“I’ve got blisters on me fingers!”
How to pop a blister, PROPERLY! Turn blister skin back into healthy skin!
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Training and paddling can sometimes lead to blisters on your fingers and hands. We’ve all heard that you should leave them alone, and this is true up to a point. The unbroken skin of your blister is protecting the squishy, vulnerable skin underneath. Popping your blister skin can allow BACTERIA inside that could cause INFECTION! OH MY!
Sometimes blisters are painful and you wish to remove them. It is in this case that many medical websites tell you to go ahead and pop it with a sterilized needle. However, popping the blister itself only puts a small tear in already fragile and damaged skin. This small tear almost always leads to the entire blister coming off and being even more painful.
After learning this neat trick, I avoid all the pain and just pop blisters the CORRECT way:
1. I sterilize a sharp needle
2. I disinfect the area around the blister with alcohol
3. I enter the blister from the back through the healthy skin! Let me draw that for you in a two-dimensional cross section:
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This really works! Sometimes, I have to pinch the healthy skin next to the blister to get the pin at the right angle to enter through the healthy skin behind the blister. The key is to start as close to the blister as possible, but be sure not to puncture the blister skin.
Once the blister is deflated, the unbroken blister skin can actually lie back down and reattach. The small tunnel in the healthy skin heals up quickly and is not noticeable. To help keep the fragile skin held firmly in place, I usually attach a bandaid or athletic tape over the blister until it feels normal again.
In my experience, I have found that this is not only less painful, but it decreases time until the spot is healed! Any scenario where I get to keep my skin and don’t have to grow new skin is a win in my book!
April’s Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor have I received any medical training. Anyone trying this method of blister popping should do so at his or her own risk. Use common sense people.