How to prevent blisters on my feet?

[fishnaked]

I have a 3 day intensive training coming up and need to figure out a way to prevent blisters. The big toe side of the ball of my feet seem to be the problem area for me. I've been getting hotspots there after only 3 hours of practice. I have wrapped my feet with athletic tape but it seems to ball up rather quickly requiring that I remove it completely or rewrap. Granted, I have very little experience with using tape.

Has anyone tried mole skin...the stuff that comes in patches that you cut to size? I was thinking that one large patch covering the entire balls of my feet might not only prevent blisters but also create some slipperiness in turns taking some torque off from a sore knee.

Any other ideas for blister prevention?

Thanks.

[GeoGiant]

I has similar problems a few years ago and the only thing I found that stopped the blisters was conditioning. Fortunately for me I was having this problem in the summer so I wore flip flops a lot and I sat at my desk at work wearing no shoes.

[JusticeZero]

Regional trick - scuff your feet in the dust right before training. It absorbs the oils and sweat and thus prevents your skin from adhering to the floor.

There's also martial arts shoes.. mind, our tradition always trains in street shoes.

[fishnaked]

Regional trick - scuff your feet in the dust right before training. It absorbs the oils and sweat and thus prevents your skin from adhering to the floor.

There's also martial arts shoes.. mind, our tradition always trains in street shoes.

Thanks. Interesting idea! I wonder what kind of "dust" would work best...baby powder, baking powder, or...??? There won't be any natural dust near by so would have to bring something. I have clay. Wonder how that might work? Hmm....

I'd wear martial art shoes in a heart beat but I'd get thrown out of the dojo. Barefoot only for me, I'm afraid.

[JusticeZero]

Not sure, they used to use whatever was swept off the floor.

[DWx]

Regional trick - scuff your feet in the dust right before training. It absorbs the oils and sweat and thus prevents your skin from adhering to the floor.

There's also martial arts shoes.. mind, our tradition always trains in street shoes.

Thanks. Interesting idea! I wonder what kind of "dust" would work best...baby powder, baking powder, or...??? There won't be any natural dust near by so would have to bring something. I have clay. Wonder how that might work? Hmm....

I'd wear martial art shoes in a heart beat but I'd get thrown out of the dojo. Barefoot only for me, I'm afraid.

Talc works pretty well for that. I use it sometimes when the floor's sticky.

Don't know if you've got time now but repeatedly soaking your feet in surgical spirits/rubbing alcohol will harden the skin. Or instead of athletic tape, if you can get your hands on Coflex vet wrap bandages, that stuff is amazing. Actually meant for animals but its brilliant as it sticks to itself and nothing else. I've wrapped my foot in it before and it won't stick to the ground or roll up.

[fishnaked]

Regional trick - scuff your feet in the dust right before training. It absorbs the oils and sweat and thus prevents your skin from adhering to the floor.

There's also martial arts shoes.. mind, our tradition always trains in street shoes.

Thanks. Interesting idea! I wonder what kind of "dust" would work best...baby powder, baking powder, or...??? There won't be any natural dust near by so would have to bring something. I have clay. Wonder how that might work? Hmm....

I'd wear martial art shoes in a heart beat but I'd get thrown out of the dojo. Barefoot only for me, I'm afraid.

Or instead of athletic tape, if you can get your hands on Coflex vet wrap bandages, that stuff is amazing. Actually meant for animals but its brilliant as it sticks to itself and nothing else. I've wrapped my foot in it before and it won't stick to the ground or roll up.

There's a farm supply store here in town with a pretty good selection of vet stuff. I will check it out. Thanks for the tip!

[susanmiller696]

Very true, scuffing feet in the dust right before training works wonders. A friend of mine did this.

[fishnaked]

Or instead of athletic tape, if you can get your hands on Coflex vet wrap bandages, that stuff is amazing. Actually meant for animals but its brilliant as it sticks to itself and nothing else. I've wrapped my foot in it before and it won't stick to the ground or roll up.

Well, I easily found the Coflex and gave it a shot last night at a 3 hr practice. I had misgivings about it as soon as I removed it from the package. Showed my instructor before practice and he had the same thoughts; the stuff is going to roll up right away. I figured there was something else called Coflex and I got the wrong stuff. I must say though, I was impressed! One wrap lasted the 3 hrs with no roll up at all...and zero hot spots. It was nice to be able to remove it without taking a bunch of foot hair with it too!

The only problem I experienced was that during a front kick about 2.5 hrs in, the wrap flew off the end of my foot towards my opponent. After a brief chuckle, I simply slipped it back on and continued. I have 2 more practices to experiment. I plan to try using regular tape on top of my foot to hold the Coflex in place. I should also mention that it grips the floor. Nice at times and not so nice at other times. I can live with that though during this 3-day intensive. Time permitting, I may try wrapping a strip of regular tape over the Coflex...the ends of the tape tucked under the Coflex so it won't roll up.

Thanks again for the tip! The dust the other poster/s mentioned sounds like a great idea too but at this point, don't feel I have time to experiment. It may be difficult to sneak to the side and redust my feet as needed too.

[DWx]

Or instead of athletic tape, if you can get your hands on Coflex vet wrap bandages, that stuff is amazing. Actually meant for animals but its brilliant as it sticks to itself and nothing else. I've wrapped my foot in it before and it won't stick to the ground or roll up.

Well, I easily found the Coflex and gave it a shot last night at a 3 hr practice. I had misgivings about it as soon as I removed it from the package. Showed my instructor before practice and he had the same thoughts; the stuff is going to roll up right away. I figured there was something else called Coflex and I got the wrong stuff. I must say though, I was impressed! One wrap lasted the 3 hrs with no roll up at all...and zero hot spots. It was nice to be able to remove it without taking a bunch of foot hair with it too!

The only problem I experienced was that during a front kick about 2.5 hrs in, the wrap flew off the end of my foot towards my opponent. After a brief chuckle, I simply slipped it back on and continued. I have 2 more practices to experiment. I plan to try using regular tape on top of my foot to hold the Coflex in place. I should also mention that it grips the floor. Nice at times and not so nice at other times. I can live with that though during this 3-day intensive. Time permitting, I may try wrapping a strip of regular tape over the Coflex...the ends of the tape tucked under the Coflex so it won't roll up.

Thanks again for the tip! The dust the other poster/s mentioned sounds like a great idea too but at this point, don't feel I have time to experiment. It may be difficult to sneak to the side and redust my feet as needed too.

Hey nice that it worked for you I love this stuff. Yeah depending on the type of floor it can sometimes stick. You can use the dust trick on it too if you want though. Once you've wrapped your foot in it just dust it with the floor dirt or something like talcum powder. Just be wary that it makes it more difficult to reuse it as it won't stick to itself as well as it did when you reapply. Taping it on top seems like a good idea, or you could try to tuck the ends in.

Anyway glad you like it. Don't know why they don't market it at people, all my TKD friends use this stuff now and my physio friend also recommends it as strapping.