Ball of the foot blisters are quite common. Often they are more common when runners change to walking. Let take a look at these blisters.
Challenges with Ball of the Foot Blisters
There are three problems with ball of the foot blisters that make them more problematic than blisters elsewhere on the foot. Look at the image and you’ll see the large amount of area it covers. And yes, there’s blood in the blister section between the big and first toe.
- They often extend up into the skin between one of more toes
- They can spread out to cover a large area side-to-side and further down to the mid-foot
- They can easily tear at the front most area at the base of the toes
Preventing Ball of the Foot Blisters
I have learned several things about preventing ball of the foot blisters
- Keep your feet as dry as possible.
- Pre-tape if you are prone to these blisters
- Check your insoles for rough surfaces and change to a smoother insole
- Make sure your shoes fit and you don’t have a lot of movement of the forefoot inside the shoe
Patching Ball of the Foot Blisters
- Drain any blister, with a slit cut where ongoing foot pressure during the foot strike will expel extra fluid out
- Patch the blister with your favorite product and tape
- Apply tape from up one side of the foot to up the other side – not too high but over the edge
- Use one or more strips to cover the problem area
- Cut a figure 8 out of a piece of tape and apply it first to the forward edge of the tape between two of the toes, and pull it between the toes, securing it on the top of the foot.
The larger these blisters, the harder they are to patch. Try to patch them before they grow into monster blisters.
Here’s a link to a page on FixingYourFeet.com about Taping for Blisters.
These photos are courtesy of Ron Jones and were taken as I patched a runner’s feet at Badwater.
