For going out
Heels, dress shoes, and the bit that rubs
The best-looking shoes are rarely the most comfortable. That trade-off is old and we are not going to argue you out of it. Putting up with the pain is a separate choice though, and that one you can decline.
The single most useful thing: put the dressing on your foot.
Everyone tries the shoe first — a stick-on pad in the back of the heel, which peels off somewhere around lunchtime and takes the padding with it. A patch on your skin moves with you and stays where you put it.
The second most useful thing: do it before you go out. You already know which pair does it and where. Cover that spot on the way out the door, while the skin is still whole.
Where they rub.
Back of the heel — The most common one by a distance. A narrow heel in a shoe cut wider than your foot slides with every step and saws at the same centimetre of skin.
Toes, from peep-toes and pointed shoes — The edge of a peep-toe cuts across the top of the big and second toes. Pointed toe boxes squeeze the little toe sideways.
Straps — Sandals and slingbacks rub in a line, which is where cutting your own shape earns its keep.
Ball of the foot — Usually pressure: the weight of standing in a heel, concentrated in one place. A dressing stops the rub and does nothing for the load, so a cushioned pad is the thing for that one.
Before you go out.
- 1
Cover the spot you already know about. You know which pair does it and where. Do it on the way out the door, while the skin is still whole.
- 2
Clean, dry skin. Hydrocolloid will not stick to moisturiser or damp skin. Wipe it first.
- 3
Cut it to the line of the rub. A two-centimetre strip on the back of a heel is hard to spot at any distance. Leave a little clean skin past the edges so it has something to grip.
- 4
Press the edges down. Firm, smooth, no lifted corner. Thirty seconds of body heat helps it bond.
- 5
Clear tape if it is a long night. Thin clear surgical tape over the top holds it without the white-tape look. Any chemist has it.
The look of it
Keeping it invisible.
People give up on covering blisters in good shoes because the fix ends up more visible than the problem.
Hydrocolloid is thin, flat and translucent, and it sits matte against the skin. On the back of a heel, under a strap or around a toe it disappears in a way a fabric plaster never does.
Cut it to the exact line of the rub. A two-centimetre strip on the back of a heel is hard to spot at any distance, and a whole plaster announces itself.
For a long night, thin clear surgical tape over the top holds it down and keeps the white-tape look off your feet.
Too late
If it is already up.
Wash it with mild soap and water and let it dry. Leave the loose skin where it is if it is flat, because it is the best cover the raw skin has.
Cover it with hydrocolloid cut a centimetre wider than the raw area so it seals onto clean skin. Change it only when it will not stay on anymore — peeling one off early takes the new skin with it.
If you are going out on it that evening, a cushioned pad over the top of the dressing takes the pressure off as well as the rub.
Spreading redness, heat, swelling, or yellow or green pus means a doctor.
The shoe
Sometimes it is the shoe.
A heel that slips, a toe box that is too narrow, a pair that fits in the shop and stops fitting after an hour on your feet.
You know this already and you are going to wear them anyway. A cobbler can stretch a tight toe box, a heel grip takes up the slack in a loose heel, and some shoes are only ever going to be sitting-down shoes. Worth knowing which pairs are which before the day you need them.
Preferences
Where people disagree.
In the shoe or on the foot. Some swear by padding the shoe: heel grips, gel strips, inserts. Plenty of others have gone back to dressing the foot after watching shoe padding migrate across an afternoon. Dressing the foot is the more reliable of the two. Padding the shoe is invisible and reusable.
Breaking them in.Thick socks and a hairdryer, wearing them around the house, a cobbler’s stretcher. Leather gives, synthetics mostly do not, and no amount of breaking in makes a shoe longer.
Whether to bother. Some people keep a patch or two in a bag and deal with it when it starts. Others cover the known spot every time. For a pair you wear often, covering it every time is less effort than it sounds.
What to use
Cut to the rub, or grab a shape.
Roll tape
The one for odd shapes: a line under a strap, a band around a toe, a strip along the back of a heel. You cut it to the rub, which is why it disappears.
Roll Tape →Blister patches
Pre-cut in five shapes, including a tabbed oval for heels where the tab folds over the edge so it holds.
Blister Patches →For a whole evening, thin clear surgical tape over the top will keep it there. Any chemist has it and we do not sell it.
Same injury, other shoes
Dancers worked this out first.
Most of what works here came out of pointe shoes: clear tape around a toe, gel caps for pressure, thin dressings that do not change the fit. The ballet and pointe guide goes further into taping toes and what to do between wears.
For boots and long days on your feet, see the trail blister guide, and for cutting the roll so it stays put, the hydrocolloid tape guide.
Common questions
The things people ask.
How do I stop new heels rubbing my heel?
Cover the spot before you put them on. A strip of hydrocolloid on the back of your heel, on clean dry skin, pressed down firm at the edges.
Should I put padding in the shoe or on my foot?
On your foot. Padding stuck inside a shoe tends to shift and peel once you are walking, and it takes the cushioning with it when it goes.
Will it show with open shoes?
Hydrocolloid is thin and translucent and sits flat against the skin, so cut to size it is hard to spot. Thin clear surgical tape over the top if you need it held down.
My shoes rub in the same place every time.
Then you know where to put it before you leave. A cobbler can stretch a tight spot, and a heel grip helps with a shoe that slips.
I have a blister on my heel and a wedding tomorrow.
Wash it with mild soap and water, leave the loose skin where it is, and cover it with hydrocolloid cut wider than the raw skin. A cushioned pad over the top helps if you will be standing all day. Wear a shoe you have already walked in.
Can I wear one all day at work?
Yes, and overnight too. Change it only when it will not stay on anymore.
What about the ball of my foot?
That is usually pressure from standing in a heel. A cushioned pad does more for that than a dressing will.
When should I see a doctor?
Spreading redness, heat, swelling, or yellow or green pus. That one needs a doctor.
Burst-blister care follows NHS guidance. Anything we have not covered, email hello@mendpatch.nz — a real person will reply.