Leukotape!!!!

Craig,

Nice to know, thanks for the report. While I haven't pushed the leukotape/benzoin combo as far as you did here, I've also had good luck with it. A few questions: did you round the corners of the tape, and if so did you find it worthwhile to do so? Could you have torn the tape off at any point if you wanted without too much of a hassle? Did you find that the skin under the tape "breathed" well over the course of a few days?

Thanks,
James

I still haven't taken it off, so I'm not sure about how it breathes (should probably change it…a few more days and I might get maggots!).
Yes, I could tear it off anytime.
I didn't round the corners (seems like a good idea though).
One peeled a little, but not enough to come off.
I did smear the outside edges with benzoin to help them stick.

Craig,

I've read that if the benzoin on the edge of the leukotape creates new points of friction, or a place where the sock catches, you can "dilute" that line of benzoin with something like hydropel. Haven't tried it yet myself. While hydropel can be applied to the outside of something like duct tape, it won't do well spread over leukotape- will just absorb and get messy. Lots to experiment with, but since all this stuff isn't all that cheap, nice to hear about the experiences of others!

James

I'm just curious why the sports tape came off so quickly. I've never had athletic tape come off my feet, even with my feet soaking wet all day. On backpacking trips, I'll usually leave it on for 2 or 3 days before I decide change it, not because it's coming off but because the idea of keeping old tape on my feet for that long is kind of gross.

Scott,

Are you talking about leukotape or another brand? There are a number of tape options out there with very different properties- hard to say anything specific without more details. Leukotape and tincture of benzoin is very well suited to extended use, while many tapes do not deal well with moisture.

James

I've had sports tape work OK when it's wrapped around something and back onto itself (toes, etc.). But it's never held well for me if it's simply a patch placed on the foot. It's been my experience that the edges peel immediately and the rest follows within an hour or two.

James, what you're saying about the benzoin creating more friction on the outside makes sense, I'll try it without next time and see if it's better.

I still have my tape on from yesterday…I'm going to wear it for a while and see how long it lasts.

Glad to hear it worked well. I used it quite a bit last summer after my trail shoes gave me blisters on the balls of my feet, and it stopped that, pronto.

I'll warn that it also pulled a lot of skin off with it when I finally removed it, so be careful when you take it off! My feet were pretty messed up for awhile.

Rick,

It would be neat to hear a bit more about your experience. Was this with leukotape and benzoin, or just leukotape? Did you find that there was less damage to underlying skin if you replaced the tape more frequently? Less or more damage with or without benzoin? Did you tape early on in the injury on skin that was still relatively normal, or after it was already a problem?

James

I use Johnson & Johnson brand "Sports Tape," and I've found that even a smallish patch (a couple of inches long) stays on quite well. Most of my blister problems are on the outsides of my heels, so that's the only place I've regularly used it.

Any tape that sticks to already blistered skin will likely pull off that dead skin when you remove the tape. It is best used for hot spots before a blister has formed or for pretaping of known problem areas.

As an experiment I used Leukotape and zinc-oxide diaper ointment on my daughter's heel blisters last summer. She then went to girl scout day camp where they spent time swimming, kayaking, playing at the beach. It stayed on close to a week and the skin had healed when we pulled the tape off.

My entire first aid kit for blisters, burns, abrasions, rashes, "monkey butt", etc. is Leukotape and/or zinc-oxide based diaper rash cream. (Just avoid the ones containing fish oil- it smells nasty). To protect an open wound or blister a dab of zinc covered by a bit of TP seems to work great under Leukotape.

Cleaning the area with alcohol before applying Leukotape seems to work pretty well, but I'm going to get some Benzoin for better insurance.

The Tincture of Benzoin sold at BPL store is in glass vials. Is there any source of Benzoin that does not involve glass? I would rather find it in plastic.

I used Leukotape last year but not Benzoin and found myself replacing the Leukotape every 1-3 days (some pieces stayed on 3 days others only a day).

Zinc oxide is something I've carried too…chafing, the dreaded "monkey butt", whatever. Never tried it with tape as well. I picked some up when I realized that the main ingredient of body glide (and most anti-chafing creams/sticks) was zinc oxide. WAY cheaper!

As for tincture of benzoin, I picked mine up at REI in a 1 or 2 oz. plastic bottle for about $6. I repackage it into a mini BPL dropper.

Thanks Craig, I see it here: http://www.rei.com/product/752451

Thanks all for the good thoughts on zinc oxide. Very impressive that the leukotape withstood demanding summer camp conditions!

As long as you take proper precautions against infection before taping, and you prevent tape from contacting damaged skin, it sounds like the best bet might be to leave leukotape on rather than replace it at regular intervals. Under this logic, leaving tape on gives damaged skin time to heal, and also allows time for the adhesive bond to weaken so that when the tape is removed, it comes off with a minimum of strain to the skin.

However, I wonder whether there is an increased risk of infection in this scenario, particularly given the inability to check the area once tape is applied, and the fact that it is not exposed to open air at any point in the day. The earlier a problem spot is identified and taped, the lower the risk of infection. But let's assume a blister has already formed.

Any thoughts on the pros and cons of leaving leukotape on rather than resorting to frequent re-taping?

A great place for a variety of useful tapes, and small plastic ampules of benzoin is http://www.zombierunner.com (I have no connection to them — just a satisfied customer).

The discussion of the Leukotape reminds me of a related question I have. Has anyone used Leukotape for pretaping the entire foot? I'm going to be doing a 50 mile run this summer, and I'm trying to pick a tape to pretape. I worry a little bit that the Leukotape will stick too well — and if I develop a problem underneath it I won't be able to get to it to treat it. That, and it won't come off for a week after the run. Thoughts?

Christopher,

You may want to consult

http://www.fixingyourfeet.com/

I have no affiliation to the website, or to Dr. John Vonhof, but have found it very helpful, so much so that I ordered the Happy Feet booklet, well worth the low cost. Dr. Vonhof works with long distance runners, and has many thoughts on particular products and techniques.

James

Jim's comment "the fact that it is not exposed to open air at any point in the day" — is that true, it appeared to me that tape is breathable?

OK, I've had my foot taped since Sat. night and just removed the leukotape- about 36 hours. It came off fine, no pain.
As for the wound underneath it…not too pretty. Really wet, a bit of pus…not much of a healing environment.
I'd say that for prevention/very early stage blisters, just leave the tape on.
For what I have and based on what I just looked at (an open/fairly deep sore), I think cleaning every other day would be smart.
It doesn't seem that the wound was breathing very well under the tape- too wet.

Craig,

I think zinc oxide applied to the gauze might have resulted in a better outcome. I'm not an expert though and there must be a reason they sell Neosporin and other triple-antibiotic ointments instead of just zinc.

Craig,

Thanks for the update, and best wishes for a speedy recovery. Nice to know the tape came off fairly easily.

Roleigh,

Good point, I probably should have phrased my point more in terms of *relative* breathability, and this would be influenced not only by tape choice, but also by anything placed between the tape and a hot spot or blister (i.e. ointment, piece of gauze or TP, etc.), and even footwear choice. In my limited experience, leukotape is somewhat breathable, but not like having nothing at all. I'm not sure whether its level of breathability is adequate for all situations or not. Craig's note suggests that it did appear to hold in some moisture.

Here is a short link about different tape options:

http://fixingyourfeet.com/blog/2006/09/tape-for-taping-your-feet/#more-161

Something else to mention here: there are certainly situations where improper taping can make a situation worse rather than better, i.e. taping too tightly and bunching skin. Going without benzoin might be wise if you are still figuring out taping technique…

James

James, a real nice link. Too bad he does not rank the tape in terms of breathability (porosity). It appears one would have to buy each of those tapes and "guess" which one appears to be most breathable. How would one go about knowing for sure?

More on zinc oxide- a bit over my head but here's an article from Podiatry Today about zinc oxide's promotion of healing in foot wounds:
http://www.podiatrytoday.com/article/1894
It turns out that the zinc oxide isn't so much an antiseptic but rather enhances healing.

I learned about using Zinc Oxide cream from flash gordon, md, when he did a talk on dealing with motorcycle road rash (aka "Pavement Dermatitis") (Also in his book "Blood, Sweat and Gears".) Then I had kids and the same basic product is used to combat diaper rash aka monkey butt.

Also note that Leukotape has a zinc-oxide based adhesive.

Jim,

Very interesting- I wonder whether the zinc oxide based adhesive in leukotape contains some modest, actively medicinal properties, or whether it is simply designed to be non-aggravating.

Roleigh,

Web searches on leukotape quickly lead to very specialized sports medicine sites. It appears that leukotape is designed to work on top of "Cover-Roll Stretch Bandage" that is non-woven and very breathable. There is relatively little information about applying leukotape directly to skin other than discussions about hiking and running. From what I can tell, leukotape is less breathable than something like kinesio tex tape, closer in breathability to duct tape, though I would think certainly more breathable than duct tape. Suffice to say that when leukotape advertizes itself to sports medicine practioners, it is never mentioned as being "breathable."

This, however, still doesn't answer the question of whether this would make any difference on the trail.

Seems like at this point we could use a sports medicine expert chiming in! Anyone out there?