[philmont] Blisters

I am rather old school when it comes to blister prevention. The
current technology in sock manufacture is for a single sock like
Smartwool that does it all. However, it seems to me that a single
layer sock cannot prevent friction between the sock and the foot.
However, a snug-fitting sock liner with a wool (or mohair) sock allows
any friction to occur between the liner and the sock rather than
between the sock and the foot. I have had no luck convincing any of
our scouts of this concept but it has worked for me for many years.

Dan Preston
Louisville, KY
On Jul 20, 2006, at 12:43 AM, James H. Moss wrote:

> Volume 23, Number 3, Summer 2006 of the Wilderness Medicine Newsletter
> of the Wilderness Medical Society (http://www.wms.org/) had an
> interesting article on Blisters.  It is an article, not a research
> paper. I'm just going to hit some of the high points.
>  
> 1.    Most important thing is to fix it immediately (duh...)
>  
> 2.    Thin skin is unlikely to blister . Thicker skin blisters more
> easily.
>  
> 3.    Dry skin has a lower incidence of blistering. However wet skin
> has a lower incidence of blistering then moist skin(?)
>  
> 4.    The article mentions duct tape in the same line as other
> commercial blister barriers for stopping the friction.
>  
> 5.    skin adhesives such as tincture of benzoin or mastisol can help
> keep a barrier in place
>  
> 6.    Adhesives should only be used when the blister is forming as if
> the blister has all ready formed the adhesive will tear the top of the
> blister off creating more problems.
>  
> 7.    This was the interesting point. Petroleum jelly and drying
> powders work initially or for short periods of time, but for longer
> periods (more than 1 hour) that increase the likelihood of blistering.
>  
> 8.    Antiperspirants containing aluminum chloride hexahydrate work if
> used over a period of days prior to the long hikes. (Old
> mountaineering trick was to get prescription antiperspirants and use
> them to keep your feet dry and warm.)
Received on Thu Jul 20 08:20:52 2006