Hi there,

Had minor blisters on my heels before and the cause has been obvious, the sole of my shoe was bent over and creased.

I noticed today that I've had bad spasms, my legs just keeps randomly hopping and jerking, the kind of spasm you get when something is in pain that you are not aware of. I thought I may have twisted my ankle or something but thought nothing of it.

I just took my shoe off and my heel felt a bit soft so I pulled my sock back and I have a blister that covers most of my heal. It is just big and white at the moment and whenever I touch it my leg spasms.

What can I do to treat it? I guess I need to avoid wearing shoes/trainers for a while until it dies down? Are there any creams or anything that could help?

I'm really confused as to how I got it...there is nothing in the sole of my shoe to give me it and it is a pretty massive blister. The only thing I can think of is possibly rubbing when I put my shoe on and take it off although that is surely unlikely.

Just checked the other heal out ad it's not spasming when I poke it but there is a small, soft blister on it. Just did some searching and saw something about footplate positioning. My footplate is bent, could it be this causing the issue? It's bent downwards though so I wouldn't have thought it'd increase pressure through my heals?

One thing I do do quite often is leave socks on at night so my feet don't scratch my legs when spasming, could this contribute?

What could it be?

Thanks, Ryan

You need some heel boots to wear until this heals. They will keep the heel protected while you're in bed especially. I have had blisters in the past from turned down back of shoes so always check that when you put your shoes on. Do you wear braces and stand to need the shoes. If not the boots could be worn full time until the blisters heal. Keep them clean....hope they heal fast.....

When I got into bed I realised that sleeping is perhaps the cause of the problem. I generally sleep on my back and of late my legs have been spasming up and down and I found that the position I wanted to rest in was putting my heels under pressure (knees in the air) So I turned over onto my right side to keep the pressure off of them.

Wearing heel boots isn't really an option as I have none. Will they eventually pop themselves and I'll need to bandage them etc. or will they just be reabsorbed?

Any idea ont he general timescale? And if I do need to wear shoes any advice to minimise the damage?

This needs to be dealt with ASAP so that you don't develop infections like cellulitis. The fluid will usually be reabsorbed (timescale depends on the person) and normally the skin on top of the blister will dry and fall off, but due to the size (if over 2 cm) it really needs to be drained using a sterile needle (doctor preferably) and then antibiotic cream (polymixin B or bacitracin) to prevent infection.

You could apply a doughnut-shaped moleskin pad or foam, leaving the area over the blister open and tape it in place or a loose bandage and secure the bandage with tape so that it doesn't touch the blister. Zinc Cream can help to dry the blister out. You shouldn't wear socks to bed as it keeps feet moist and this can promote blisters and fungal infections. Socks can also restrict blood and fluid return. Try not to wear shoes until it has healed as this will make it take longer to heal, break, or make the blister even bigger/deeper.

If it breaks don't remove the skin flap, just wash it, smooth it over and use antibiotic cream. Then apply a dressing and remove it at night to allow the area to dry out. Change dressings every day or when wet/dirty. The skin flap serves as protection for the new skin layer that has to form underneath and will help reduce the chance of infection.

Best and must do is "take weight of your heel" Pressure sour can take long to heal, weeks, if not months, depends on individuals and the extent of damage to your skin. Earlier you detect the sour, faster it cures. While rubbing on bed could cause blister, it is most likely from your shoe or sitting position. Always wear one size bigger shoe, and when you buy a new one, check inside for any sharp edges inside and make sure there is plenty of room for your toes. It is also common for feel to swell, so never tie the shoe very tight. Ideally buy padded shoes.

Check height of your foot rest and ensure that it is not too high and not putting too much weight on your heels. When seated on chair try slipping your hand under thigh and if there is gap, most likely you need to lower foot rest so that some of the load is shared by your thigh. Lying down is best to take weight of you heel. Use soft material to rest your feet on bed (pillow, or sheep skin etc)

You need professional advice; phone your Spinal Unit about it. Sleeping on your back wont help the matter, but I know some people hate being on their side.

I also wear my socks in bed so my nails don't scratch my legs if I spasm; I also wear them inside out, so the seams aren't pressing on the skin.

Everyone's different so with something as important as this you need a professional to check your heals.

Good luck

Mike

Cheers for the replies!

I'll give the spinal unit a ring now and maybe my gp too!

I've got a tennis lesson on saturday at 2pm so want to get it as healed as possible by then, as well as a 2 day training camp next tuesday and wednesday.

One other thing I have done twice recently is slept in my shoes. I was drunk staying over at a mates on the sofa and left my trainers on and then did the same at my grandma's house on sunday night due to being too knackered to drive home. I suspect they've been there for a while though and just haven't come out enough to cause spasm. I have had blisters in the past and they have healed quickly but in the past it has been obvious what the cause was. I've had these same trainers for about a year and never had a problem.

Thanks, Ryan.

Went to the drs and the blister is already infected apparently, as it's red around it. The redness goes when touched but the blister itself is pretty damn large. I've been given a course of antibiotics for the infection and just got to keep my weight off of it as much as possible. She reckons it needs to be elevated at all times really.

Is there anything else I can do to help it along? Would putting ice on it help at all? Desperate to get it to heal asap. Got an hour of tennis on saturday and a 2 day training camp next week that I cannot miss.

Thanks, Ryan.

Ryan,

I think I would follow the doctor's advice if I were you. If she says elevate it, she probably means it!

If it is likely to turn into a full blown pressure sore, it might be better to let it heal before planning any jaunts like your camp next week.

Here's a pic there's a more under control blister on the other foot too, I reckon it must've been my trainers or something. The trouble is every time I spasm (I'm elevating them now) my legs come up towards me and the heel touches and then triggers continuous spasm thus rubbing the heel more, I'm pretty sure this is how it got so bad as this is a regular occurrence in my sleep.

Follow your doctor's advice and stay off them. Don't mess about with any things such as ice - could do more damage. Cancel your tennis session. Tough but necessary.

Ryan,

To be quite blunt, you're obviously not looking after yourself very well so what do you expect. Getting drunk, sleeping in shoes; no wonder you have problems. If you don't follow your Dr's advice then I cant see the point of asking advice here.

Your infected blisters aren't going to disappear over night; they need careful attention, so behave responsibly and do what the Dr tells you, which is what everyone here has agreed with.

Keep the pressure off your heals and stop your irresponsible behaviour before its too late.

Thanks for the advice people.

And for the record, I am following my doctors advice. I have been posting on here with my feet in the air, as the pic clearly displays...

And as for not looking after myself that's rubbish. I am 21 years old, it was my friends 21st birthday, of course I'm going to live a little and get drunk. I left my shoes on as this stops my legs spasming so much so I stay on the sofa...and it's pretty hard to see anything on your heels and only noticed the blister when it was large enough to feel. If I was more cautious I could've caught it sooner but in the 4 years since my spinal injury I have barely had any skin issues, other than burning my knee on an electric heater at uni...Other than that the only time I've had issues with bisters was when I washed some trainers and the soles came detached and creased. I stopped wearing them immediately...

I am asking advice on here as well as following the drs advice. You guys have lived with this kind of thing for years so might have something to add that the dr can't, that is down to experience. Not looking after myself was a bit harsh and implied I'm one of these people who has given up. My situation is anything but, I go to the gym regulalry, I do sport, I am at university, and I go out with friends and enjoy myself. This situation is just down to experience and a little naivety perhaps...I never really had pressure issues in hospital either, but I am very much aware of my heals now, and will of course look after them.

I slept on my front last night to keep the pressure off of my heals. The only thing was when I woke up at 5 am I had rolled onto my side and my heals were a bit under pressure. I put a pillow under them and took my antibiotic. Then when I awoke again my legs had spasmed and the heel was again under a bit of pressure.

I'm going to call the spinal unit and ask about borrowing some of those pressure relieving boots, but I'm not sure how feasible that is.

I need a shower and am just wondering how I should treat them in the shower? Obviously it's pretty tough trying to keep weight off of your heels when you have no voluntary control over your legs so any advice here would be much appreciated.

Thanks again,

Ryan.

EDIT: Double post for some reason.

Worth adding is the fact that I have to shower in the bath with a bath board to sit on as I don't have a wet room, so my feet will actually be in the bath.

I just called my spinal unit, they have none I can borrow but have told me about something called a waffle boot; http://www.egeneralmedical.com/mck-30313000.html

Now I just need to find somewhere in the uk to get one.

My other concern is my mattress, it's called a softform but it's foam coated in plastic and I think the plastic rubbing on my heel is perhaps making matters worse.

Thanks Ryan.

From the position of the blister, which is under the heel rather than on the back of it, this looks unlikely. For the mattress to be responsible you would have to be sleeping on your back with your knees raised. Is that how you sleep?

Actually yes, not intentionally. What happens is my legs spasm up kind of into the fetal position i go slightly onto my side and my heels are pretty much flat on the mattress. I don't think this caused the blisters necessarily but I think this is what has made the one on the right foot particularly bad. The other thing that happens is when I first lie down my legs spasm straight, then they'll go up, down, up, down, up, down, rubbing this whole time, until eventually settling with up. I have tried putting pillows under my legs/feet but they don't stay there long.

The other option is I could sleep on the sofa with my feet hanging off of the edge? May go stay at my grandma's for a couple of days as I can do this easily there and she'll be able to check them daily as I can't really see them that well.

Thanks, Ryan

I wouldn't be concerned about getting the blisters wet - it's much more important to keep your whole foot clean (just be careful when you are drying yourself to avoid knocking them too much) so unless you are in the bath for hours you'll do fine. Just keep an eye on the water temperature too - extreme hot / cold wont do them any favours!

Thanks for that.

I just had a wash with a flannel in the end. I'll have a shower later on before bed. I've been doing a lot of googling and apparently it's a good idea to soak your feet in warm water to help heal blisters? Apparently it softens them up and encourages them to be reabsorbed into the body? The smaller blister is definitely improving, it feels a lot firmer than when I first noticed it and not firm in a full of fluid kind of way.

The spinal unit are supposed t be emailing me the source for the waffle boot, but as of yet I've received nothing They did leave me an answer phone message saying they'd email me it though.

I think I'll definitely have to give saturday's 1 hour session a miss but for a miracle. I really am hoping they'll both show good signs of improvement by tuesday though This training camp only occurs once a year and it's going to be the only chance in ages to play against other players and gauge where I'm at, that's probably why I am coming across as foolish for insisting on going so much. I'm supposed to be going to amsterdam next weekend too with mates, I'm not so worried about that as I can go to amsterdam anytime really, but the tennis is really important to me.

Will those special blister plasters help? Or any moisturisers/creams?


Thanks for all the help!

Ryan.

Hi Ryan
If you have no luck with the waffle boot check out Prevalon pressure relieving boots (I think they are made by Sage, you should find them on google), they are not the most attractive of things but they are really really effective for when you are in bed or just mooching around the house.

Be careful if you cover them with any sort of plasters that you don't rip the skin off when you are removing them, it's surprisingly easy to do!

I hope they have improved by tuesday, it would be a real shame to miss out. Is it just a one day camp?

I've just left a message with my local health centre for the district nurse about the foot waffle thing so hopefully they'll be able to get one!

I spoke to the pressure clinic again and asked whether I should put anything on it but they said it's best to just leave it to reabsorb and to try and make sure it doesn't burst as it keeps it sterile.

Will be gutted if I have to miss tuesday, it's a 2 day thing. Will involve driving there on tuesday morning getting there for 10/10.30 then playing tennis until 4. Then go back to my hotel room and stick my leg in the air until 10 the next morning, then playing tennis until 4/5 again, a 2 hour drive home and then more leg in the air. On the plus side, if it is looking a lot better by then atleast on the drive there will be little pressure on my heal as I drive with my legs crossed so I could take my trainer and sock off. Also my antibiotics will be finished by then too.

For now though it's sitting on the sofa watching top gear/dragon's den re-runs on dave lol!

How do you find living in London? I was there for uni last year!

Spent all day with my foot in the air other than finally getting up at 7 to do a few things. The small blister would be fine with a shoe on now I think, it's almost disappeared. The large one doesn't look much different other than it feels a squidgier...I guess this means it's started being absorbed? My feet are really dry...that's one reason the large blister looks almost flakey!

I love living in london, born and bred londoner! I crave the countryside though.
I know this will probably upset some people but my gut instinct says go for the tennis thing, it's only 2 days, and not 2 solid days either. As long as you are careful and are mindful of the sores then that's ok imo. One day out is unlikely to make them that much worse and the benefits seem to outweigh the cons. It may not be the most professional approach but life ultimately is for living and if you set yourself back by a few days or so then it is a small price to pay rather than missing out on something that you have been looking forward to for so long.
Maybe you could tradeit off for Amsterdam?
Anyway, good luck and good healing!
Tx

Yeah I loved it! Was living right on the south bank by waterloo station...good times! Will definitely move back at some point.

I did mention to the dr about the tennis camp when I saw her and she didn't say don't go, just asked if there was a camp dr. Fingers crossed it isn't too much of a risk. I'll book a dr's appointment on the monday and see what she says. I'm going to keep the elevation up as it seems to be working. When I took the pictures my feet were quite swollen, where I've had them up so long they've gone skinny and veiny :s

Thanks for the advice!

Ryan

Managed to position my feet a bit better last night although the pillows did eventually succumb to spasm.

Checked both heels this morning, the blister on the left foot has gone and is just a red mark that fades when touched. The larger blister is definitely shrinking, you can see clearly round the edges where the fluid has drained away although it is still pretty damn large.

Another day of foot in the air ahead

Is there anything wrong with doing the sitting in the garden with my feet on pillows on a deck chair? That way I can catch some sun! Will the sun have an adverse effect on the blister?

Thanks, Ryan.

Bit of an update.

The blister has completely gone on the left foot and there is definite progress on the right. There is still quite a build up of fluid in the very middle but around the edges it has definitely been absorbed.

I'm no expert but the redness appears to have gone as well which would suggest it's free of infection too. 5 antibiotics remaining

It's not going to be completely healed by tuesday in a million years but I think it will be in an easily manageable condition with another couple of days of rest.

Thanks, Ryan.

Got back from tennis yesterday. Went to the Drs on monday and he gave me more antibiotics just in case something went wrong while I was at tennis and also got the nurse to look at it. She applied a dressing and that was that.

The blister leaked some fluid on the tuesday night as there were a few dots of fluid on the pillow I had my foot up on but there was no obvious split or anything and it had completely gone down. Had it checked out again this morning and it has gone, all that is left is some hard skin. The only concern now is a slight redness in the middle of where the blister was under the skin. It looks more like blood vessels but I need to keep an eye on it. Booked in for another appointment this time next week to see how the redness is.

I asked the nurse if I should keep off of it and she said "no, no, no, just do what you would normally do." She gave me some dressings to put on to protect it in my sleep just because of the spasming in my sleep. Strangely the tennis seems to have helped it heal lol!

Thanks, Ryan.

Hi - I also had an issue with a heel blister. Took ages to heal as it got infected (my own idiocy, and normally so careful). Required strict regime of dressings (a dressings nurse can supply you with clever things that make it all happen a bit quicker) which I did religiously and I also had a leg cover (below) for showers to keep specialist dressings dry and doing their job... great company great product.
Click to view attachment


Anyway I found this heel protector (below)

Click to view attachment

... for when I'm sleeping and thought that it was sufficiently good and reasonably priced that I have spoken to the manufacturer so that I can sell them on my site (hopefully coming soon, with a number of other pressure issue items). Don't want this to be a ruthless sales post, but hopefully a help for those that might be interested.

Pressure issues real and I want to source a comprehensive range of good products as I always have difficulty finding things. If you know of stuff let me know (though will only talk to manufacturers direct as middlemen are why equipment is so damned expensive).

I got a heel blister while driving home after visiting family for Thanksgiving. I drove 15 hours on Nov 29th, did my pressure releases, but forgot to move my left foot. Consequently, I had a blister the size of a small plum on my left heel. To treat it, I just stopped wearing shoes. I still go to work and do stuff with the kids. When I drive, my legs are crossed so there is no pressure on the heel. The only pressure on it is from my socks. The only time my heels are elevated are at night. It took about 10 days for the blister to start to get smaller. Today, almost all of the fluid is gone and I have some stretched out skin on my heel. I may have even gotten a blister on the second layer of skin as I could feel a small bump on my heel after all the fluid had been reabsorbed from the main blister. Hopefully, I'll be able to wear shoes by the new year. I haven't been able to get into my standing frame all month, which I am looking foreward to doing again. Not looking for help, just sharing my experience hoping it prevents someone else from my mistake.

I find you can be careful all you like, something else gets ya! The heel is a pig, and I know how you felt about not being able to get into the standing frame. In addition to my post 2 up (which I can't edit for some reason?) I now have all manner of heel and ankle protectors on my site.

Ryan,

A few questions as I am having a similar issue:

How long before the redness went away? Did your heel return to normal? When did you wear shoes again?

The fluid in my blister has been reabsorbed and now the thing is stiff and looks like a bruise.

Saw my Dr yesterday about my heel blister and he said it healing normally. I did the right thing by removing all the pressure. He said the that there is dead skin under the outer layer and it is healing from the inside out. It could take months (e-gad! ) to fully heal, though. He measured it and it is 5cm x 4.5cm. Looks like it'll be will be a while till I get back in my standing frame. Well, at least its not infected and I really haven't had to stop my normal activities.

Ryan,

Sorry took so long to respond, just capturing up on all previous sites. Please try a real fleece skin for you feet at the bottom of your bed. This was given to us by a sci nurse and has saved his heals for 8 years. This helps to create "no friction". Mike also wears only Jesus sandals, nothing enclosed. Hope you get this and it's not too late.

My blister is completely gone and healed up!
On Sunday my wife cut around the edge of the blister area to take a peek inside and it looked good. So we cut all the way around and a disc of hardened blood fell away to reveal perfectly normal skin underneath. Its like there was a thick scab underneath the outer layer of skin. Probably could have done it a couple of weeks ago but I'm a scaredy cat. My Dr said I can go back to normal activities, so I can wear shoes again and I got in my standing frame yesterday for the first time in two months I definately needed to because I can tell my achilles tendon is getting tighter and standing helps keep it stretched out.

Slow down
That patch of new skin can be very thin and delicate
Beware

Yes, the skin on my heel where I had a blister has never looked quite as healthy as the surrounding since, so look after it carefully. Prevention is so much easier than cure.

I have heel blister problems too. I used to get special foam wraps around both heels which would protect them from getting blisters at night. I would get new ones every 6 months or so. Then Medicaid changed them to these half socks that were especially cushioned around the heel. They obviously are able to last longer than the foam ones. Unfortunately though, they didn't prevent blisters. I guess that's how government works here.

So now my caregiver puts pillows under my lower legs at night so that my heels "float" in bed. It's stopped the blisters but I understand that it puts me at risk of a condition called "foot drop". You can read about it at: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/foot_drop/foot_drop.htm. Oh well, I'm not using my feet these days so I figure it's the lesser of two evils. Much better than getting blisters.