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Taking Care of Blisters

If you’ve spent any time running, jogging, or hiking, then you understand blisters can be a real pain. In today’s modern world, if you get a blister, you simply go home, put your feet up and rest. Of course, when you are in a survival situation, things are far different. You need to make sure you take proper care of the blister so it doesn’t become infected and cause you many more problems.

If you find that you’ve developed a blister, you should resist the urge to pop it, if it is not painful. This will provide you with a barrier against potential infection. As long as you don’t keep aggravating the area, it can heal. However, we know that’s not always how it goes. Sometimes, the blister is painful and if you want to keep walking without being in pain, you need to pop it.

If that’s the case for you, you need to do so as cleanly as possible. Wash your hands and then swab the blister in iodine, which you should have in your first aid kit. Sterilize a needle with rubbing alcohol. If you don’t have alcohol, you can use fire. Poke several holes around the edge of the blister and let it drain, but keep the skin over it intact. Apply a healing ointment over the top and then cover it with a bandage. Change the dressing daily.

One other suggestion for dealing with blisters is to start training and hiking more now. If you do this, you might have a few blisters now, but they will be easy to take care of. What you are doing during this time is conditioning your feet. Eventually, the hiking won’t cause those nasty blisters. Of course, you should still do your best to take proper care of your feet. Keep them nice and dry and keep them clean.

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