Questions about Blisters

Questions:

--What is the proper way to treat blisters?
--Should I prick with a pin and drain, or just leave them alone?

Background:

I am still a beginner. I've been going barefoot as much as possible (80-90% of the time) for the last month or two and started running barefoot a few weeks ago. I have hardly any arch to my feet. Today I walked an hour (briskly and barefoot, mostly on paved surfaces) with my hubby and did some short running intervals too, (about 8 runs of only 60-90 second spurts). Now I have a few blisters, both on my left foot. One is on the pad of my toe (the little piggy right between the one that had roast beef and the one that cried "Whee, whee, whee!" Ya' know, it's the piggy that had none.) Another blister is long (about 2 inches) and narrow running along the outside edge of the heel-pad of my left foot (not on the back of the heel, but along the left side below the ankle bone.) I am thinking that this one may have come from the walking, or as a reactionary repositioning due to the fact that I could feel the blister coming up on my toe again--I got one there the last time I ran barefoot. I am very consciously trying to NOT heel strike as I run.

More Questions:

--This blister on my heel is not up at the surface with a thin layer of skin on top but rather, it is below all the thick skin I have worked so hard to build up on the pads of my feet. Does this mean that I am going to lose some of that hard-earned protective skin? :(
--Why might I be getting blistered on the pad of my next to last toe on my left foot? Any suggestions on something I am doing wrong that would make this happen?
--Do I need to wait until the blisters heal before I run again?
 
Feel free to also post this in the Ask the Docs forum is you want a professionals opinion, since what you might get here is a large variety of answers ... not that they won't be good ones, but I am also curious to know what the Docs official word is on this.
 
I'd let them take care of themselves (i.e., not open them). If you've built up callouses, sometimes you can get a blister underneath them - leave it alone. Let it take care of itself. When that happened to me it indicated that I was increasing mileage/speed too quickly.

I'm a year into this and still building up slowly. In fact, I've had to cut back on my mileage because I tried to increase my pace beyond what I was capable of. I eased off and things are getting better again.

BTW, I do *way* more damage walking barefoot then running - it's a lot harder. I remember going out once for a mile or so with my wife - after having run barefoot for six months. Tore my feet up!

There's a recent blog post here that says you should learn to walk barefoot before you run barefoot. It's probably not bad advice, although I've never heard anyone else propose it.

With regard to consciously not heel striking... the advice I would give to a new barefoot runner is this: run in place for 15 seconds, then lean forward and go. That's not my advice, I think it's Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton's. If you think about it too much, you hurt yourself. At least, that's always been true for me.
 
I'd leave them. Surface blisters you could prick and drain but they'll break open quickly anyway. Leave the deep ones alone, and when they do break open (they will eventually) don't cut or tear the skin away, it will act as protection while it wears away and gradually allow the new skin underneath to toughen.

In my experience this can happen when your feet are still pretty new and the bottom 5mm hasn't adapted yet. Also very easy to do damage in the heat at this stage - be wary of even just warm surfaces.

+1 on the barefoot walking - way more damaging than running.

In regards to consciously not trying to heel strike, I am wondering if you are landing underneath your body and bending your knees...it should literally be impossible to heel strike if you are. When you stand stationary, bend your knees untill your heels come fof the ground, just barely - that's kinda how it should be when you run, but obviously with muscle activated :). It should be nigh impossible to land on your heel.

Good luck and keep at it :).
 
In other words, run in place. :)

<snipped>
In regards to consciously not trying to heel strike, I am wondering if you are landing underneath your body and bending your knees...it should literally be impossible to heel strike if you are. When you stand stationary, bend your knees until your heels come off the ground, just barely - that's kinda how it should be when you run, but obviously with muscle activated :). It should be nigh impossible to land on your heel.

Good luck and keep at it :).
 
Hey Robbi, interested in talking to Daily News in Durban South Africa? I just got a media request from them. I'll email you.
 
Feel free to also post this in the Ask the Docs forum is you want a professionals opinion, since what you might get here is a large variety of answers ... not that they won't be good ones, but I am also curious to know what the Docs official word is on this.

Okay, will do!
 
Thanks for the advice Gburg. It's nice to hear that walking much distance barefoot can be a challenge for even experienced BF runners...makes me feel like less of a wimp for getting blistered.
 
When I was younger, I was taught and encouraged to run foot forward, landing on the heel and rolling off the foot...probably had a lot to do with my persistent injuries. :-(

You are correct about the heel strike. I don't seem to do this running barefoot, but I still tend to walk this way, so some or all of the blistering could have been from the walking (which I did a good 50 minutes of) and not the running intervals (which probably only totaled 10 minutes or so.)
 
Michele, here is a link to the "walk before you can run" blog post I was talking about. You might find it interesting. It talks about how to walk barefoot.

http://thebarefootrunners.org/posts/73349/

When I was younger, I was taught and encouraged to run foot forward, landing on the heel and rolling off the foot...probably had a lot to do with my persistent injuries. :-(

You are correct about the heel strike. I don't seem to do this running barefoot, but I still tend to walk this way, so some or all of the blistering could have been from the walking (which I did a good 50 minutes of) and not the running intervals (which probably only totaled 10 minutes or so.)
 
I sent you an email. I will check for your response when I get back home. Thanks!