The Updated Foot-Care Kit

[Stephanie Jordan]

Companion forum thread to:

The Updated Foot-Care Kit

[Rex Sanders]

I think you mean Fixomull wound dressing:
http://cutimed.com/products/fixomull-transparent-stretch/, a kind of transparent, waterproof, breathable wound dressing.

Many brands are available, including Opsite, Suresite, Tegaderm, Transeal, and generic.

Each is slightly different; my wife and I like Opsite much better than Tegaderm for general wound dressing, especially large abrasion wounds, but we haven't tried them all, and we haven't tried them on blisters, yet.

— Rex

[Marko Botsaris]

Save the release paper backing from the kinesio tape for the leukotape and you will have a nice balanced tape ecosystem. :-)

[daniel B]

I'm prone to hotspots and blisters on my feet no matter what shoes/boots that I use. I've used both tapes mentioned and found that Leucotape works much better for me. I always apply benzion on the area before taping. I carry the roll of tape instead of cutting because I've found that the Leuctape is sometimes difficult to peel off of paper or pens and I always end up with screwed up tape.

Proper foot care is of the utmost importance and sometimes the least understood amongst backpackers. It was always my understanding before becoming educated that "rough" feet were the best prepared feet for hiking, meaning feet with callouses would be less prone to blistering when in fact its just the opposite. The way some of us in the Army would take care of blisters was to "hot shot" the blister area with benzoin. A very painful way to eliminate it.

[HkNewman]

Great little article and timely. Never had a problem with blisters after switching out of big boots but one should always be prepared I guess.

[Bill Giles]

Does anyone have an opinion on triple antibiotic cream vs. ointment. I generally prefer the vanishing cream myself, but I normally use it on cuts and scrapes. Would the ointment be better on open blisters?

[M G]

In addition to flushing with water I've almost always carried either a tiny bottle or wipes of providone iodine for disinfecting wounds. This was taught as best practice the last time I took any type of FA training.

[Ken Larson]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10362983

Effect of povidone-iodine on wound healing: a review

Abstract

For the purpose of providing a summary of current clinical trials to determine whether povidone-iodine is beneficial or detrimental to wound healing, an integrated review was completed. Clinical trials were defined as any study that uses some concentration and form of povidone-iodine in a comparison or evaluation with other products or treatments resulting in an impact of povidone-iodine on wounds. The use of povidone-iodine for cleansing, irrigating, and dressing wounds is controversial. Wound healing is complex and requires safe and effective treatment modalities. Numerous in vitro and in vivo studies have been done with conflicting results on bactericidal effects and cytotoxicity of this antimicrobial agent. Human and animal in vivo studies in the last 10 years were used for this review because often the relevance of in vitro data in clinical conditions are questioned. The varied studies provide evidence that in most instances, povidone-iodine did not effectively promote good wound healing; in fact, most studies showed either impaired wound healing, reduced wound strength, or infection.

PMID: 10362983 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

AND

The efficacy and risks of using povidone-iodine irrigation to prevent surgical site infection: an evidence-based review

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2386220/

In conclusion, the evidence suggests that povidone-iodine irrigation may be effective in preventing surgical site infection. However, more studies, especially double-blind RCTs, should be conducted to determine the “ideal” solution of povidone-iodine irrigation as well as specific risks associated with its use.

[John Yates]

Rounding the corners of any piece of tape will help keep it from peeling off.

[David Kern]

Nice article. I envy those who can tolerate the use of Tincture of Benzoin to keep tape and bandages in place. Unfortunately, following the use of this substance approximately 10% of all people develop an allergic contact dermatitis as did I. Suffering a poison-ivy-like reaction in the field is not fun.

[Marko Botsaris]

I seem to remember Colin Fletcher recommending ToB as a "foot toughener". He said he rubed it on the bottom of his feet every day while on a long trip, and in fact said he started doing this a few week before a trip.

Never heard anyone else recommend this, however.

[M G]

I've heard same recommendation if used on hands. To help build callouses on hands for rock climbing.

[Bill Giles]

A 35mm film canister (if you can find one) makes a good core for winding Leukotape on to. The canister is large enough that the tape will wind on and peel off easily. You can use the canister to store small items.

Freezer paper should make good release paper for tape. It has a nonstick coating on one side.

[Greg Mihalik]

KT Tape Pro

I thought I'd give this a try, mostly because of the OEM backing, so I bought a package of 20 pre-cut strips, 2" wide, in tan. This has the synthetic base (versus cotton), reputedly good for 7 days of adhesion, and waterproof. (I've cut them down to 9" to fit in a business envelope.)

One down-side, compared to non-stretch Leukotape, is that it won't work as well for repairing "hardware" like poles, buckles, etc.

I'm keeping 10, so 10 need a home. With a max of 2 per person please. If one is all you want to try, that means someone else gets to experiment.

The first PMs from Members/MLife with a complete address will get them.

AND….help out the next person when you get the chance.

[Greg Mihalik]

^^^^

Just a bump and FYI – 2 strips are left.

[MFR]

Thanks for the article. This is excellent and timely.

FYI, Walgreens also sells their kinesiology tape with backing and pre-cut strips (about ten inches long). It's actually stocked in their stores. Here's the link. I picked some up for the last hike.

You can also get several other brands on their website, but they're not available in the store itself.

[Charles Miles]

I recently found 'Trail Tape' from Trail Toes and was happy because it comes with backing on the tape – http://www.trailtoes.com/trail-store/trail-tape-tm.html – I have not used it extensively yet but it worked well the first time I needed it.

It made me happy to be able to slip 2 flat 6" pieces of tape into my kit without rewrapping tape/finding backing/…

[Greg Mihalik]

^^^^

Trail Tape
5cm x 10m
$6.50 + S&H

[Roger Caffin]

My foot care kit is … zero.

I found it far, far better to wear shoes which are large enough and wide enough that I don't get foot problems in the first place. Thick wool socks also help.
Doubtless, some of you will have heard me mention this before.

Cheers

[Mitchell Ebbott]

Roger, that's my strategy as well and it works for me. However, folks in our fortunate position need to recognize that different people have different feet. I have a friend who can't hike more than a mile, even in well-fitting, breathable running shoes, without liner socks and some tape on his heel. He's just extremely blister-prone.

Don't take your foot privilege for granted.

[Author]

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