How to POP a Blister

“I’ve got blisters on me fingers!”

How to pop a blister, PROPERLY! Turn blister skin back into healthy skin! 

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: