Blisters?

[drwex]

Back in the days when rocks were soft my mom would always insist that blisters should be drained and then bandaged. Later, but still pre-Internet, I remember reading something saying this was a bad plan and if the skin did not break on its own it should be left. Now in the age of the Internet I can find all kinds of info saying both yea and nay.

What's the friend consensus? Also, how do you deal with a blister on the underside of a toe? It's sufficiently large that the typical protective pads I could get at CVS wouldn't surround it.

Comments

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

I drain them, put vit E oil on them and a bandaid. When we were in DC and we both bot massive blisters that's how I dealt with mine and I felt like I was able to keep walking and not be hurty.

[taura-g.livejournal.com]

yep, this is how the medics would deal with them on the Walks I have done too.

The blister bandages work best if they are brand new.

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

Drat, you replied to mine. Now I can't edit the typos ;)

[points.livejournal.com]

I've found WebMD to have fairly factual information in the past:

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/blisters-home-treatment

(To wit - don't drain, unless you really can't help it. Primarily worries over infection.)

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

yeah, you do run a risk of infection if you drain them, but if you're careful you can probably avoid (as mentioned i have a small box of lancets floating around partly for that reason) and zomg it heals so much faster if you f-ing drain it. plus it stops hurting almost immediately. I once did a very very stupid thing and danced barefoot on asphault and created blisters within two songs. and was to be entertaining an honor flight an hour or two later, complete with 4" heels. I went home and washed and drained the blisters and was able to dance. I can't imagine I would have been able to dance otherwise.

[psybelle.livejournal.com]

If it was my toe and it hurt to walk on the blister, I'd drain it on the theory that less pressure should mean less pain.

I've never had a blister get infected, but feet seems like the most likely place for that to happen - if you're going to drain it wash everything thoroughly first and put a sealing bandaid over it if you can (and antibiotic ointment and an absorbent bandaid if sealing it up isn't possible).

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

I have a small box of diabetic testing lancets floating around. In case of blister, i clean the blister well, then poke it from the side with a sterile lancet (so you can't really feel the stick, and there's no danger of piercing real flesh) and drain it. Then dab a bit of neosporin on and add a bandaid.

This is what I was taught when doing a 50+ mile charity walk.

[make-your-move.livejournal.com]

And then cover it with blister pads.

[donnad.livejournal.com]

I have always drained blisters, but left the skin to fall off on it's own. Then I put some sort of antibiotic ointment, like bacitracin or neosporin, on it and keep it covered for a couple days. Watch it for signs of infection, but with the neosporin it usually heals pretty quickly underneath and the dead skin peels off.

[eccentrific.livejournal.com]

I have always been told that you drain them if they're in a location where they would pop if you don't (because you can do it much more cleanly and safely).
However, if it's not likely to pop on its own, leave it because once you pop the skin it is vulnerable to infection.

Of course, most blisters fall in category number 1, since they tend to appear in places that get a lot of abuse, like heels.

[frobzwiththingz.livejournal.com]

I always pop and drain them. They heal about 2x faster that way. [they heal even faster if the blister skin is removed entirely and the whole thing left open to dry out in the air. but that's also much more painful at the beginning] I've never had one get infected in 40+ years of doing this. All of those statements apply to me and me alone. They may not work for you. Do your own experiments. Keep a log somewhere. eventually you'll have actual data you can look at and know what works *for you*.

Stupid army tricks!

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Lance, drain, then apply tincture of benzoin into the cavity. Burns like hell for a while, turns the inside to callous - quickly enough to hike on.

Again, stupid army tricks. Learned from SF medics; they're not allowed to do that for cadets anymore.