Chafing/ blister/ swamp foot cream

We have spent many days walking down rivers, IN the water. The jungle on the banks was impossible you see.

Comfy thick wool socks in mesh shoes of adequate size and width.
Never had any problems at all.

I am left to wonder why some people seem to have so many problems.

Cheers

never had wet foot issues in my life until my recent NPT thruhike.. the first 4.5 days of 7 it rained really really hard every night/morning/evening and i was hiking 20+ miles a day. My feet had no chance of staying dry until I made camp for night. First thing next morning..they were soaked again for the day, water crossings, massive puddles and lots of beaver damn swamp areas. I have since been tinkering with “Foot Glide” and wider trail runners. Light powder in the evening to dry them up too.. I cant say if thats the answer but its what I will be doing next time.

Ha ha NPT foot. It’s the dam beavers or beaver dams. I carry sink oxide cream aka diaper rash cream ,petroleum jelly and a water bottle bidet. Not a fan of toilet paper. Always eat w left hand ! Ha ha

thom

I think the blisters are due to ill-fitting shoes. A larger wider fitting is recommended.

One thing we do very carefully each night is to wash our feet clean of any dirt, and then to DRY them for the night. For a high camp where there is no water, we clean and dry them as best we can. That has always worked for us.

Cheers

Ryan has an article on this.

https://backpackinglight.com/maceration-immersion-foot-and-backpacking/

Skurka articles https://andrewskurka.com/section/skills/foot-care/

Here is a recent medical article about a hiker.

https://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(20)30009-0/fulltext

A recent medical up-to-date article (dated Oct 2022) said this about prevention, “The main method of preventing warm water immersion foot (WWIF) is to allow the feet to dry every night after prolonged exposure to warm water [8]. Daily application of silicone grease to the soles of the feet, between the toes, and up to the level of the malleoli is effective for preventing WWIF if nightly drying is not feasible [8]. There is no additional benefit to using silicone on the entire foot [35].”

That “35” article is interesting about using 1/4 oz of silicone ointment (sole of foot) for prevention.

https://academic.oup.com/milmed/article/137/10/386/4908275

Silicone scar gel/ointment or dimethicone cream could be tried.

I like the squirrels nut butter – I like the little tin as it will last for a while for small spots unless you are using a ton.  I have only used it on my feet a few times – usually goes more towards my backside if I am doing a longer day.  But I also think cycling has toughened up that area for the most part.

I used Luekotape more than lube on my feet, especially between toes.  However, I switched to shoes with a much wider toe box and that has prevented 90% of the between toe blisters.  I also now use the heel lock lacing method now, which allows you to really cinch down the top of the foot and keep it from slipping around the heel when soaked, but can leave the toe box a little more loose.

big fan of green goo foot balm. pretty sure I learned of it through skurka.

https://greengoo.com/products/foot-care

really cinch down the top of the foot and keep it from slipping around the heel when soaked, but can leave the toe box a little more loose.
Sue was having a lot of trouble even with 4E width joggers for a while. They seemed to be upsetting her toe joints after not too many months of wear. Really strange.

We solved it 100% by changing the lacing. We now have no lacing at all in the bottom one or two sets of holes. We suspect that what was happening was that the lacing at the bottom was slowly tightening over the months to the point where what was meant to be 4E width was now D width.

With the lacing confined to the upper part of the tongue, there is no trouble at all with locking the foot into the heel. Works wonders. Sue is happy.

Cheers

Ultra runners are big on diaper rash cream like Desitin.

Heel lock tie method is a game changer. So are wide toe box shoes. So is Aquaphor. In a pinch, lip balm works to prevent friction on your feet. Toe condoms (protectors) are wonderful too, silicone reusable.

I am still not sure what people mean by chafing. I guess ignorance is bliss sometimes.

I just did a crazy thing – I bought three pair of trail runners. I have been using the same brand and model and size for multiple long hikes, so it seems they will continue to work for me. I decided to go for it and just stock up now that they are on sale 50% and the manufacturer will probably change them for the next release and the new ones may not work as well. As long as the rest of me doesn’t give out, I’ll get to use all my shoes!

Many solutions, some work for some people better than others.

Good old Vicks Vaporub worked for me, applied every evening for a week or two before wet trips, with socks over to keep from gooping sheets and blankets. Also worth taking on trips, with an extra pair of dry warm socks performing two functions.

I’ve since moved on to Badger Foot Balm with peppermint and tea tree oil. Less goopy, more natural, same routine.

Had to work through all of this while a whitewater raft guide, when your feet could stay wet for 16 hours a day, a couple of weeks at a time. I also learned to patch other people’s feet. Cracking and bleeding can get serious sometimes.

— Rex