This is a link to an article in today's London "Times" about, apparently, a major breakthrough in blister prevention - cheap surgical tape:
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/staggering-solution-for-blisters-costs-just-60p-0tcd9cnx6
As The Times is behind a paywall, I have copied the article:
"Scientists are claiming that a cheap, easily available product is the simple, yet most effective, solution. Their study has potentially put paid to the shelves full of plasters, lubricants and pads that claim to prevent blisters.
It deduced that the best job is done by a 60p roll of surgical tape.
The research, published in the
Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, argued that there had been no scientific study into the effectiveness of blister products, leading to the proliferation in the types on sale. Now it aims to put the kibosh on the search for a plaster that actually works by pointing sufferers in the direction of the minor wounds section of any pharmacy.
Grant Lipman, clinical associate professor in emergency medicine at Stanford University, was spurred on to find a solution after working for endurance runners completing 25 to 50 miles a day. Instead of complaining about sore knee joints, he said that the most common cause of pain was blisters.
“What I kept hearing was, ‘Doctor, I’d be doing so well if only for my feet’,” he said. “Their feet were getting decimated. People have been doing studies on blister prevention for 30 or 40 years and never found anything easy that works. I wanted to look at this critically.”
He began collecting anecdotes from athletes and army recruits who said that their tried and tested method was applying surgical paper tape.
The tape is used to hold dressings in place or alone for minor cuts and grazes and is only mildly adhesive. When applied to blister-prone areas before exercise, the tape successfully prevented the appearance and frequency of blisters. One of its main advantages was that the tape did not tear the blisters if they did occur.
The study recruited 128 runners taking part in the 155-mile, six-stage RacingThePlanet ultramarathon event, which crosses several deserts around the globe, including the Gobi and those in Jordan and Madagascar.
Paper tape was applied to one of each of the runners’ feet while the other one was left bare. Medical assistants tested its worth by covering the runners’ blister-prone areas or, if they had no blister history, to randomly selected locations on the foot.
The runners were monitored over the 155 miles for seven days. For 98 of the 128 runners, no blisters formed where the tape had been applied, whereas 81 of the 128 got blisters in areas left to the mercy of just a sock.
Dr Lipman said: “It’s kind of a ridiculously cheap, easy method of blister prevention. You can get it anywhere. The best way to make it to the finish line is by taking care of your feet.” "