Forums >Health and Nutrition>Blisters?
ultramarathon/triathlete
I tried searching for an answer already but could not find a thread, so, apologies, this HAS to have been asked and answered before...
I got a blister on the ball of my foot deeeep under the callus at the Grand Rapids marathon last month. It seemed to have healed, and I thought all was fine until mile 10 of the NYC marathon this past weekend when the area started to get hot... you know the feeling... here comes the blister again. And I did apply a lot of Body Glide pre-race, fyi.
It got worse and worse and started to hurt around mile 19. I kept going. It's not a broken bone. It kept rubbing.
At Mile 22, I felt this nasty explosion between my big toe and second toe, sort of like when you bite into some chewy candy with a juicy center (like those power bar lemon bursts). SQUIIIIRRRT. My stomach did a flip flop and I almost lost it. I mean, it felt suuuuper gross. I looked down, it all seemed fine, but by mile 23 I noticed the top of my shoe was red (it was previously white).
On the bright side, the pain of the blister had mostly subsided, so I kept chuggin along (finished in 3:23:07, not my best, not my worst).
Now it's hard to walk on it (as if my dead quads were not bad enough!).
It's gross.
It's big.
It's popped.
I'm trying to determine out the best way to heal it. I have an ultra in 2 weeks and as it stands now, I'm not racing it. Bummer.
I've been putting neosporin on it and keeping it bandaged in the day, leaving it clean and uncovered at night to get some air.
Do I gradually trim away the dead skin (which is surprisingly thick, this was a DEEP blister) or do I leave the skin and try to get ointment under it, into the wound? Or do I do something else?
Thoughts? Experiences? Wanna see a picture :-P
HTFU? Why not!
USATF Coach
Empire Tri Club CoachGatorade Endurance Team
I got a blister on the ball of my foot deeeep under the callus at the Grand Rapids marathon last month.
Interesting. Had the same thing happen to me, except I didn't know it was a blister. I was convinced it was a stone bruise. After a week, I was smashing on it and determined it must be a blister. Jabbed it with a needle and "yuck". Instant relielf.
Second skin as worked for popped blisters in the past, to cover the sensitive area. Last time I used moleskin.
On the preventive side. I'm trying to shave down some of the callus build up so this doesn't happen again.
Get off my porch
I'm thinking the same thing. After it is all healed, I think I'll get a pedicure. Never had one and am not envying the ladies that end up taking care of my beaten up feet and missing toenails! hahaha
And I got a sample of that second skin stuff with my expo bag at the marathon so I think I'll give that a try.. question though, do I need to wait for the dead skin to be gone before using it? Seems like it might not work if it is just over a popped blister.
I think I have some moleskin around too, I'll give that a try as well.
Good Bad & The Monkey
Nothing you do will speed healing. Just gotta keep it covered up to minimize pain. Second skin, duct tape or superglue are all fine.
I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.
Poor baby
Feeling the growl again
duct tape or superglue are all fine.
Surprisingly, this is one thing I have not tried duct tape on.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
I'm thinking the same thing. After it is all healed, I think I'll get a pedicure. Never had one and am not envying the ladies that end up taking care of my beaten up feet and missing toenails! hahaha And I got a sample of that second skin stuff with my expo bag at the marathon so I think I'll give that a try.. question though, do I need to wait for the dead skin to be gone before using it? Seems like it might not work if it is just over a popped blister. I think I have some moleskin around too, I'll give that a try as well.
If the dead layer is still over it, second skin will not do much. I always leave it there for at least 3-5 days...if it will stay there...to let the skin underneath mature. I don't find it necessary to leave it there until it falls off itself, if removing it will help. Sometimes if you leave it on there an infection can get between.
Running an ultra on that, if you got it in just a marathon, is going to be tough as it won't heal by then. Good luck.
While I got no blisters I had the weirdest thing in the 37 miles I completed toward an ultra several weeks ago. Several days later, the entire layer of skin on the bottom of my right foot died and sloughed off. No blisters, and just my right foot. Odd.
Maybe you were joking but just in case . . . do not get a pedicure!!! I got one this summer when I was laid up and it messed things up even more.
I got a horrible blood blister on the side of my big toe 3 weeks before my ultra. I did a combination of things that all worked give the technicality of the race.
Injini socks with balega socks over them
Blister band aids on the blood blister and 2 other bruised areas
Blister shield
My feet were fine afterwards . . . and I had a great race!
Sara
MM #2929
Consistently Slow
duct tape
For prevention.It works!
Run until the trail runs out.
SCHEDULE 2016--
The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff
http://bkclay.blogspot.com/
Dang...
Not really pre or post dinner forum material...
Life Goals:
#1: Do what I can do
#2: Enjoy life
Totally disagree.
Not all of us eagerly anticipated Cadaver Lab.
And brought snacks.
Thanks everyone, for the advice and suggestions.
I decided to trim away the dead skin last night on the big blister, mostly because I was bored sitting around and kept poking at it. I left the skin on the smaller, which is still intact. In fact, I did not even really notice it was still there until I was playing around the the other foot. This will work as sort of a loose experiment, I suppose.
I'm thinking the Ultra is out.
I'll go and support racers, maybe run a few random loops with people. it's 9x the inner 4 mile loop of Central Park, after a quick mile-ish out and back. It's gets a bit mind numbing, as you might imagine, so I can at least help others if I can't run the whole thing. Still kind of a bummer though, but I can pick a December ultra or marathon instead. A little rest will probably be a good thing anyway.
Trent --do you really use/recommend Duct Tape? Is that "clean"? Do you put anything on the raw skin under the tape?
I usually recommend super glue.
Most experienced ultra runners have run numerous races with big blisters. I don't know that you should take a DNS without trying.
Duct tape is adequately clean. It can be a tiny bit inflammatory, but is usually fine. Deal is, with nearly all blisters, the remaining skin below the blister is still intact enough to be a barrier to any real infection or debris. Mostly, what you are doing is managing pain.
This thread really is useless without pics. KD, get on that.
I'm in a slightly similar position... my first 100 is this weekend, and I have an annoying blister that won't go away. It's just a tiny thing on my little toe; I'm trying to keep it drained, but there's not much I can see to poke and drain. Yet it hurts to walk on.
I've run a number of ultras, but I've never taped or used superglue, and I'm reluctant to start experimenting in my first 100. I guess I've been lucky so far in the blister department.
For today I'm wearing Injinjis at the office and no shoes. And crossing my fingers.