View Full Version : How do i take care of my feet?
last year i did part of the AT and i had some major feet problems! next year im doing a thru hike and i want to know every tip and trick and idea there is to keep good care of my feet! i know about tea tree oil and putting sting throw my blisters and keeping them dry, i attached a picture of my foot after a long day, someone plz tell me how to prevent, or minimize foot damage!
Honestly, it's more about the footwear, including insoles and socks, than the homemade remedies. However, you might be interested in this website:
http://fixingyourfeet.com/ (http://fixingyourfeet.com/)
i hope that pic doesn't detour anyone form doing the trail, i had the time of my life and am doing it again next year :)
fredmugs
07-13-2013, 07:22
Those pics look familiar. Most of my problems went away when I switched from boots to trail runners and stopped wearing any type of hiking socks. Now what causes me blisters is primarily going at too fast a pace so I try to push it on the uphills, cruise it on the flats, and go extra slow and steep descents. Also putting something like leukotape and your trouble spots BEFORE you hike helps. I also switched to wide width shoes (Merrill Moab Ventilators) that I lace very loosely in the toe box for maximum wiggle room for the toes. http://sectionhiker.com/leukotape-for-blister-prevention/
Remember exactly where those weak spots were on your feet. I have 4 places on my feet that I start out with moleskin or band aids already applied. When you start out thru hiking that first week inspect your feet 2 or 3 times per day. Attend to your feet. Don't just keep going if you detect a warm or painful rub, stop right away and apply moleskin or tape. Break all surface blisters and apply some sort of iodine as soon as they happen.
all good suggestions above...here are a couple more to think about.
1. Take a couple of pair of socks. Keep your feet dry by changing socks mid day.
2. Take some rubbing alcohol and rinse your feet before you go to sleep at night.
3. Have a pair of dry socks for camp and sleeping.
4. Choose the shoes your going to hike in and experiment with inserts and socks to see what is most comfortable.
5. Before you start your hike start conditioning your feet by walking 5 or 6 miles each day. Do this without taking any breaks. Do this with the shoes your are going to hike in. Your feet will start getting tough within about two weeks.
Wear socks with liners...or just buy some nylon dress socks and use those as liners. The liners make your feet a little slippery and help prevent blisters. Another thing you can do is toughen up your feet by carrying some alcohol pads or a bottle of rubbing alcohol and wash your feet with it every night...this will dry out the skin on your feet and toughen them up.
MuddyWaters
07-13-2013, 09:48
It simple:
1) Get rid of excess bodyfat
2) carry a light pack
3) use light breatheable trail runners for footwear
4) use 1 pr of thin, tight weave wool or synthetic socks
5) rinse socks out when get dirty
6) wipe feet clean at night, and let them breathe and dry out if needed
The weight you are carrying is #1
The footwear and socks are #2
Keep feet clean is #3
You should focus on preventing blisters, not treating them.
Drybones
07-13-2013, 10:22
IMO, if you have the right shoe and can keep your feet dry you wont get blisters, problem is, it's impossible to keep your feet dry. About the best you can do is take extra socks to change and wash socks regularly to get the grit out. After a while the blisters heal and toughen, just gotta live with the pain until they do...take a small bottle of New Skin to put on the blisters, better than bandaids.
http://www.wayahpress.com/bookpage/WS200M.htm
This book has an excellent chapter on blisters.
To summarize: The components of a blister are heat, moisture, and friction.
To minimize heat, footwear should be appropriate to the outside temperatures. For me that is sandals in the summer, trail runners in chilly weather, and boots in deep snow.
To minimize moisture retention, thin socks work best for me. I usually use liner socks all by themselves.
To minimize friction, I wear shoes on the loose side, so there are no constant pressure points.
Other foot care steps have already been mentioned:
As soon as you feel a hot spot, stop and deal with it.
Take regular breaks during the day. Sit down, remove your shoes and socks, clean your feet, especially getting grit from between your toes and out of your socks and shoes, let your shoes and socks dry, elevate and massage your feet.
At night, wash your feet, rub them with alcohol or Purell, put on clean socks for sleeping. Rinse out your daytime socks and hang them to dry inside your tent. If they are synthetic and thin enough, they will dry overnight. Take the insoles out of your shoes, thoroughly beat out grit and dirt, and let shoes and insoles air overnight.
That's a lot of fetisistic foot care, but if you successfully avoid wrecking your feet right off the bat, you can then selectively back off bits of the routine until you find what works for you.
max patch
07-13-2013, 10:47
I got no blisters on my thru; this is what I did fwiw:
Wore lightweight boots or running shoes that were already broken in before the trail. Used socks and a liner. Stopped immediately at the first sign of a hot spot and applied bandaid or moleskin. Took off shoes and socks a couple times a day and let feet dry off.
It is very common for people to train doing 4 mile hikes and then start a section or thru hike doing 10-15-20 mile days. It can help to gradually increase your mileage.
+1 to the Fixing Your Feet book and website. Pictures in the book on taping feet were very helpful to me. (My favorite tape is Nexcare Absolute Waterproof Tape and isn't listed on his site or in the book.) Some of the best advice in his book is that what works for others/me may or may not work for you. And what works for us this year, might not work next year. :(
EDIT PS: I started taking a second pair of insoles and switching them (and socks) in the middle of the day also helps.
Hang in there and best of luck!!!
Turk6177
07-13-2013, 11:03
I use trail runners with merino wool darn tough socks. Every morning before I start, I put body glide on my feet. I take my shoes off at lunch and let them air out and reapply glide for the afternoon hiking. When I get to camp, I put on my crocs for camp shoes to let my feet air out. I always carry a dry pair of socks that I only use in my tent for sleeping. If my feet have been wet for a couple days, I put some diaper rash creme (zinc) on my feet, put the socks over them and sleep over night with them on. I also take the time to tighten my shoes before long down hill stretches. The only blister I have gotten is from an orthotic I wear in my shoe. Friction causes blisters. Reduce your friction (glide) and you won't get them.
I also agree with everyone above about the OCT attention to keeping feet clean.
It has also seemed to me that after trashing my feet, they were more prone to more blisters even 6 months or a year after they had healed. But it may also be that I just thought about blisters all the time. :(
I switched from running shoes with a lot of mesh back to hiking boots with a minimum of mesh. I thought that the mesh would help keep my feet dry and the shoes would dry faster. As somebody said above, it is practically impossible to keep feet dry and the mesh let in a HUGE amount of grit. If the 3 components of blisters are heat, moisture, and friction. I've kind of given up on moisture and focused on keeping feet and socks and inside of shoes super clean. +1 to Marta suggestion to removing insole and knock the dirt from out of the boots/shoes.
I've also spent more than $150 on various kinds of tape, tape adhesive, different socks, liner socks, Glide, powder, etc, etc, etc. :( (Glide didn't work for me... but that is one of the frustrations is that what works for one person may not work for the next, and it takes some experimentation.)
I've personally found that two thin liner socks (on each foot) works. Actually, one $6 REI liner sock and one women's cheap, cheap (Target, Dollar Store) sock the same thickness as a liner sock work for me.
My sister also noticed that my stride and foot fall going up and down hill were obviously causing friction (to the outside observer). She suggested a shorter stride length and more of a "marching" kind of thing. It felt stupid and awkward at first... but OMG... no blisters.
However, your mileage will vary, and seeing how this is hiking... YMWV both literally and figuratively.
22699"Fredmugs" suggested keeping the laces along the "toebox" loose. By putting in a square knot, you can keep can tighten the laces, to keep your foot from sliding around and keep the ball of the foot / toes from being squeezed . The square knot along with superfeet insoles, and medicated footpowder sprinkled into the moab ventilators have been a big help.
Wise Old Owl
07-13-2013, 12:33
It simple:
1) Get rid of excess bodyfat
2) carry a light pack
3) use light breatheable trail runners for footwear
4) use 1 pr of thin, tight weave wool or synthetic socks
5) rinse socks out when get dirty
6) wipe feet clean at night, and let them breathe and dry out if needed
The weight you are carrying is #1
The footwear and socks are #2
Keep feet clean is #3
You should focus on preventing blisters, not treating them.
+1 Good Post...
Gaiters. Just got back from doing a section on the PCT (blister free!!!!! wooooo hoooooo!!!!) and that's the only thing I'd add. I think that they would have really helped to keep debris out of my shoes.
A piece of tape can also be used like a lint roller to get the filth from feet and between toes, if you don't have water to wash with.
Meriadoc
07-31-2013, 19:14
Everything Marta said.
And to pick up from another current thread, walk around barefoot in the weeks leading up to your hike. This will toughen your feet some, especially if you walk on concrete. Watch out for glass.