My Foot Is Over Warranty

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m seriously overweight. In the past few weeks I’ve been walking for exercise, a lot. This has resulted in rather unpleasant caluses developing over the entire bottoms of my feet. Yes, I am wearing walking shoes. Fancy New Balance ones.

This morning, when I got out of bed and stepped onto my feet, I ripped a hole in the bottom of the right one.

WTF? There was nothing about this in the manual.

The tear is about an inch long and bleeding. I put a very large band-aid on it. I’d like to go out for my morning walk now- and I will- but I’d appreciate any advice for safeguarding my sole.

2

Thick heavy socks.

Don’t let this stop you…you’re on the right track, keep walking!

3

Calluses or blisters? Blisters will be sensitive and full of fluid (could be clear, could be bloody or otherwise icky), calluses are just tough areas. In my experience if a callus tears it doesn’t bleed, there’s just “fresh” skin underneath.

If something tore and it’s bleeding, you definitely want to clean it, disinfect and bandage it, then let it heal as much as practical before beating on it any more. If it was a deep cut or looks infected or inflamed, do yourself a favor and have a doctor check it out asap (getting laid up with a foot injury really sucks). Whatever you do keep it clean and check it morning and night.

I do a lot of hiking and running and things I’ve found that work for me:

-Proper socks - wool blend is my thing, some people like all-synthetic. Skip the cotton. Costco carries very nice Fox River wool walking socks for about $10/four pairs, can’t beat it.

-Sock liners. About $7 for a pair at REI or other outdoors store. These are very thin polypro socks you wear under the regular sock. They wick moisture away which keeps your feet cool and dry and really helps prevent blisters and hotspots (they are slippery so your regular sock slides on them instead of rubbing on your skin).

-Lubricants. You can buy something like “Blister Shield” (a slippery powder, it’s micronized wax and teflon) to sprinkle in your socks or one of the Body Glide products that you rub on to your feet. Available at running stores and REI.

The above are all “prevention”. For first aid:

-Bandaids are kinda iffy (IMHO) on foot injuries if you plan on walking around since they tend to peel off, bunch up, etc. A friend of mine turned me on to “Second Skin” which are adhesive gel pads - REI and running stores carry them and there’s a similar product at any drug store. You clean the wound, disinfect it (a little peroxide, then dry it), dry the area thoroughly and then apply the gel pad. It sticks and will stay on for several days. The first time I used these I had two very severe/infected blood blisters on my feet, I went from hobbling to walking normally. Converted me right there.

-For minor blisters and hotspots that are closed, I use some moisturizer, plain old vaseline or “Corn Husker’s Lotion”, on the affected area before I go to sleep. I wouldn’t put that into an open wound.

Good luck and take care of your tootsies!

4

A spontaneous tear appearing on your foot is not normal. You need to find out what you are doing wrong and fix the problem. Do your shoes fit poorly?

You mentioned you are overweight. Have you been screened for diabetes lately? People with diabetes usually have poor circulation in their feet and wounds there heal slowly. If you have diabetes this could become a very serious problem. A doctor visit might be a good idea.

Any chance you could switch from walking to bike riding for exercise? This would reduce impact on your feet.

5

ivylass, thank you for the support! I do intend to keep walking.

Thanks for all the advice Valgard! I’m looking for a store near me that sells those socks and adhesive gel pads; I’ll tell you how it goes.

It’s entirely possible the tear could be from a blister I was unaware of, if blisters can form under calluses- or at least what I’m calling calluses. The skin on my soles is thick, very dry, and flaky, particularly on the balls of me feet, kind of like decayed leather. There’s more proper tough, smooth calluses on my heel and toes. The tear is on the outside of my right instep, and is under a little flap of skin that came loose with it that I’m not messing with. There’s no pus and almost no bleeding; there wasn’t much blood to begin with, and I didn’t notice any other fluid. It feels kind of like a papercut.

No, Carlarm, my circulation isn’t good, but my feet aren’t blue or numb at all. Mostly they’re just cold. As far as I know my shoes fit fine, but then I thought the shoes I was wearing before these fit okay. I’m wearing New Balance walking shoes, they feel pretty dang good, and they’re the most expensive shoes I’ve ever worn.

I’ve also been wearing nothing but Hanes cotton crew socks since I was old enough to buy my own clothes; I suspect after I go shopping for socks today I’m in for a similar awakening.

6

If this “calus” has developed since getting the “Fancy New Balance” shoes and did not occur with other shoes, you may be reacting to the glue that they use to glue the insoles into the shoes. Not common, but can happen. I don’t know which type of glue is more reactive.

7

I’ve never had NB walking shoes, just many pairs of NB running shoes, and none of them have a glued-in insole; it just slips right out for easy replacement.