feet hurting while hiking
So i am sure many of you have had this issue. So what do you do to help your feet while you are on a long hike. My feet are fine for about the 1st 10 miles or so. They they start hurting and i can feel blisters starting to form. I put powder in my socks and i have a real nice pair of hiking boots. So what else can i do to prevent blisters and or sore feet?? HELP
Let's get Scientific, Shall We?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Big Dawg
,,, use sock liners along w/ your regular hiking socks....
Big Dawg makes some good points about blister prevention. There's much more hikers should be aware of instead of relying on the typical sock manufacturer hype.
The military has done extensive research on friction blisters and found that sock density along with a sock liner proved most effective in reducing the incidence of blisters.
Another study found "The probability of blister formation appears to be influenced by a number of factors, including the magnitude of the frictional force, number of shear cycles, external loading, moisture, skin characteristics, cigarette smoking, ethnicity, and foot type".
Lastly, studies found that socks made with acrylic fibers produced less friction blisters.
Fascinating stuff!
For more info see here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8570998
http://www.oandp.org/publications/jop/2008/2008-19.pdf
http://www.ipfh.org/research/docs/friction_blisters.pdf
Take a deep breath, Hold it, Exhale, Relax...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ShelterLeopard
Spokes, I bought a lot of cheap black tea bags for this- at first I was just going to do it twice a day, every day, three weeks before my thru. But I tried it once, and I liked it so much (relaxing!) that I've begun soaking my feet in tea once every couple days. I know it won't do much like that, but it feels so good!
Glad you enjoyed it!