will be alot less fun if you crack it.

If it is hanging there, remove it (the skin is dead even if it is still soft), clean it and get something clean over it. If you want to be extra careful and have saline solution for your contact lenses use that rather than tap water. Straight water tends to be bad for the things inside your body. Causes some cells to pop since they soak it up too fast. Its not a big deal if you just use tap  water though. Its not going to kill you.

But if it is still sealed and has fluid, and you are not doing anything abusive to your feet (like hike/march/run), then leave it to heal. The skin itself is there for a barrier to stop infection, and the fluid is full of good stuff. It will heal faster underneith if you leave soaking in your own immune/nutrient saturated solution. But the odds are that if you are hiking/marching/running it is going to open up on its own regardless if you keep hammering on it. I know its contrary to what you want to do, but if you crack it and let it dry out, it becomes a nice scab, its gonna keep cracking if you are lucky enough to get it high enough on the ankle. If you pop it, make sure to put some antibacterial sort of cream on it, polysporin or even vasaline to seal in your own fluids. (AVOID the stuff you GF/Mom might have, the stuff that smells nice is for the top of the skin, and the perfume component will probbably cause infection). Most of all make sure its clean and cover it.

I find though that if you get stuck in the middle of no where, and its popped and giving you trouble, give it a good clean, put some antistick gause on it if you have it in your first aid kit, I have seen some guys put 2 times the size of a gause on it than they need to, then cover the area in a few layers of duct tape (doubling the size stops you from removing most of your heel when you pull it off). THey say that it aids in letting the heel slip in the sock/boot and reducing fricton on the already agravated area.

But i cant say that i have tried it. Most i have done is clean, bandage, new sock.

But im not a doctor. And my advice is free... so its not worth much.

 

[JBoyd]

Traveller I hope you realize that Roy was was not serious (at least I hope he wasn't), albeit part of it might have been serious (see above post regarding Masochism)

 

[Traveller]

Hmm... my scarasm filter seems to have malfunctioned and let some stuff through.
I think this sums up how i am feeling right now

 

[Blackadder1916]

I'm surprised Friar's Balsam (Tincture of Benzoin) hasn't been mentioned yet as either a preventive or curative, but then it wasn't always looked on favourably by some (many?) MOs for treating blisters.  But there were always some MAs who placed it high in their bag of tricks.  This tidbit well describes the treatment (and has some other handy tips for footcare) http://www.ar.co.za/articles/footcare.html

In extreme cases Friar's Balsam or methyolate can be injected into the blister. This is INCREDIBLY painful. Forget about a red-hot poker, it's like having a white-hot poker held against your foot. The method is to use a syringe (without needle or you'll end up with the needle in your heel) to inject the chosen solution into a drained blister, immediately applying pressure to make the blister's roof adhere to the base skin. Ask one teammate to do the injecting while another holds your leg still. A brave few are able to do this themselves.

I tried this once, on day 2 at the Augrabies Extreme last year - and howled in pain. I only put up with it for one blister and retreated to drain the others myself. This proved to be the best and most successful treatment. I kept my feet clean, FB'd and powdered my feet and drained the troublesome blisters regularly. By the end of the 3rd day there was a vast improvement and by day 5 my feet were in better condition that anyone else's and the blisters had healed giving me no trouble.

 

[Traveller]

"Even if you've only got a small developing blister, drain it as soon as possible and keep up the maintenance thoughout the race. "

In regards to the website... aside from injecting 'white hot' pain into my blisters i probbably would be hesitant on the whole 'even if you have a small blister' part is kind of bad. Its sort of like asking for an infection where you dont need one. I understand that there is a goal in mind by keeping you moving and such, but it would be just better to put a bandaid over top of it, minimize the friction by changing socks or taping it and continue.

methyolate and benzoin are drying topical chemicals...  http://www.medicinenet.com/benzoin-topical/article.htm
"HOW TO USE: This medication is for use on the skin only" Injecting into the skin is not going to be good for it or you. Considering that it is suggested to only use it in 'light' doses on the top of the skin in an effort to clean it of germs and in 'minor sores'
why in the world would you want to inject it into healthy (abeit inflamed) tissue. My first worry is about scar tissue forming, creating an area that will not callus up propperly and will cause future issue.

I think the whole Adventure race source component is like the advice given here. its all free and everyone and their dog has their opinions. But the reality is that as soon as you pick up a hypodermic needle and start injecting chemicals... well, you should be under the watchful eye of a doctor... expecially if the instructions on the website are "Ask one teammate to do the injecting while another holds your leg still. A brave few are able to do this themselves. " ???
Getting your skin to stick together via a drying chemical, and removing the nutrients will get you back on the road immediately, but wont the pain of the chemical be worse than the discomfort of cowboying up and changing the sock?

Not trying to flame, or anything, just calmly discussing.

 

[geo]

Ask one teammate to do the injecting while another holds your leg still. A brave few are able to do this themselves

A brave few.....

The not too smart few  :skull:  :rage:  :skull:

 

[Blackadder1916]

I suppose that I should reiterate that injecting Friar's Balsam into a blister is NOT (words twice) NOT recommended.  My previous post was solely to mention it as one of those (historical?) remedies that some old soldiers may have used.  I've seen it reduce an old infantry CSM to tears and yes it stings like a bastard.

 

[Canadian Mind]

Lot of interesting idea's in here. I have yet to experiance a blister on a ruck march myself.

However, at home and in the bush, I still get blisters from time to time, although I'm usually afforded the liberty to let them heal 2-3 days before I pop them. If not, I remove all the dead skin, rub it down with alcohol; then I put a small piece of gauze on the exposed piece of skin, and hold it down with a fat layer of duct tape. After a day or two the skin underneath is usually hard enough to handle the friction.

 

[Korporaal]

This is a subject near and dear to my heart.

There is one solution to this problem Merthiolate Lotion ...but first let me tell you a story and how I came to believe in this Elixor of blistered feet and how I reclaimed my manhood...LOL ;D

During basic training in 1981 in the SADF you were expected to "take the punch" i.e. take any pain the training and/ or instructors dished  out  to us troops, or you " were not a man". you were weak. We were not allowed to walk anywhere for the first 3 months (basic training), you had to run everywhere, and of course the new boots I was issued with caused blisters all over both my feet, to the point that I couldn`t even l

​

ace up my boots. I didn`t tell our instructor...`cause I had to prove I "was a man and take the punch".
The pain got  to the point that I didn`t want to be a man anymore and went to see the unit Medic, and he freaked out at the state of my feet and put me in the "Ambulance Platoon".Which was a light duty platoon.
This all happened on a Thursday, on Friday we had the Company parade which is attended by the C.O (a Colonel) and GOD, I mean the R.S.M.
So there you had over 1000 troops (having marched in first) on Parade and in we march last ...the Ambulance Platoon , in full view of  all the other troops , but since we were the "Ambulance Platoon" which consisted of the sick ,(a good proportion of) lame (and a whole lotta) lazy guys,  the instructors ordered us to put our hands on top of our beret clad heads and make a ambulance noise ..."pee paa, pee paaa,  pee paaa" whilst openening and closing our fingers, the fingers denoting the flashing lights of an ambulance .The embarresement was to much, I decided I wanted to be a man again, and after the parade showed my instructor my feet ..and what did he whip out to fix my problem feet ...Merthiolate and two syringes.
He inserted  the first needle and syringe into the blisters and drew the water out (there was about 7 or 8 blisters per foot) he then used the 2nd  syringe to inject Merthiolate under the loose skin of the blister, which is the same as taking a hot soldering iron and pushing it into a muscle seven times...but it worked.
I left my boots off for the week end allowing the blisters to dry out, and by Monday all was right with the world again.
No more blisters. They had all dried up.

I never had a problem again.So yes, you might see the bright light at the end of the tunnel when the Merthiolate is injected into the blister, drying it out very quckly, but you can also be comfortable in the knowledge that you will had retained your manhood. LOL.

 

[Traveller]

Not sure how to react after hearing that south african army humiliates their wounded ....

 

[Korporaal]

Maybe in the civilian world having blisters is considered being wounded as you say.

In the military world having blisters and humiliation is part and parcel of training.

When I was wounded in a grenade explosion months later while on ops in S.W.A. I was medevacked out of the contact in 20 minutes and having shrapnel taken out of my leg within 30 minutes. Hardly being humiliatated, I would think.

Once you had gone through the humiliation and hard training and weathered the storm as it were, you had a sense of pride that you took the worst that they could throw at you, and you survived.The instructors also treated you with more respect after the initial 3 months.
This is why soldiers look a little differently upon civilians who have never served.

In my first posting I tried to inject some humour into the situation, as any soldier, young or old will tell you some situations which are hilarious in the military would be looked upon by civilians with shock and horror.





 

 

[Traveller]

Agreed, a civilian perspective is much...(for lack of a better word) softer than that of an experienced vetran such as yourself. However, i have also seen friends who have 'toughed it out' and paid the price for excess mochismo. Not arguing, just observing that at some point, i guess experience shows you where the line between over the top or lagging behind is.
In my family, if you were not gushing blood you didnt go to the hospital. I had to fight to go to the hospital, and it turned out that i had earned myself a two week stay due to septic appendix. Had i followed my dads instructions and 'sucked it up' i'd be dead. *shrug*.
Mind you, all this is a bit off topic anyhow. I think this was about footcare. lol.