How to Get Rid of a Blister Quick

I can't help it. I always seem to buy new shoes right before a vacation or trip. And I travel a lot. And yet, I still seem to hurt my poor feet with brand new shoes every frickin trip.

I'd love to tell you that this trip to Acapulco was different, but no can do amigo. End of day 2 and I've got colossal blisters in the bottom of my feet from my dreamy new wedge sandals.



What's a fashionista to do?

After asking my Twitter and facebook friends for suggestions I decided to do what any sane person would do.

I googled it.

Here's what I learned, what I did, and what worked BEAUTIFULLY. This is a combination of some stuff I found on the internet, some stuff I figured out on my own, and just some common sense. Which you may not necessarily have access to, so I included it here anyway :-)

I wore low-heel sandals to last night's welcome reception (sorry, but flats just did NOT go with my outfit) and stood on my feet for 4 hours. Then walked around some shops before coming home to sleep and rest my pitters for the night. Woke up this morning, blisters were completely GONE. Hooray! Now I can wear my wedge shoes again to tonight's party!

1. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Duh. But yet, so true. Break in your new shoes before doing any extensive walking. Let your feet adjust to them. Buy some of those comfort gel pads, apply moleskin to the shoe on any scratchy or chafing part, whatever you need. Don't get a pedicure the day before you leave, as your feet are likely to be new-skin sensitive because during your pedi they'll scrape off all the dead skin which is also giving you a protective buffer.

2. If you're a dork (like I was) and you completely disregard the advice in #1, or you do it and get blisters anyway, the fix is simple. First, you'll need to gather some supplies.

- Needle or pin (safety pin will work)
- match or lighter
- alcohol (for rubbing, not drinking, although it couldn't hurt) OR antibacterial soap
- cotton balls or makeup poofs or tissue
- neosporin (don't worry about translating "antibacterial ointment" if you happen to be someplace like Mexico -- just say "neosporin" and they'll get you just what you need!)
- bandage -- tagaderm (2nd skin) is great because it's waterproof. If no tagaderm, get waterproof bandaids. If you can't get those, just use regular bandaids. I recommend the cloth kind over plastic, cloth lets your skin breathe and won't slip around as much with whatever shoes you're wearing.



I was able to find all these items at a pharmacia (pharmacy) in Acapulco. The only tricky item was the needle. Since I don't speak Spanish (at least, not much more than "dos mas cervezas por favor" and "donde esta el bano?") she tried to give me a syringe...then I thought to pretend I was sewing my shirt and she pulled out the store's own little sewing kit and handed me the pinwheel of straight pins so I could choose one. Too cute.

3. Prep. The name of the game with this blister business is prevent infection. Wash your hands, wash the area where the blister is, and if you have rubbing alcohol, rub it all over the area of and around the blister. Sterilize the needle or pin by putting the tip in a flame until it turns red hot. Then let it cool (don't set it down - surface area may re-contaminate it) and wipe it with an alcohol swab or dip it into alcohol.

4. Lance & drain. This is far better than popping it which will take longer to heal. Do whatever you can to keep the blister intact -- don't peel off the puffed out skin! That will leave very raw, very sensitive skin and all that will heal THAT is time. Yowsa. So with your newly sterilized needle, carefully poke 1-2 tiny holes (you really won't feel it, I promise. The blister itself hurts way more than a tiny needle poke or 2). Poke these holes near the edges of the blister. Drain the fluid - you may need to press the blister a bit to get all the fluid out. Again, KEEP the BLISTER intact - don't peel off the skin! You'll thank me later. Even if you have a peeling fixation, like I do. I recommend making those pin pricks using a side-angle approach as opposed to a straight-into-the-blister angle.

5. Bandage it up. May want to wipe the blister again with alcohol when it's completely drained. Then apply a small dab of neosporin. Cover with the tagaderm or 2nd skin or bandage. At this point, you should feel immediate relief. Sounds like: "Aaaaahhhhh." Seriously, it's that quick. If possible, wear socks for the rest of the day. If not possible (sometimes a girl's gotta make sacrifices to look fabulous. I totally understand, so I won't judge you! That's how I got my blisters in the first place, remember?) If you can't wear socks, wear flats or low heels or the most comfy shoes your outfit will possibly allow.

My blisters were gone within 12 hours. After standing on my feet for 4+ hours straight. Then I went to bed, woke up in the morning, and they were gone. Yippee!!

Yes, I am wearing the wedge sandals again tonight. Seriously, if you saw my outfit you would totally understand.

Besides, if I get more blisters, I now know exactly what to do. And I already have all the supplies.

Next trip, I'm bringing all this stuff with me. :-) That's one form of prevention, I suppose.

If you found this article helpful, feel free to post a comment. I love hearing from you!