Help for blisters

[EdWeiss]

I have a student who is having real trouble with blisters. She gets them particularly in the heel area of the hand. Any ideas on 1) prevention and 2) how to deal with them when she has them? Taping as a solution has not worked well as the tape moves around. The New-Skin product helps but only after she has formed a first layer of new skin. The prevention side would be key for her as it seems to be a continual problem. She plays a good deal.

[bottle]

Blisters are so common to rowing before one gets one's lifetime calluses that I suggest she tap into this storehouse of arcane knowledge: Simply put "preventing and treating blisters in rowing" in a search engine.

I did so. What came up was encyclopedic.

Blisters are blisters, I figure, so one can draw on any sport that produces them.

I'm being pretty general here because of my own experience as a freshman oarsman. We had all kinds of stuff that was supposed to harden the hands-- alum and aluminum, tincture of benzoin-- all useless in my case.

I can't remember why I rejected iodine, but merthiolate was much better: Bright orange and intense but brief pain followed by quick healing at which point the callusing process could take over.

Make sure one's grip is light in all sports.

People who've had tennis-specific blisters that offered real problems and real solutions ought to speak up. I'm only trying to expand the discussion. And I was an oarsman and a crew coach long ago. Some new action other than merthiolate could but might not be better. A different overgrip?

[EdWeiss]

Thanks

Thanks for the post! A very good place to start and if other readers participate even better. Thanks again.

[stotty]

John Lloyd suffered from blisters, as did the great Gonzales. I've never had one, ever. My friend, who gets loads, puts surgical spirit on them as soon as one appears. Works for him. He says it dries them out and hardens the skin up.

[GeoffWilliams]

Put some preventive tape before it occurs to remove friction. Duct tape, athletic tape, try all kinds.

[EdWeiss]

Thanks or the suggestions.

[docjoque]

Blisters are no fun. There is a ton of info online on how to treat them, so I will focus primarily on prevention, which can be VERY tough if a person is prone.

As for me, I get blisters at the drop of a hat, and I've been dealing with them for ages. Most of what I will post here is from personal experience, which I have used on myself and patients with decent results. But if someone is really prone to blisters, they are going to get them, especially if they have sensitive skin and they sweat a lot. Callous formation will certainly help for most people, but if she's like me, a blister will form under the callous so the callous falls off, revealing tender new skin.

In the case of your student, she can try to soften the butt of the racket. It will seem odd at first, but she will soon get used to it. One of the things I use for this is Microfoam tape by 3M. You can also use it on hands and feet for blisters in different taping applications. Spray some T-90 adhesive (from Home Depot) on the grip before applying the tape. That will help soften up the butt, but it will have to be done fairly often.

The next thing to do is get Leukotape (LT). This is the duct tape of the medical tape family. Super strong stuff! Before she starts playing and sweating, spray the T-90 on the heal of her hand (you can use any pre-tape, but it doesn't work as well...just make sure it doesn't cause irritation), let it dry, and apply the Leukotape to the area of irritation. Round the corner of the Leukotape so it doesn't rub off too easily. The tape should stay on very well with this method. Resist the urge to use more overwrap tape. When I try that, the underwrap or the sports tape gives me blisters!

If you want, you can put a piece of the microfoam over the LT (LT as a substrate), then another layer of LT over the microfoam to hold it in place. These same methods can me used on the feet as well, and they work great.

This is all a hassle, I know. But it's better than having to take time off due to blisters. Better to spend the time on prevention. And this prevention really works. Back in college, the trainers would tape up my hands and feet, and it would usually prevent a blister at the area of friction from the racket or shoes, but the tape itself would cause blisters either at the edge of the tape or where it rubbed on the other fingers or toes. With the LT I don't have that problem. Athletic tape always comes off too, whereas LT will stay put, especially with a pre-spray.

I hope that helps.

[EdWeiss]

Thanks

Thanks for the great post. Will pass it on to my student right away.

[GeoffWilliams]

Blisters are no fun. There is a ton of info online on how to treat them, so I will focus primarily on prevention, which can be VERY tough if a person is prone.

As for me, I get blisters at the drop of a hat, and I've been dealing with them for ages. Most of what I will post here is from personal experience, which I have used on myself and patients with decent results. But if someone is really prone to blisters, they are going to get them, especially if they have sensitive skin and they sweat a lot. Callous formation will certainly help for most people, but if she's like me, a blister will form under the callous so the callous falls off, revealing tender new skin.

In the case of your student, she can try to soften the butt of the racket. It will seem odd at first, but she will soon get used to it. One of the things I use for this is Microfoam tape by 3M. You can also use it on hands and feet for blisters in different taping applications. Spray some T-90 adhesive (from Home Depot) on the grip before applying the tape. That will help soften up the butt, but it will have to be done fairly often.

The next thing to do is get Leukotape (LT). This is the duct tape of the medical tape family. Super strong stuff! Before she starts playing and sweating, spray the T-90 on the heal of her hand (you can use any pre-tape, but it doesn't work as well...just make sure it doesn't cause irritation), let it dry, and apply the Leukotape to the area of irritation. Round the corner of the Leukotape so it doesn't rub off too easily. The tape should stay on very well with this method. Resist the urge to use more overwrap tape. When I try that, the underwrap or the sports tape gives me blisters!

If you want, you can put a piece of the microfoam over the LT (LT as a substrate), then another layer of LT over the microfoam to hold it in place. These same methods can me used on the feet as well, and they work great.

This is all a hassle, I know. But it's better than having to take time off due to blisters. Better to spend the time on prevention. And this prevention really works. Back in college, the trainers would tape up my hands and feet, and it would usually prevent a blister at the area of friction from the racket or shoes, but the tape itself would cause blisters either at the edge of the tape or where it rubbed on the other fingers or toes. With the LT I don't have that problem. Athletic tape always comes off too, whereas LT will stay put, especially with a pre-spray.

I hope that helps.

Now that's a helpful post. One of the best of its kind I've seen.

[docjoque]

Thanks. It's really helped me through the years. The LT/microfoam/LT combination is also great for preventing black toe. That one is not only painful but also ugly! If you do get black toe, you can take a sterile hypodermic needle and insert it under the nail into the fluid and drain it. You might have to do this for several days. You'll still lose the nail, but at least it will be normal colored, rather than blood black. If the blood blister is in such a place that you can't get the needle directly into the blister without going through live skin, there is another method. Heat up the end of a paper clip in a flame until it is white hot and touch it on the nail into the middle of the blister. You'll probably have to do this several times to create a hole in the nail for the blood to drain. Make sure to take antiseptic measures after puncturing the skin.

Or you can just live with the black toenail. My view is: tennis players already have ugly enough feet and toes; why draw more attention to them. The women can just paint them red, but the guys don't have that luxury....at least not where I live.