After Sunday practice I had a younger student, not by age but experience, he came up to me and asked what was the easiest way to deal with the newly forming blisters on his feet I never tried to deal with them myself so I had no idea and naturally I was embarrassed about not being able to answer. Does anyone have ideas.
keep going on, blisters end up being a bloody mess but after that the skin gets stronger.
thats the thing with kendo, it hurts.
there is no fast or slow, there is no strong or weak, there is no good or bad. There is only trained or untrained.
i've no idea how to deal with foot blisters cause in kendo i've only had blisters on my hand and i just kept going ...
but it might be easier to take care of your feet before you start getting blisters:
one of my club members has got an illness that prevents her feet from getting "horny skin" (strange word) and she tapes her feet every time before the training or even wears tabi on both feet
http://www.fixingyourfeet.com/Taping-for-Blisters.html
Looks like once more duct tape fixes everything, though on the rare cases I have blisters these days I'll use athletic tape.
The half-tabi thing from e-bogu is pretty good for this. I never used it for prevention, but when a blister pops, it's pretty much an open wound. It's not a good idea to drag an open wound for hours over a dirty floor. Put a bandage over it, and then wear the tabi, it will prevent the bandage from coming off.
And yes, of course, in due time your skin will become stronger so youll hardly get any blisters at all.
My Sensei showed me a great way to tape where it will not come off during kendo. You put strips of tape lengthwise starting from the top of your foot, towards your toes, in between them (usually around either side of your second or "index toe") and back along the sole of your foot, all the way to the arch, past the ball. Do this enough times to cover the affected area. You may want to have a gauze pad covering it, sometimes I do. Then wind tape around your foot, widthwise, (like wrapping thread onto a spool) covering the ends of the tape strips you already put lengthwise. 3 or 4 times around should be fine. Nice thing about this method is that you still have some natural skin traction because it's more or less just the blistered area that is both covered and contacting the floor. I've never had it come undone when using good quality athletic tape.
Note: If your foot is really torn up, then definitely use gauze over the blister. Tape on really weak skin can actually tear the skin as you remove it. I learned the hard way!
Last edited by braxtonhicks; 10th August 2010 at 02:42 AM. Reason: Spelllink.
I used to put some cotton gauze (or whatever the think disc shaped is called) to act sort of as a shock absorber. Then tape over that.
One way of dealing with blisters in general is to drain them. This isn't going to help in the midst of practice, but if this is a chronic problem, it might work.
Well before practice (in the morning, or even the night before), sterilize a needle (easiest way - dip in alcohol and/or run it through a flame). Use the needle to put a small hole in the blister without tearing the skin off. Push on it to force all the liquid out. When the blister is empty, you'll probably want to disinfect the skin (maybe dab some peroxide or rubbing alcohol on it) and then put a band aid on it. Should be ready to go the next day!
More advice on how to drain blisters can be found here.
This site recommends tannic acid as a treatment for skin that is prone to blisters, but I know nothing about that and have never heard of anyone who has tried it.
One warning about duct tape. Do not leave it on your foot for a long time. It doesn't breathe, and your skin needs oxygen to heal from where the skin is broken. If you leave the duct tape on long term, you'll end up with a wound worse than your original blister. So, don't do it; let the skin breathe! (During practice is fine; by a 'long time' I mean 24+ hours.)
Last edited by MithLuin; 16th August 2010 at 01:46 PM.
Hey, sorry for hi-jacking for your thread but I also have a question about blisters. I've asked my doctor about calluses and how to remove them, but I got really nothing really useful from her.
I'm fairly new to Kendo, in fact I've only gone to 2 practices but I got blisters under my hand calluses (from lifting weights) which hurt and I can't really cut them. So, what should I do? They won't burst out but I know they are bursting inside since it hurts like a ***** and it feels squishy. Should I just tape it or should I simply go through the pain?
If your question is how to remove the callous, then some type of exfoliant will help to gradually remove the rough skin. It's like taking sandpaper to it, but not. example product Anything with grit to it will wear away the callouses eventually. Combine that with some sort of moisturizing cream, and the skin will get softer.
As for the blisters under the callouses, you can drain them with a needle, but I agree this is more difficult. Depends how much minor surgery you're willing to do on your hand! I would suggest trying to drain them if they are popping internally anyway. If not...I guess you have to put up with the pain.
The blisters themselves are always annoying, but also remember that prevention is huge. Blisters on your hands shouldn't be so much of a problem long term as you gain callouses, but your feet won't develop blisters if you have proper footwork. It's the twisting while moving forward sort of friction that will blister your feet. Go straight and properly and blisters shouldn't happen most of the time.
Thanks for the advice and just to clarify I have calluses and blisters right under them. Minor surgery *Gasp* eh, I'll just let them pop internally then. Nothing wrong with that, I'm assuming?
Another way of draining blisters is to run a sterilized needle through it with a thread attached. And then leave a bit of the thread going through the blister. The capillary action of the thread will drain the liquid a little better.
Leave the drained blister intact, but eventually it's going to tear open and/or come off. Then you need to tape up your foot during practice until the raw skin firms up.
Paul
I have also used liquid skin with bandaids and tape. For really big blisters, large gauze pad, non stick type and lots of athletic tape. You will eventually get tougher skin.
This, I would get terrible blood blisters on the ball of my left foot and they persisted until my sempai noticed my footwork and corrected it.Originally Posted by nodachi
Remember that the heel of your left foot should never be more than an inch or so off the ground, and that you should be pushing off through your hips, not raising you heel and pushing off with your toes. If you pay special attention and execute correct footwork, the blisters will stop. I haven't had to tape my feet since.
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