Treatment of Friction Blisters

NewsBot · Apr 29, 2017

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First-Aid Treatment for Friction Blisters: "Walking Into the Right Direction?".
Janssen, Lando MD; Allard, Neeltje A. E. MD; ten Haaf, Dominique S. M. MSc; van Romburgh, Cees P. P. MA; Eijsvogels, Thijs M. H. PhD; Hopman, Maria T. E. MD, PhD
Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine: April 27, 2017

Objective: Blisters are common foot injuries during and after prolonged walking. However, the best treatment remains unclear. The aim of the study was to compare the effect of 2 different friction blister treatment regimens, wide area fixation dressing versus adhesive tape.

Design: A prospective observational cohort study.

Setting: The 2015 Nijmegen Four Days Marches in the Netherlands.

Participants: A total of 2907 participants (45 +/- 16 years, 52% men) were included and received 4131 blister treatments.

Interventions: Blisters were treated with either a wide area fixation dressing or adhesive tape.

Main Outcome Measures: Time of treatment application was our primary outcome. In addition, effectiveness and satisfaction were evaluated in a subgroup (n = 254). During a 1-month follow-up period, blister healing, infection and the need for additional medical treatment were assessed in the subgroup.

Results: Time of treatment application was lower (41.5 minutes; SD = 21.6 minutes) in the wide area fixation dressing group compared with the adhesive tape group (43.4 minutes; SD = 25.5 minutes; P = 0.02). Furthermore, the wide area fixation dressing group demonstrated a significantly higher drop-out rate (11.7% vs 4.0%, P = 0.048), delayed blister healing (51.9% vs 35.3%, P = 0.02), and a trend toward lower satisfaction (P = 0.054) when compared with the adhesive tape group.

Conclusions: Wide area fixation dressing decreased time of treatment application by 2 minutes (4.5%) when compared with adhesive tape. However, because of lower effectiveness and a trend toward lower satisfaction, we do not recommend the use of wide area fixation dressing over adhesive tape in routine first-aid treatment for friction blisters.
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Admin2 · Apr 29, 2017

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Asher · Apr 30, 2017

In case you don't want to pay $65 getting this paper...

The wide area fixation tape was a single piece of Fixomull Stretch. And the adhesive tape was Leukoplast high tensile strength adhesive tape, applied in several narrow overlapping strips.

They were looking to save time in application with the Fixomul, which they achieved. But the rigid tape worked better. The mechanism for this could potentially be that the rigid tape reduces shear load per unit area by spreading the same shear load over a larger area, which conceivably, a flexible tape won't do as effectively.

What puzzles me is, why would you want to apply anything adhesive directly to a blister - there's significant risk that as you take the tape off, it will rip the blister roof off. A blister needs a dry island dressing with the surrounding tape applied to non-blistered skin.

My advice for treating blisters:

Apply antispetic (if blister is torn or deroofed)

Apply island dressing (or you can use a hydrocolloid if it's deroofed)

Reduce pressure

Reduce friction levels

Monitor for infection

Rebecca

NewsBot · Feb 9, 2022

The influence of sock composition on the appearance of foot blisters in hikers
Chicharro-LunaEsther et al
Journal of Tissue Viability; 4 February 2022

Highlights
•The wet socks (vs. dry socks) increases the risk of foot blisters.
•The type of fibre in the sock's composition is not related with the presence of skin lesions.
•The majority of hikers used socks made predominantly of synthetic fibres.
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Introduction
Socks are of fundamental importance in reducing friction and in controlling the temperature and humidity of the foot, thus preventing the appearance of blisters. However, the influence of sock fibres (synthetic vs. natural) on blistering during long-distance hiking has received little research attention.

Aims
This study evaluates the influence of sock fibres on the appearance of foot blisters in hikers.

Method
The sample consisted of 203 male and female hikers, mean age 35.8 ± 14.5 years, from 22 countries. All were interviewed and assessed at shelters on the French route of the Camino de Santiago (Spain). Sociodemographic and clinical data were obtained for each hiker; other study data included the number of blisters on the foot, whether the socks were wet at the end of the day, the model of sock used and the nature of its constituent fibres.

Results
Among the hikers interviewed, 68.5% presented foot blisters. 74.2% used socks with predominantly synthetic fibres, compared to 25.9% whose socks were mainly composed of natural fibres. On average, they had walked 253.7 km. Hiking in wet socks was associated with a 1.94 times greater risk of experiencing foot blisters (95% CI 1.04–3.61) (p = 0.035). Multivariate analysis showed that the proportion of natural/synthetic fibres in the composition of the sock was not related to the presence of blisters.

Conclusions
The use of wet socks heightens the risk of foot blisters in hikers, but the composition of the sock is not associated with blistering. We recommend hikers change their socks in long stages to maintain feet dry and so avoiding the appereance of blisters.
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NewsBot · Jan 30, 2023

Friction blisters on the feet: A critical assessment of current prevention strategies
Rebecca Rushton, Douglas Richie
J Athl Train. 2023 Jan 27

Friction blisters are a common injury of the feet suffered by individuals participating in sporting, recreational and military activities. The high incidence of friction blisters brings into question the effectiveness of common prevention strategies. The purpose of this article is to review current evidence for established blister prevention strategies and explore how these interventions address the factors which cause friction blisters. Preventive strategies will be proposed focusing on previous overlooked elements of the blister-causing mechanism. Areas of future research will be outlined which are much needed to reduce this common skin injury in active individuals.
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NewsBot · Jan 30, 2023

Friction blisters: A new paradigm to explain causation
Rebecca Rushton, Douglas Richie
J Athl Train. 2023 Jan 27

Friction blisters on the feet are a common occurrence when individuals engage in active pursuits such as running, hiking and military training. The high prevalence of blisters in active individuals underscores the fact that this pathology is not fully understood in terms of its pathomechanics. The traditional blister causation paradigm revolves around heat, moisture and friction. In reality, foot friction blisters are caused by repetitive shear deformation. The three fundamental elements of blister-inducing shear deformation include: 1) motion of bone; 2) high friction force; and 3) repetition of the resulting shear events. Rubbing at the skin surface is not a mechanism for friction blister formation. To that end, prevention of the friction blister continues to be an elusive quest for both the patient as well as the treating clinician. This article aims to highlight the limitations of the long-held blister causation paradigm and offer a new explanation.
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NewsBot · May 15, 2023

Epidemiology, prevention methods, and risk factors of foot blisters in French trail ultramarathons
Jean-Baptiste Damoisy et al
J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2023 May 11

Background: Blisters are a common running injury and are known to limit runners' performance. There have been many studies on the subject with contrasting results. It would therefore be useful to describe more clearly blister epidemiology, blister prevention methods, and risk factors of blister development.

Methods: This study is a retrospective anonymous, post-race survey. Runners were contacted by email after races in France during the summer and autumn of 2021 and asked to fill-in an online survey about their experience with blisters and running experiences.

Results: Five hundred and thirty-three runners participated, of whom were 468 (88%) men and 47 women (12%), mean age 42±9.75. Sixty-one percent (N.=329) of runners applied blister prevention methods before the start of the race and 29% (N.=155) reported blisters at the end of the race. Most commonly used blisters prevention methods were: anti-friction cream 79% (N.=260), "anti-blister socks" 33% (N.=107), paper tape 13% (N.=44), and topical lemon application 11% (N.=36). Having a history of blisters in the past is strongly associated with blisters onset OR=15.950 (9.135-29.640; P<0.0001). Distances ran between 40 to 74 km appeared to be the less likely to cause blisters OR 0.188 (0.045-0.729; P=0.019). None of the studied blister prevention methods seemed to match the protective effect of running shorter distances.

Conclusions: Having a history of previous blisters is a major risk factor for blister occurrence, while running shorter distances seems protective
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Admin2 Administrator Staff Member

Asher Well-Known Member

NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

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