Real plagues of summer, blisters can ruin your holidays. We explain how to solve this problem.
From buying shoes to what to do as soon as the bulb is there, a good subject to learn to respect our skin and prevent them.
Blisters are the almost inevitable ransom of the first hikes, when skin overprotected by inactivity and soft fabrics finds itself confronted with the double aggression of friction and humidity.
A blister forms when the skin experiences friction that separates its superficial layer from the deeper layers. The epidermis, the surface of the skin, follows the movement, while the dermis, the deep layer, is motionless. The body therefore sends internal lubricating substances – this is the same mechanism as that of the formation of an edema – which explains the presence of liquid in the bulb.
Small but painful!
The skin being extremely rich in nerve endings, (you just have to burn yourself to understand this), in the event of the formation of a blister, by delaminating, causes more and more pain depending on the movements.
Not inevitable
Blisters can be avoided with a few precautions. The most logical is to avoid areas of friction by having shoes of a larger size or by putting on a sock plus a stocking which counteracts friction and prevents the foot from moving in a shoe that is a little wider than usual.
There is a whole range of protective products, because blisters almost always form in the same places. For the feet, these products can be found in pharmacies or in stores specializing in hiking. Don’t forget also that the hands are sensitive and that gloves are essential for Sunday gardeners.
Yes, the damage is done…
We will not systematically seek to burst the light bulb, but rather to protect it. There are particularly effective synthetic skins. If you don’t have one and the blister threatens to burst, take a sewing needle, disinfect it with alcohol or cologne, then pierce its base. A light pressure of the finger will allow to evacuate the liquid. It will then be necessary to consider this burst bulb as a real wound and therefore to disinfect and protect it so that it does not become complicated by an infection which could spoil the holidays.
Because a well-managed bulb does not prohibit the continuation of the exercise. The double skins that can be bought in pharmacies, and that every walker should have in his bag, even allow, in front of a clean and disinfected bulb, a few extra hours of walking to return without pain.
