Boot sores

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SilentAssassin1642

SilentAssassin1642

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
So as we all know, after last week I had a couple of sores on my heels from where my boots have been rubbing. For the past week I've been covering them with plasters, but they're still there!! Healing very very slowly, and still there. After work most days, I take the plasters off and after a day of the boots rerubbing them, theyre still weeping.

Do most sores from shoe rubs do this? Its been an utter age since I last had one!

Also, any better stuff out there than a double layer of elastoplast to help???
 
I have to be very careful withthe shoes I buy as this always happens with cheap shoes.

Because we are on our feet so much and because of the way our circulation works, anything on our feet seems to take longer to mend. An extra layer of plasters or an extra pair of socks might help. Do you have alternative footwear that wont rub and see how you get on?

You probably know this already, but make sure you keep your feet clean while the blisters are healing as it cuts down the risk of further infection.
 
Sam, as someone who is plagued with blisters whenever I get new shoes and no matter how good they are or how well they fit, I've found the plasters designed for blisters (eg Boots' blister plasters) excellent. You put them on and leave well alone and the special gel works whilst they stay on. Seem a bit pricey at first but saves on the elastoplast and worth the additional comfort factor.

Your experience with weeping sores etc sounds like my norm too. Take a while to heal too

If your boots are wide enough try doubling up on your socks too - I've found that often helps
 
Hi Sam,

Zinc oxide tape should help alot. What I find helps is to rub surgical spirit into my feet. That helps to toughen the skin up. I did it before doing some Duke Of Edingburgh's expeditions and didn't get any blisters. Worth a look at in my opinion.

Tom
 
Vanessa said:
If your boots are wide enough try doubling up on your socks too - I've found that often helps
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Yeah, one pair of thin cotton socks under a pair of thick wollen ones works wonders. Again, this stops friction which causes blisters. It's well worth doing. Whenever I've done this I've never had any blisters bar the times I've worn ill fitting boots or had holes in the cotton socks!
 
For work boots (steel toe capped - like yours, I guess?) in winter, I've found the things that work for me are: experiementing with correct amount / configuration of socks, but always wool based (not cotton - it absorbs sweat and feels colder) in winter - a thin pair wool sock from school uniform shops or M&S, with a thicker pair over them; changing into dry footwear if needed eg taking trainers and socks for journeys to / from work. I cycle to work, so often cycled there in dry boots & socks, left boots there overnight and cycled home in dry trainers, then brought dry socks for next day's work, by which time boots had dried somewhat overnight. If I get any soreness, long before a blister occurs, I cover skin with zinc oxide tape, taking great care to cut to appropriate size & shape, smooth tape on, and only remove when skin under is OK - usually a few days later. If tape begins to peal off, then I trim off the corners, not remove the whole thing. I use the same techniques for hiking boots, orienteering / fell running shoes etc - and haven't had a blister in years.
 
HI Sam I cant comment on work boots etc, but please be careful, if they dont appear to be healing i would see your gp straight away, you have to be careful with your feet, i know you are and thats why your concerned, take care x
 
I've been having the same issue with my dance shoes (see blog for details 😉 ), and I've found a wonder - compeed blister plasters. They're AWESOME, though really quite pricey. They're rubbery, and they're made specifically to feet so they mold to your feet in the way other plasters don't. Highly recommended!
 
hi salmonpuff,

i asked my partners dad regarding this as he was in the army for a good number of years and he told me that if the boots are made from leather then the only way to really soften the leather is to urinate on it (sounded disgusting to me to, but he swore by it) i also asked a couple of his friends and they said the same thing. think they are right as they all were in the royal marine commandos and then the sbs for 20 odd years.

also he said if it is weeping to leave it be over night and also to make sure you wear wool socks. make sure you dry feet properly to and when you need to put your boots on the next day to use a good foot powder to minimise the sweating of your feet and also use zinc oxide tape over affected area.

last thing he said was to make sure that the boots you get are good fitting boots.

hope this helps 🙂
 
Tom Hreben said:
What I find helps is to rub surgical spirit into my feet. That helps to toughen the skin up.
Tom
Click to expand...

Sorry to contradict, Tom, 😱 but please please be careful about doing this! I know a few people who tried this (esp for intense "booted" activities like the Njimegen 100 mile march etc) & whilst it can help in the short term, in the longer term can lead to a thick layer of skin under which you still blister - except the blisters are now much deeper and the thick dry skin on the outside tends to crack painfully & you get sores that way as well as the deep blisters! 😱 Not fun for a diabetic!

Things that have worked well for me (various D of E expeds, 50 mile marches etc) include sticking on a well smoothed band of zinc oxide tape on known rub areas before they get sore (seems to delay problems, but check you're not allergic first!), and wearing the best walking socks you can afford. Personally I'm a fan of Bridgedale walking socks - natural wicking fibres and reinfored in the right places...just my experience though! Steer clear of anyone telling you to wear a pair of boots a size too big though - I tried this once and following a 50 mile march all my toenails went black & dropped off! 😱 If you dust your feet lightly use a specialist foot powder NOT talc as the powder is fine and you won't (hopefully!) get the abrasive effect you can get from talc.

Hope that helps!
 
Minster said:
hi salmonpuff,

i asked my partners dad regarding this as he was in the army for a good number of years and he told me that if the boots are made from leather then the only way to really soften the leather is to urinate on it (sounded disgusting to me to, but he swore by it) i also asked a couple of his friends and they said the same thing. think they are right as they all were in the royal marine commandos and then the sbs for 20 odd years.

also he said if it is weeping to leave it be over night and also to make sure you wear wool socks. make sure you dry feet properly to and when you need to put your boots on the next day to use a good foot powder to minimise the sweating of your feet and also use zinc oxide tape over affected area.

last thing he said was to make sure that the boots you get are good fitting boots.

hope this helps 🙂
Click to expand...

However disgusting it sounds it is true. It works. Although I never did that with my boots that I was issued by my school cadet force as I had to return them to the stores and didn't want to get charged for them! I didn't do that to my own ones either as they were rather easy to break in and my feet are rather tough already due to much use! I must say that the boots I was issued with were the rather poor quality DMS boots that are hated by the army. My old PSI at school swore that DMS stood for Dead Men's Shoes! That said however, they were half decent when broken in. The only trouble I had was when I did a Duke Of Edingburgh's expedition and I hadn't worn them for a while and as a consequence I got stonking great blisters on both heels. That wasn't helped by the fact that the boots weren't the best of fits.

Twitchy said:
Sorry to contradict, Tom, 😱 but please please be careful about doing this! I know a few people who tried this (esp for intense "booted" activities like the Njimegen 100 mile march etc) & whilst it can help in the short term, in the longer term can lead to a thick layer of skin under which you still blister - except the blisters are now much deeper and the thick dry skin on the outside tends to crack painfully & you get sores that way as well as the deep blisters! 😱 Not fun for a diabetic!
Click to expand...

Yeah true, I must emphasise Sam that I've only done the surgical spirit trick for the short term when I've needed to toughen up my feet over a short period of time. What you really need in my opinion is the two pairs of socks trick, well broken in boots and blister treatment to hand.
 
Definitely! I didn't believe the surgical spirit thing could be so drastic until I saw that person's feet myself - eek!!! 😱

Definitely well fitting boots & good socks are the way to go! We used to really have to watch the cadets - it was amazing seeing some of the tricks they used to try to treat / prevent blisters, yeuk, gross! What were they thinking?! Second hand boots are never ever a good idea - pre-moulded to someone else's foot shape so a ready & waiting blister factory!

I've heard the urine thing too - a slightly less mentally challenging option might be intensively treating the leather with one of those leather balsalm products around - not sure what that might do to the longevity of the boots though in theory at least I guess it shouldn't harm them?!...
 
Something called dubbin or dubbing helps football boots, I'm not sure if it will work on any other kind. When big boy needed football boots for school we got it from a specialist shop that sold footwear for sports.
 
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