Help! I play a lot of sports and often get BIG blisters on my feet (the size of coins but not all at the same time), how can I prevent this? It happens with all my shoes. I simply cannot keep wrecking my feet like this.
Thank you for any contributions.
Two pairs of socks will help. Wear a thin pair under a thicker pair - the thin pair of socks takes all the rubbing from your shoes, instead of your skin.
Make sure you’re shoes fit correctly, too. If you can find a specialty sports store around, you can get fitted with the right size and type for your feet and how you walk and move.
The right pair of socks could prevent the need for two pairs. Try a CoolMax sock with blister prevention.
I will swear by them, they wick away the moisture and eliminate the chafing.
Use Moleskin on the spots where you usually get blisters. Don’t put it on top of an existing blister though, it will rip it right off when you remove the moleskin.
I’m a bit of a fanatic on this subject. Couple of things:
Right footwear. Don’t wear hiking boots for tennis. Make sure they fit right.
Wear quality wool or synthetic/blend socks. Personally I like wool or wool/nylon. I’ve had surprisingly good luck with the wool socks at Costco (about $10 for 3 or 4 pairs, depending on thickness) but REI “house brand”, SmartWool and Thorlo are also quite good. I’ve only worn one pair of Coolmax socks and I got some nasty blisters during an 8-mile run. Switched back to my woolies and no problems. One data point, Poysyn has another. While spending $10-15 for a pair of socks may seem like a shock at first they are worth every penny and will last for a long time.
2a. Cotton socks have absolutely no business being worn in any athletic activity. IMHO they have no purpose period, I haven’t bought cotton socks in many years.
badbadrubberpiggy, Poysyn, and especially **Valgard ** all give great advice concerning socks.
They also make special double-layer socks for just this. I like the “Coolmax on the inside and wool on the outside” variety myself. Smartwool are very nice- but they run a tad small.
Rub feet with wintergreen rubbing alcohol before and after. Cools the feet.
Heat and friction is what cause blisters.
Wear decent shoes, not cheap ones.
When out on forestry details, I’d wear cotton “railroad socks” with a pair of woolies over them. After 14-16 hour days wearing high top Carolina Logger boots, my footies were happy footies.
People talk about socks, but in my experience it’s all a matter of shoes rubbing where they shouldn’t be. Socks may help compensate for that problem, but really, just wear shoes that fit and what socks you’re wearing won’t be an issue.
Thanks so far, I can’t afford custom made shoes but I do have specialist shoes for each sport I do. The places I get blisters are on the balls of my feet (goodness knows how many times those layers have been renewed, I can in fact see 4 different layers of skin right now on my left foot) and on the inner arches. I always wear cotton trainer socks. What’s the deal with wool and the anti-cotton stance? My whole wardrobe is of cotton socks lol.
The motto for cold-weather adventuring is “Cotton kills”. Cotton gets wet and sticks to skin, takes a long time to dry and loses its insulating ability when wet. This means that your cotton socks soak up sweat and don’t wick it away to evaporate. While wet they stick to your skin, rubbing and building up horrible hot spots and you get nasty blisters, exactly as you are describing. They also lose their cushioning which isn’t good. I know this from experience.
Wool and synthetics may get wet but by and large they keep their cushioning and insulating effects so you stay warm and padded. They don’t stick to your skin so the hotspots are reduced. They wick the moisture away to the outer/exposed surface of the socks where it can evaporate so your shoes don’t fill up with sweat.
Liner socks add additional protection - they’re made of the same stuff as high-performance underwear, purpose is to transfer moisture away from your skin to next layer of fabric where it can evaporate. This is important in hot weather (running around in soggy sweat-soaked clothes on a hot day sucks) and critical in cold weather (being wet in the winter can kill you). So the liners get the sweat from your feet and into your nice wool socks. As I mentioned before, the liners also act as a thin slippery film between your skin and the cushiony sock, which really cuts down on painful rubbing (and thus blisters).
You don’t have to throw out all of your wool socks right off the bat, however go to a good outdoor store (REI, local backpacking store, Cabelas, that kinda place) and buy some good medium-weight wool socks and a pair of liners. You’ll spend $20 tops. Wear them and see what kind of difference it makes. You’ll be hooked.
Moleskin.
I run 25+ miles per week and Moleskin keeps me from wearing a hole in certain high spots on my feet. I used to come home after a long run with a bloody sock. Now I am pretty much blister free.
Now if I could only figure out a way to keep my toenails from falling off 
I second the recommendation; I used to get blisters from running all the time, but wearing CoolMax socks (I get 'em 3 for $21 at REI) cured that problem. They’re kind of pricey compared to cotton socks, but it’s worth it in terms of comfort, and they do seem to wear longer. Ditto for sock liners and hiking socks; plus, they dry more quickly than wool socks, so you can wash them while backpacking and keep your socks from stinking so badly.
Other that that, Valgard covered everything I’d say. Blisters are miserable, plus they can cause infection if it is a chronic problem. I’d rather spend the money now and avoid problems. Cotton sucks. I mean, it’s fine for bedsheets and casual wear, but on the trail or in sport, it’s the worst thing ever.
Stranger
While we’re talking about this stuff, if you find that you’re getting a lot of chafing on your thighs or anywhere around the whole butt/crotch region, try a pair of synthetic boxer-briefs. They’re just plain old medium-weight thermal underwear, cost maybe $20. Wear them under your shorts and you’ll be much more comfortable than with any set of cotton undies.
Speaking of toenails falling off, that happens to me a lot too. One sudden movement and I know that I’ve thrusted my toe nail into the front of the shoe whilst causing a massive blister.
Make sure that your shoes fit right - if your toes are jammed into the front of the shoe with no wiggle room that’s a good way to lose toenails. Had this happen with my first pair of climbing shoes.
Sadly, it’s quite difficult to find a perfect match in size 14. Though I enjoy my large feet, it occurs to me that there must be a much broader and nicer selection available for size 11.
I tried the 2-sock method today. Have still managed to blister up some 1 day-old skin but it’s probs because I’m not giving it enough time to heal. Next experiment will involve the moleskin.
Also, it doesn’t help that my 1st toes are longer than my big toes so naturally I have hammer toes and screwed up toenails.
