I'm actually a little late in posting this thread...

New running shoes this week and they rubbed a big 2 inch long blister on my left foot's instep.

It was big and it clearly had red liquid inside.

So what did I do?

• I went for a 7 mile run (in my older comfier shoes) which burst the little b****r and rubbed it to smitherines.
• And now it's sore!

So what should I have done?

• Should I have found a nice sterile needle and drained it?
• Should I have wrapped it up in a plaster or 2?
• Should I have simply not gone for a run and given it a day or two to disappear?

Not sure exactly what you should have done, but I'd have probably done what you did.

Now it's burst I would cut away the excess skin and cover with compeed (if continuing to run) or leave to air/dry out if you won't be running.

I don't know if this is the "recommended" way to do things though.

i had a blister which i covered with a plaster. on removing the plaster the skin also came off, leaving me with a red hole in my foot. i had an important pb potential half in 6 days time. the solution was surgical spirit.

method.

1. put surgical spirit on cotton wool pad
2. make sure tongue is well away from teeth.
3. put towel in mouth to bite on
4. apply surgical spirit to blister hole.
5. scream, hopefully muffled.
6. 4 days later skin is repaired.

only recommended for those with a high pain threshhold. it is the singular most painful thing i have knowingly done, but it does work.

and no i didn't get a pb but my foot was fine.

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it's not how fast, it's how often

I think the usual recommendation is :
- if it's punctured, remove skin and cover with Compeed or similar
- it not punctured, leave it as it is and cover with plaster

I think idea behind compeed is that it traps moisture in the way which your skin would if it wasn't punctured

Well since I have a low boredom threshold I went for a swim at lunchtime today - I'm sure 40 minutes in the pool will help get that red skin moist.

Nobody made a comment but I suspect that most of the people in the lane noticed that there was a big red patch on my foot with skin hanging off it... Actually now I come to think of it, no-one stayed in the pool very long really...

Blisters form to protect broken skin essentially, so I guess bursting a blister on day 1 is bad news, but if you still have quite a tense blister by say, day 3 I would probably pierce it but using a sterile needle and keeping very clean with something like compede to protect it if you were to continue running.

Speaking from experience, I once burst a blister and didn't keep it as clean as I should. I ended up feeling ill for about 2 weeks after an infection secondary to introducing a few germs via my burst blister. So be CAREFUL!

20 days later and the blistered skin is pretty much heeled - I even ran on it yesterday without any pain!

The main problem wasn't the blister patch - it was this cut that developed...

Am now working on a way to gently wear in my new trainers - can't face the idea of getting a blister like that again - have started wearing the trainers as house shoes - hopefully that'll break them in.

wow you must have worked hard to make a 2inch blister? Always best to stop as soon as one starts. But if you have one;

a) if its small leave it alone
b) if its large and full of fluid, drain it by threading a needle and thread through it, leaving the thread hanging out both sides, result is fluid drains out, and thread helps block dirt getting into the blister.

Also highly recommend not cutting any skin away! Our skin is vital for abrasion resistance. Any skin removal will always result in lower natural protection. Your red and sore blister base will recover far quicker with ur top layer of skin still there, whatever state its in.