Read an Excerpt
Chapter 20: Blisters
An Overview of Blister Care
Over the years, blister care has changed, from simple to more complex. On the following pages, the different levels of blister care are explained. It’s important to understand that you can patch a blister perfectly and do all the right things, but you must also stop whatever caused the blister to start with. Maybe it’s reducing shear, adding an ENGO patch to your insole, removing pressure—any of the blister-causing factors described in Chapter 9: Blister Prevention: The New Paradigm.
From the perspective of runners and hikers, the goal of blister treatment is to make the foot comfortable because often running or hiking must continue. Bryan P. Bergeron, MD, identifies four therapeutic goals of blister management. He recommends that all blister treatments be considered with these four goals in mind:
- avoiding infection,
- minimizing pain and discomfort,
- stopping further blister enlargement, and
- maximizing recovery.
Keeping these four goals in minds, let’s take a look at eight subtopics about blister care. All four goals are covered in the eight topics.
Draining Blisters There are many ways to drain a blister and a variety of instruments to do so. You should know where to make holes in the blister and how to keep blisters from refilling.
Preventing Infection Understanding the best ways to prevent and treat possible infections is important. You’ll learn the signs and symptoms of an infection and what to do if one develops.
General Blister Care is the most basic level of care. It typically involves a moleskin donut to fit around the blister. It’s old-school but still is popular and effective if done right.
Advanced Blister Patching comes next and gets into more advanced types of blister patching. This section looks at blister patches, skin preparation, and dealing with torn blister skin.
Extreme Blister Patching is not for the faint-hearted. We look at several methods to seal the blister. We also look at injecting different substances to help dry out the skin, using syringes and needles, and deep blisters under calluses.
Beyond Blisters takes a look at even more advanced methods of dressing open blisters. These methods typically use products associated with wound care.
Fixing Blisters, Their Way or Yours is important to read because you need to be informed about blister care options. If you know how to patch blisters, you are in a better position to manage your care than if you have to rely on the skills and products of whatever aid station personnel have.
Post-Event Blister Care is about what to do after your race or event is over. It’s vital to know how to dress your blisters so they start healing.
So now, with a basic understanding of these eight blister care options, let’s look at them one-by-one....