RunningAHEAD - Topic: Big Blister! What do I do?

vicentefrijole

posted: 5/30/2006 at 8:54 AM
modified: 5/30/2006 at 8:56 AM

Hello all I ran the MadCity Marathon (in Madison WI) on Sunday. It was a miserably hot day but I managed to finish (I'll write all about it in a race report soon.. first I'm trying to learn how to walk normally again). My shoes got just a little wet from sweat, water stations, and a number of garden hoses (hehe) and even my super-high-tech coolmax socks couldn't save me. I have a few tiny blisters here and there but one gigantic fluid-filled blister on my little toe. None of them hurt at all (didn't even realize I had them until hours after the race) but that biggest one is almost as big as my toe itself! It hasn't popped on its own yet, probably because I don't walk on that part of my foot much, but I suspect it will eventually and may be a big problem. So what's the conventional wisdom out there? Pop it (in a controlled setting, with a sterile needle and lots of antiseptic) or don't pop it? Does anyone have experience with huge blisters? Will it ever dry up or is it just a matter of time before it blows? (Of course, the nice thing is that I'm done with my marathon and don't plan to run on this thing for a week at least.. that buys me some time to heal it up properly!)

Mile Collector

Abs of Flabs

posted: 5/30/2006 at 1:31 PM

vicentefrijole, Congrats on finishing your marathon! I heard it was a hot day. Running marathons in hot weather is similar to a death march. It's no fun at all! I used to run under sprinklers and poured water on my head to cool down. Now I avoid them like the plague because of the blister problem. For me, whether to pop them depends on how deep they are. If the blister is on the surface (under a VERY thin layer of skin), then pop it because it might pop by itself as you walk around. If it's very deep, then leave it because it has a good chance of drying up. Rest up, and we're looking forward to your race report!

Beantown Runners | On the Bench

Trent

Good Bad & The Monkey

posted: 5/30/2006 at 2:34 PM

Congrats on the finish as well! Blister? Big one? Ignore it. It will either pop or not. In either case, it will flatten out, then the skin will peel off, then it will be gone. If it hurts, it will still possibly hurt after you pop it, and popping it may introduce infection. I am sure other parts of your body hurt worse right now Big grin

I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.

Poor baby

jlynnbob

You'll ruin your knees!

posted: 5/30/2006 at 3:09 PM

If you can, I would leave it alone. As others have said, it will likely take care of itself. Given you are not planning on running for a few days, the fluid build-up will be re-absorbed into your tissue and it will go down considerably if it stays intact. The longer it stays, the more time your body will have to re-generate skin under the blister and the less pain you will experience when the old skin does come off (and it will). Good luck! Lynn B

""...the truth that someday, you will go for your last run. But not today—today you got to run." - Matt Crownover (after Western States)

vicentefrijole

posted: 5/30/2006 at 4:27 PM

Thanks for the input, all! Based on the consensus of advice, I'll leave it be and let nature take its course. As Trent says, other things hurt worse (but I'm getting better)!

Big Blister! What do I do? (Read 1120 times)