[pct-l] RE: Foot Care Secrets In The Desert

[jcoyle at sanjuan.edu (John Coyle)]

Blisters are no fun and in fact in my blister infested days I could often be
heard singing a refrain from that famous old trail song that went something
like this, "Hold me now, I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking, maybe
six feet ain't so far down."  Perhaps Mr. Stapp was a hiker.(TIC)  

I don't often hike in the desert, but I do often hike in the foothills near
where I live in 100 degree heat.  I have a normal 10.5D foot except for a
condition in both heals sometimes called Hagland's deformity, Achilles
Bursitis, or Retrocalcaneal Bursitis.  Essentially it is a bump at the back
of the heal near the Achilles tendon caused by an inflammation of the
bursa--bursitis of the heal in other words.  When I wear heavy hiking boots
I get blisters back there every time unless I take these precautionary
preemptive steps: swab area with tincture of benzoin, cut circular hole in
moleskin to match blister, apply moleskin to heal with hole over blister
area, put ointment in hole, put band-aid over hole, put athletic tape over
everything and hope it stays put all day.  Obviously it is a pain in the
butt to carry all that stuff and apply it every day.  

In fact my blister situation is one of the reasons I changed from
traditional heavyweight to lightweight backpacking.  I started wearing
running shoes for backpacking to prevent blisters and then had to change out
my other gear to accommodate the lighter shoes. I find that I don't get heal
blisters when I apply Bodyglide to my heals and wear running shoes with good
quality socks like those from Bridgedale or Thor-Lo. 

Bodyglide comes in a container similar to stick deodorant and the smaller
travel size works well for backpacking--go to http://rei.com  and search for
Bodyglide if you are not familiar with this product.

Also www.sportsinjuryclinic.net has medical information that might be of
interest to hikers.

 

Have a healthy and injury free hike,  
John Coyle