While I have managed to avoid blisters myself one or two usually show up on someone during the course of a Troop backpacking trip. Dr. Paul Auerbach has posted a very comprehensive treatise on preventing and treating foot blisters:
Product Guide
You may have difficulty finding some of these specialized products at your local drugstore. They are available at Amazon
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Elastikon Bandage |
Basic Blister Treatment (for intact blisters):
1) Cut moleskin (or a basic blister care product) into a donut of diameter ½ inch to 1/3 inch around the blister. The blister should fit inside the hole in the donut.
2) Place a patch of Spenco 2nd Skin in the donut hole directly over the blister.
3) Cover the moleskin donut and patch with benzoin and tape. Note that this “traditional” moleskin/donut treatment may cause further pressure points either directly under the moleskin or by transferring pressure and subsequent increased friction to the opposite side of the foot.
Basic Blister Draining:
1) Cleanse both the blister skin and a safety pin with an alcohol pad (the diameter of a safety pin is larger than that of a sewing needle to allow continuous drainage, yet not so large as to risk de-roofing the blister).
2) Puncture the blister with the pin at several points at the margin of the blister (generally on the outside of the foot), rather than via one large hole. This will allow natural foot pressure to continually squeeze out fluid, limiting the risk of de-roofing the blister.
3) Gently push out fluid with your fingers.
4) Blot away the expressed fluid.
5) Cover the drained blister with paper tape (protects the blister roof when any other overlying tape is removed).
6) Cover the paper tape with benzoin, then with shaped adhesive tape. All tape should have trimmed and rounded edges to minimize “dog ears” and
peeling off.
7) Reaccumulated fluid can be drained through an intact bandage.
Open and Torn Blister Treatment:
1) Using small scissors or another sharp object, carefully de-roof the blister, completely trimming off the dead skin.
2) Place Spenco 2nd Skin on raw skin.
3) Cover the Spenco 2nd Skin with paper tape.
4) Apply a benzoin coating.
5) Cover with Elastikon or another tape product.Toe Blister:1) Drain the blister with an alcohol-cleansed safety pin.
2) Use one piece of Micropore tape to encircle the (leaving the torn tape end at the dorsum of the foot to avoid irritating neighboring toes).
3) Pinch closed the tape.
4)Trim sharp edges or wrinkles in the tape. Avoid cloth tape or Elastikon on the toes, as the abrasive nature of these tape varieties may cause blisters on adjacent toes.
I have always treated an area when it starts to feel “warm” from friction, before the blister forms by applying duck tape to the area to reduce friction to the area.
If somebody says there’s no one correct way to deal with a problem is that a real answer? You get accustomed to dealing with blisters. Even if boots fit properly you’ll run into situations that wreck your feet now and then. I always puncture blisters at the end of the day and I’ve never seen them refill (they will leak for awhile) or become infected. In SERE training the medics cut away all the loose skin, which seems to me like a horrible idea. Whatever protection you have, you should keep. I leave the loose skin on for a couple of days, let the tissue underneath harden up a little, then cut it off.