BLISTERS

Blisters are your body’s way of saying it’s had enough. Be it too much friction or too much ambition, a blister – much like a muscle cramp or side stitch – is designed to slow you down and make you better prepared for physical activity. In some cases, blisters result from the painful rigor of breaking in a new pair of badly fit shoes or spending too much time with the garden rake.

Though the following remedies concentrate on blisters of the feet, many of these recommendations can be applied to treating friction blisters on the hands or on any other part of the anatomy where your body has said slow down.

Decide whether to prick or not to prick: once you have a blister, you have to decide what’s best to do with it. That is, should you protect it and leave it alone, or should you prick it and drain the fluid? " I think it depends on the size of the blister," says Suzanne Tanner.

Make a moleskin doughnut: One way to protect a tender blister without draining it is to cut a moleskin pad into a doughnut shape and place it over the blister. Leave the central area open where the blister is. The surrounding moleskin will absorb most of the shock and friction of everyday activity. As long as the skin is clean and dry, the moleskin will adhere by itself.

Give it some air: Most doctors suggest that you remove your blister dressing nightly and let it get some air. Air and water are very good for healing, so soaking it in water and keeping it open to the air at night are helpful.

Change wet dressings: Though some physicians say you can leave a dressing on for two days without worry, all agree that if a dressing becomes wet for any reason, you can consider it sontaminated and it should be changed. That means you may meed to change it quite often if your feet perspire heavily or you engage in activities that will lead to sweating and damp dressings.

Powder daily: Powder should be everybody’s friend. Make powdering your feet part of a daily routine.

When people come in with shoes that fit but that still give them blisters.. start off by applying baby powder to their feet before putting on their socks. This helps the socks to glide over the foot a little more and prevent blisters.

Try new socks for new shoes: If you’ve got a new pair of shoes that are rubbing up blister, the first thing you’ve to do is change to different socks. Acrylic socks are best because they are made in layers that are designed to absorb friction.

C :
Ds. Book of Remedies
Prevention Magazine editors