blister! and running a race on Saturday!

August 20, 2014 1:29 PM

I am running a 5k on Saturday, and have really been loving running five days a week for the last couple of months. This morning I forgot to wear socks while walking 2 miles to work (didn't have coffee before leaving the house) and now I have a blister on my left foot. How do I quickly fix this? I am really hoping to run tonight and have made plans to run with friends tomorrow! Help!
posted by redwaterman to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (12 answers total)

I've dealt with both hiking blisters and running blisters by using moleskin and it's a livesaver.
posted by komara at 1:34 PM on August 20, 2014 [3 favorites]

(to clarify: cut off more than you need to cover the entire blister - maybe a half-inch to an inch in any direction, depending on how big the blister is - and stick that straight on to the skin. Wear socks and shoes as normal. It should easily get you through a 5K.)
posted by komara at 1:36 PM on August 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

(further clarification: some folks advocate cutting a hole in the moleskin so that it's not attached directly to the blister. I have never had a problem with it sticking and / or tearing, but YMMV.)
posted by komara at 1:41 PM on August 20, 2014

Dr. Scholl's Blister Treatment is amazing. It's literally like not having a blister at all.

I've tried moleskin, but it doesn't work for me. I'm not sure why.
posted by OrangeDisk at 1:42 PM on August 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

If you pop it, make sure that it's constantly drained.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 1:43 PM on August 20, 2014

You need the special hydrocolloid blister band aids that you can get at any well-stocked grocery sore. They are magic and a billion times better than moleskin- it is like not having a blister at all, and they will stay on through showers for a week. No need to pop it with these things.
posted by charmedimsure at 1:57 PM on August 20, 2014 [8 favorites]

New Skin!
posted by magdalemon at 1:59 PM on August 20, 2014

Yeah, New Skin is basically superglue, and it's what ultramarthoners often use to fix blisters in the middle of a race.
posted by cnc at 2:03 PM on August 20, 2014

I've dealt with blisters from hiking and my favorite is mole foam, which is a lot thicker than moleskin. I cut a hole in it that can accommodate the blister and sometimes wrap it with tape and a little cotton to keep it from sticking to the blister. Works very well.
posted by alphanerd at 2:37 PM on August 20, 2014

Note that moleskin is actually a heavy cotton fabric, not the skin of a mole, which also has no relation to the trendy, round-cornered notebooks.
posted by Rash at 2:37 PM on August 20, 2014

For a race, I'd pop mine and then patch it with superglue - NewSkin if its available, but plain ol' superglue works fine too. This seems to be the blister repair of choice for triathletes since we need it to hold up to the swim. Of course, you are not supposed to pop blisters...infection, etc. Still for an event, I'd pop it because I live on the edge like that.

Blister band-aids are good, but not great while the blister is draining. While it's draining the fluid needs to go somewhere and the blister will lift. Moleskin does not work for me at all. I know it works for other people and my blister-prone husband swears by it.
posted by 26.2 at 3:23 PM on August 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

yep, pop the blister (please do it on clean skin with clean hands and sterilize your device in alcohol!) and superglue. I've done this and it works well. Note that I'm more of a cyclist than a runner but we blister too, and it's the devil for long, hot days!

prepare to cringe though - superglue does sting quite a bit. It's not horrible but just be aware.
posted by lonefrontranger at 3:41 PM on August 20, 2014