Feet--- Hot spots and Blisters... What do you do?

[Redneck052]

Feet-- Hot spots and Blisters...What do you do?

It doesn‘t matter what I wear on my feet I ALWAYS get either Hot spots or Blisters. Regardless if I go for only a 5 k or 15 k‘s.

Currently, before I go out for a ruch march, I will wear a ‘polypropalane‘(spelling?) sock liner, with a technical sock over top. The liner prevents alot of the fiction that occurs. I wear the same combination when I take my family out for hiking/ backpacking trips... mind you, I have NO problems with my feet then.

Once I begin to have a hot spot on my feet, I cover it with ‘mole skin‘ before I head out.

Once I have a blister, I drain it, let it dry, and cover it with ‘second skin‘ and ‘mole skin‘.

It doesn‘t matter if I wear my every day boots, the new WWB boots, the old ‘tour‘ prospector boots, or the Hi-tec Magnums.

But, as with many of us, regardless of what my feet look like or what they feel like. I carry on. Suck it up, and carry on!

... falling out, or getting a commando chit ...IS NEVER AN OPTION for me!

So, food for thought... what do you do? I know that I am not the only one.

 

[riggah052]

If (when) I get blisters on my feet, unless it‘s really bad I don‘t drain it, I find that the healing process goes pretty quick for me when it happens. If I get the chance I air my feet for as long as possible, soak them in cold water too for about five minutes, dry them off, put some powder on them then everything seems to go well after that. :flame:

Capre Diem -Seize the day Carpe Cakem- Seize the cake!

 

[Devlin]

See if ASU/supply has any of these bad boys

Oakley Assault Boots

 

[Bert]

Based on the info you‘ve written, you get blisters by friction and hot spots by either friction or tendon overuse. You didn‘t mention where you get the foot blisters.

Though you mentioned it doesn‘t matter what you wear, consider going to a specialty sports footwear store like Sports4 that can properly size your feet. Maybe you‘re wearing the wrong size boot, wrong width, or lack of support. I have really wide feet and would compensate with big sizes rather than getting shoes that have the right width. My feet would have all kinds of problems.

Also, you may over-pronate or over-supinate causing areas of the foot to be over-stretched or used. Having "over the counter" corrective arch supports for pronation or a more cushioned in-soles for supination may help. Gel heel cups are excellent for reducing heel pain.

I‘d recommend you get your foot sized for length and particularily width for the right boot. Have someone who understands feet watch your gait and see if your over-pronate/supinate. The right shoe or insole might just do the trick. If you haven‘t gone into BMQ yet, it might be better to figure this out before-hand. Good luck.

 

[Deleted member 585]

Gee, Redneck052 -- and you‘re a former Mark‘s "boot-guy" ;-)

I know... it was boots -- not feet.

 

[Armymedic]

Hello! A question I can answer....

Unfortunately, without a lot of trial and error, there is not a whole bunch of things you can do to prevent blisters without some sort of intervention (ie moleskin). If your feet sweat, then moisture will soften the skin and assist in blistering...

Sometime boots will affect the amount of blistering, but proper fitting boots, no matter of you foot shape or stride type, will help prevent blistering regardless of the boots "high speed" rating. Generally the tighter the boot the less likely there will be foot movement that causes blisters. The new CWW boots sseem to cause more blisters because of the wider heel cup, hence more movement causing more blisters.

As for treatment, so far you‘re bang on. My general rule is just to cover an intact blister that is not uncomfortable. If its really large or causes discomfort, then I‘ll cleanse the area with either alcohol or betadine and give it a small puncture at the bottom of the blister so that it may drain. Then I will cover it with second skin and tape (more on tape after) If the skin is ripped or bunched, cut off excess skin and cover with second skin and tape. Some sort of antibiotic cream would be a good idea also because skin (staphacoocal)infection of feet is common and a concern especially if your on a longer ex.

As for taping; for BFT‘s or longer marches, I‘ll tape the back of my heels with 2 inch wide elastoplast tape(brown with yellow stripe), similar stretch adhesive tape like Coverwrap, Meapore etc, or actually have a fellow medic athletic tape (with hockey tape) my ankles for extra support. I have done Petawawa‘s Ironman :warstory: and 25 kms ruck marches and I will now always do that. Being a medic, I have a supply in my bag, and also carry a role in my webbing FA kit(insert TAV as I just got mine).

From your medics or MIR, you should be able to request a ‘blister kit‘ of Elastoplast adhesive tape and "Second Skin". Occasionally Spenco makes kits with brown tape precut in squares which is good for a temp fix. Also, just plain band aids, or knuckle bandages will do in a pinch. If you wish to ‘toughen‘ your feet, daily soaks in epson salts (Magnesium Chloride) for a couple weeks may help. Post ex/post march soakes also help heal blisters and prevent infections.

Hope this all has been helpful...

 

[Devlin]

Armymedic

I have been advised to pick up a pair of the Spenco insoles for my boots. The guys in my unit swear by them. Any thoughts on these insoles?

 

[Cpt. Kap]

I have been out on two long tramp ex‘s in the past few months. Both times I got bad bloody blisters. Not from my boots but from the orthotics I got from our local foot doctor. The inserts solved a over-pronatation problem but now they are causing rub points inside my boots. It changed the angle of my feet inside of the boots enough to cause blisters. I will try the taping idea to along with the poly socks. Any other foot care ideas would be greatly appreciated

 

[Sundborg]

The only thing I can say is that make sure your boot is done up tight and the laces are all the way up to the top: it will just prevent your foot from slidding around and creating too much friction. Good socks will help too.

 

[Bert]

I don‘t have alot of experience with combat boots, but it sounds like your orthotics is as you say making your foot move alot in your boot. It could be a combination of excessive moisture, foot movement, and the characteristics of the boot.

I‘d recommend a wick dry type of sock or a cushioning cotton sock. You guys would know better about socks and moisture.

It could be that the orthotic you have and how it fits in the boot is acting too agressively or isn‘t supporting where it should. It might be an idea, perhas an expensive one, to try simplier over the counter insoles like Dr. Scholls or Dr Foot‘s Sports contraption. What you need is something that controls foot movement in the boot,likely in the heel or the location of the blisters, and provides arch support. It will take some experimentation get the one with the right fit in the boot.

On the ‘net, this info is common:

"Over-Pronation can be treated conservatively (non-surgical treatments) with over-the-counter and custom designed orthotics.

These orthotics should be designed with appropriate arch support and medial rearfoot posting to prevent the over-pronation.

Footwear should also be examined to ensure there is a proper fit. Footwear with a firm heel counter is often recommended for extra support and stability. Improperly fitting footwear can lead to additional foot problems."

Not alot of help.

 

[ProPatria05]

I had the same problem. After trying a few things, I found the following worked for me.

- white cotton sock on foot (1st layer)
- Gold Bond foot powder, fair amount (directly on foot -- you can dump it into cotton sock first, then shake it before you put your foot in)
- wool sock (issue or otherwise) over cotton sock
- periodic soaking in Epsom (sp?) Salts (mixed with water, obviously), avail at any drug store (cheap). This dries your skin out, making it tougher and less likely that top layers of skin will shift/rub against underlying layers

 

[Armymedic]

To all,
Spenco and "Sorbathane"(I believe I spelt it right) insoles you can get from Physio here in Petawawa work well. I used the spenco‘s during and after the Ironman until I got vibram soles on my boots. They need to be trimmed to fit good in the cbt boots, but the arch support and cushioning are good.
It has been a common complaint that the orthotics from specialists cause blisters. Most likely reason is that people are putting them into older already broken boots, which change how your foot sit in them, as was mentioned above, I believe.
Just to reiterate, Everyones feet are different and what works for your buddy may or may not work for you, so keep trying and see what works for you.

 

[Redneck052]

I have lots of experience ‘humping a ruck‘ and even more time hiking on the trails on my own time. It seems as though if I am wearing green, I have prolems with my feet (Doc, is this a form of an allergy? lol!)

I just figured that there are many other people that are wondering what to do with their ‘problem‘ feet. With BFT, BET, or whatever else they throw at us to test our ‘soldiering‘ skills this time of year.

Lets help those who wonder what to do, the Ocdt, Pte, etc.... or for those who have just run out of ideas.


Always remeber.......If in doubt, just suck it up and carry on!

 

[Pikache]

I personally like some room in my boots for my feet to wiggle around a bit, as I find that I get blisters if I have boots on tight/wear much socks.

 

[TWR-052]

Redneck...

This is great.... there are alot of really good ideas here.

I feet are f*cked after each and every march I even go on.

Question for you though... You do ruck marches through the week, and then one the weekend you go hiking....are you nuts???

If you are that crazy..... I know where you can buy a gillie suit...only used for paint ball...and for $11,499 more, I‘ll throw in an Iltis!

...lick my *ss, I‘m a LMN!!!

 

[311]

I find on ruck march‘s my feet feel very tired ( around the ankle, heel ). The other day I did a practice ruck, in civies and I didn‘t get the problem. I noticed the medic said he taped his ankles...will this solve my problem?

 

[sandoval]

Back in 2000, I did the Nijmegen Marches, so I learned a thing or two about blisters and messed up feet(if you did the march, you know what I‘m talking about). It seemed everyone had different feet problems, and different remedies.

Anyway, About taping feet, our team leader found his "problem spots" and put second-skin and moleskin before he got the blisters. Then he would tensor bandage his entire foot, and wear thin sports socks, and the grey ones over. It worked pretty well for him.

I did a similar thing, but instead used band-aids (the smooth plastic ones, not the rough ones), and put those on some trouble spots (especially between all my toes). The plastic band-aids are nice, because unlike moleskin, they‘re smooth, so they‘re not as prone to rubbing out of place, and there‘s less friction.

As for insoles, what I do these days, is have a large thin pair of running shoe insoles, and then took the extra pair of insoles from the wet-weather boots, and put them in the regular ones, and I found it was an awesome combo. As much as I like the wet-weather boots, I find they‘re way too hot for the summer, and a nice foot-formed, broken-in pair of the old combat boots do just fine.

Anyway, just wanted to add my two-cents, hope some of that helped.