by statesofminds

Created on: April 21, 2008

The average person likely walks less than a mile per day, while the average hiker goes ten miles or more per day. So, what happens when the average person goes hiking? A person hiking over uneven terrain who is not used to it will get blisters, but luckily there are ways to prevent them.

The first thing to remember is to wear comfortable trail boots or shoes that have been broken in to your feet. Wearing brand new footwear on a long hike is simply a request for misery. What begins as a peaceful hike will end up a terrible torment.

The next thing is to keep your feet dry if at all possible. If your shoes do get soaked, dry them out as well and fast as possible. Although only time and dry air will do the job completely, one trick that works for me is to use a shirt or pants (preferably already dirty) as a sort of stuffing inside the shoes, then putting weight on the outside of the shoe to encourage the clothing to soak up as much moisture as possible.

Bring at least one pair of socks per day on the trail. When you take your shoes off at night you can either put on a dry pair of socks or go barefoot-either way, it is important to let your feet breath and dry at night.
It is also important to start the day with dry socks.

Some material works better than others. I find cotton socks to be nearly useless on the trail; they ball up with even a little moisture and create more hot spots unless I only go five miles or so. What I have found to be the best in any weather are wool socks such as Smartwool. The new, modern fabric blends may be expensive but they are very durable and comfortable-and work well to prevent blisters by wicking moisture away from the skin.

Blisters can happen in the best conditions-even with dry and comfortable feet. If the person is observant enough, they should be able to notice "hot spots" forming before the actual blister forms. Hot spots are just what they sound like-points of friction between your skin and the material or clothing covering it.

Hot spots are treatable also, by reducing the friction. The best material to use in treatment is either duct tape or electrical tape (both have myriad other uses on the trail). Most likely, the friction will be coming from the shoe or boot. In this case, change your socks (providing you have a dry pair) and place the take onto the sock on top of the hot area.

If, for some reason, the hot spot is being generated by the sock, try changing your socks first. If this does not work, the tape can be directly applied to the skin which will reduce friction and heat as well as keep the area cleaner.

If you do end up with a blister, take a break and treat it as soon as possible to prevent further complications. It should be disinfected, covered with a dab of antibacterial cream (such as Neosporin) and covered well enough to remain that way throughout the rest of the day. In this situation I find that at the end of the day it is best to disinfect it again but leave it uncovered until the next morning to encourage healing.

Hiking with a blister or other foot sore is painful for at least the first mile of so, until the area becomes numb. I usually just focus on enjoying the surrounding area, putting the pain out of my mind. However, I do get the same reminder every time I take a break or start a new day and vainly wish I would have paid closer attention to my feet and prevented the blister in the first place.

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