Blister Care

[poky5mom]

we just finished our vacation & I had two huge blisters on the tops of my toes - one on the bottom of my foot - my boots i have had for several years - I always wear smart wool socks - I even used some anti blister powder that I sprinkled in my sock - nothing apparently worked - any suggestions - I did alternate with two different boots - do you think both boots fit poorly? I am definietly losing a toe nail again this year! sorry if this is too much information!

[Ear Mountain]

Blisters on the tops of your toes indicate to me that:
1. Your feet are moving around too much in your boots, or
2. There is not enough room in the toe box, or
3. Your boots don't fit.

Continually getting black toe and losing toenails tells me your boot probably don't fit. Not knowing what kind of boots you have I'd guess they were too soft for the type of hiking you're doing. Get better boots, make sure they fit well and break in your feet long before heading to Glacier.

Black toenails take almost a year to grow out and everytime you look at your toe you will think og the hiking you did in Glacier.

[sambieni]

Unfortunately, I have feet of different sizes. Never a problem normally until I buy hiking boots. So while my left is always great and comfy, my right does tend to blister. I have come to expect it and usually after a day or so of solid hiking may even have blisters like those you see in that photo. Sorta par for the course w/ my hiking. With neosporin to kill the bacteria, second skin to cut the burn, Moleskin and/or bandaid, and then serious wrapping around my ankles and foot with athletic tape the morning after it happens I wind up fine. A totally taped up foot and then I can walk again. Been that with my hiking forever. Sucks. But something I have learned to live w/. Now, to go out there though w/out any moleskin, etc.... thats just silly.

[Ear Mountain]

Unfortunately, I have feet of different sizes. Never a problem normally until I buy hiking boots. So while my left is always great and comfy, my right does tend to blister. I have come to expect it and usually after a day or so of solid hiking may even have blisters like those you see in that photo. Sorta par for the course w/ my hiking. With neosporin to kill the bacteria, second skin to cut the burn, Moleskin and/or bandaid, and then serious wrapping around my ankles and foot with athletic tape the morning after it happens I wind up fine. A totally taped up foot and then I can walk again. Been that with my hiking forever. Sucks. But something I have learned to live w/. Now, to go out there though w/out any moleskin, etc.... thats just silly.

Have you tried buying boots to fit your larger foot? Then use an additional sock or a thicker sock to fill the space around the smaller foot.

[sambieni]

Unfortunately, I have feet of different sizes. Never a problem normally until I buy hiking boots. So while my left is always great and comfy, my right does tend to blister. I have come to expect it and usually after a day or so of solid hiking may even have blisters like those you see in that photo. Sorta par for the course w/ my hiking. With neosporin to kill the bacteria, second skin to cut the burn, Moleskin and/or bandaid, and then serious wrapping around my ankles and foot with athletic tape the morning after it happens I wind up fine. A totally taped up foot and then I can walk again. Been that with my hiking forever. Sucks. But something I have learned to live w/. Now, to go out there though w/out any moleskin, etc.... thats just silly.

Have you tried buying boots to fit your larger foot? Then use an additional sock or a thicker sock to fill the space around the smaller foot.

Nah. I htought about it, but my right foot doesn't always blister. Sometimes I survive and maybe just get hot spots like when I was in Maine at Katahdin few years ago. For some reason, it was really rough this summer for me and I knew it would be. I was working out in the gym a lot beforehand with 'em on (gotta love wearing boots in a gym in Manhattan! ) and could tell a hot spot was gonna form on the foot. So I was resigned to it. And once I tape, etc in the morning I am good to go for the entire day with no real problems at all. But to your point, I also think that buying larger to compensate one foot would create the offsetting problem in the other. I could easily try and use thicker sock (as I did) with the right foot and still suffer. I have gone through a number of boots over the years and sadly, I get blisters. Sucks.

[poky5mom]

I wonder if I could get a discount on a pedicure since I only have 9 toenails!

[Ear Mountain]

I wonder if I could get a discount on a pedicure since I only have 9 toenails!

I'd say yes, especially if the missing nail was on the Big Toe

[llholmes1948]

Kim,

I am sorry to hear that you had these problems. There used to be a discussion of blister products on the Chat (See my message - fourth from the top in this section) but the links to those discussions no longer seem to work so I think those topics must have been lost when Dave switched from one server to another.

In 2008, Carlene and I tried a product called Blister Block which we found to be helpful. I think it is made by Johnson & Johnson but I am not sure.

We also used a Johnson and Johnson Advanced Healing Band-Aids for Fingers and Toes which we found very helpful. (It contains medication and should not be used by diabetics and those with poor circulation according to the packaging.) They are a bit expensive (as I recall $5 or $6 for eight bandaids) but we found them to be well worth it.

Carlene who had more blisters than I had also used a product called Second Skin or Liquid Skin or something like that which she found to be very helpful. As I recall it is a liquid product that you paint on the blister area.

I think we intend to carry those products on all future trips to Glacier.

In 2008 we also tried liner socks for the first time. We found them to be helpful and we intend to use them in the future. However they were no panacea. I believe they delayed somewhat the occurence of blisters but we still got them eventually.

Hope this helps.

Lyman