Blister Relief at Last!

Please Note:  I was not asked to write about this product and I am not being compensated in any way for this post.  I purchased this product for myself to try.  All opinions are my own.

In one of my recent Manic Monday posts, I mentioned that I was having blister issues.  I won’t post any pictures, but suffice to say, it’s been bad.  I’ve always been prone to blisters in the exact same spot–along the outside of the balls of my feet.    Over time, I built up some calluses and I was doing OK.  My feet were ugly, but I wasn’t in pain.

And then, the Catamount Half Marathon happened.  I took off my shoes after the face and found that I had developed blisters UNDER and AROUND my very, very thick calluses, and I was in an enormous amount of pain.  I took 2 full weeks off running after that half because of the gaping wounds on my feet, and since then, I haven’t really had a blister-free run, because my calluses came off with the blisters.

I tried new socks; no dice.  I tried blister relief band-aids; they disintegrated and mashed into a pulp and ruined one of my favorite pairs of socks.  I tried SLATHERING my feet with Body Glide; more blisters.  I was starting to be extremely discouraged and wondering if I was ever going to be able to run without experiencing blister pain.

I was wallowing around in the first aid aisle at CVS, and happened to spot this: Nexcare Absolute Waterproof Tape.

I figured, what the heck?  What’s another $6 towards my running problem?  I bought it without much hope, but figured pretty much anything was worth a try at this point.

Well halle-FREAKING-lujah, I think we have a winner!  This tape is slightly stretchy and slightly foamy, so it provides a decent amount of cushion without adding bulk.  And guess what?  It’s ACTUALLY waterproof.  Or at least, waterproof enough to stick to my sweaty feet for 5 plus miles!  I’ve been wearing this on all of my runs for the last week or so and I haven’t had any new blistering show up.  Of course, the area is still pretty irritated and there’s a lot of new, tender skin, so I will continue to tape up for every run until I get some actual calluses back.

Sadly, the tape didn’t make it all the way through my 9 miles on Sunday, but it stuck around (pun intended!) long enough that I didn’t get new blistering, just some discomfort.  I may experiment with different angles and reinforcements to see if I can get it to stay through my longer runs, but even if it only works for shorter runs, at least I’ve got some relief.

If you are having persistent blistering issues that aren’t being solved by band-aids, give this stuff a try!