Now, it’s ideal when all of your shoes fit perfectly and you spend every day feeling as though you are walking on air. Sadly, this isn’t the way it works. Even if you are incredibly careful with what shoes you buy, sometimes they turn out to be uncomfortable and rub after ten minutes of proper wear.
So what do you do about that blister that comes up as a result?
Number one – don’t pop it. Yes, it’s tempting, but it’s a protection mechanism – when a blister comes up it is acting as a cover and protection for the damaged skin beneath it. If you pop the blister, that protection is gone and it’ll take longer for healthy skin to form. Ideally, the answer to “how to get rid of blisters” is to leave them alone. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t anything you can do though.
You can cover the area with a padded dressing or plaster to prevent the blister from worsening, providing protection until it naturally goes. If you can’t wait the few days for the blister to drain and heal in its own time, you could drain it. If you do this, you should do so with care to prevent introducing infection.
To drain the blister, always wash your hands and the blister before touching the area. Then, using a sterilised needle, you can gently pierce the blister so that it can drain naturally. Only piercing at the bottom of the blister, and not the centre – if you pierce the centre, the upper skin of the blister will not protect the skin beneath it as effectively. When the blister has drained, the upper layer of the blister should touch the bottom layer of skin.
Now cover the area with a dressing (and find a pair of shoes that won’t rub!). You can always apply extra padding to areas of your shoes that cause excessive rubbing.
