Trench Foot?

[Sue M]

Hi Everyone!
I walked from St. Jean to Burgos in October and, from a 'hot spot' on the first day, my feet blistered and began to rot. I have walked all over the world in walking boots before but never for so long, and had no problems apart from the odd dry blister. In the alberque at San Domingo de la Calzada there is a foot magician who lives under the stairs and ministers to pilgrims' feet for an optional donation. He used reels of tape on my feet and toes, and I was able to hobble on to Burgos wearing purple crocs. Walking up a rocky hillside in pitch darness and pouring rain wearing crocs is not to be recommended, even if one of your companions is singing 'Through the night of doubt and sorrow onwards goes the pilgrim band'! The foot man said my problem (at 67) is swaety feet. I have bought some Teva Itunda sandals and intend to do the next stage wearing those and spraying my feet liberally with anti-perspirant. It seems important to let air get to the feet, so no walking boots. Any comments?
Sue

 

[fortview]

Hi Sue,
Poor you ! Sounds grim :mrgreen:
I highly recommend taking your boots and socks off when you stop for a break, to air them.
Then sprinkle with talcum powder, you can get a travel size one, and change your socks !

An ex paratrooper who worked in Go Outdoors told us about the talcum powder. It really does help to dry the feet out.

This worked for me. I did get the odd tiny blister on my toes, but that was all. And alternating between boots and sandals seems to help as well.
Buen camino
Helen

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Then sprinkle with talcum powder

Talc is a dry lubricant. It is an effective preventive for blisters. It does not absorb moisture; rather it repels it to be absorbed by your socks. Not all foot powders are talc, so read the ingredients. If it has corn starch, avoid it. Corn starch absorbs moisture, but does not lubricate. It is used in Chinese restaurants (and others) to make gravy! I don't think you would put gravy on your feet to prevent blisters...

 

[fortview]

We used Johnsons baby powder. It WAS used ( but not recommended for babies now in case they inhale it, and damage their brains. But that's another story ) to dry the baby, in all their little creases after a bath, and prevent soreness.
It certainly kept MY feet dry

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Johnsons baby powder

Corn starch.

 

[fortview]

I'm starting to feel like a geek here, and being made wrong .
The powder is made from talc ie magnesium silicate.
Paediatricians prefer mums to use cornstarch ,so, yes there is a Johnsons powder made from corn starch, but that is not the one we used.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The J&J website pushes the baby powder with ingredients, and they are all corn starch based. But I searched further, and their basic product is talc! I apologize for faulty research.

JOHNSON'S® Baby Powder

Keeps skin feeling soft, fresh and comfortable

It's a classic. JOHNSON'S® Baby Powder helps to eliminate friction while keeping skin cool and comfortable. It's made of millions of tiny slippery plates that glide over each other to help reduce the irritation caused by friction.

Helps eliminate friction
Clinically proven to be safe, gentle and mild
Allergy and dermatologist-tested
Clean, classic scent

Ingredients

Talc, Fragrance

JOHNSON'S® Baby Powder with Aloe Vera & Vitamin E

Gently absorbs excess wetness to keep skin dry and soft

Let the natural moisture-absorption qualities of pure cornstarch keep your baby's skin comfortable and dry. The soft texture of this gentle cornstarch baby powder helps keep skin feeling especially fresh and smooth.

Gently absorbs excess moisture
Clinically proven to be gentle and mild
Made with the highest quality cornstarch - especially mild
Dermatologist and allergy-tested
Clean, baby fresh scent
Made with pure cornstarch

Ingredients

Zea Mays (Corn) Starch, Tricalcium Phosphate, Aloe Barbadensis, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Fragrance

Read the container to be sure you get the talc product. It will work, and did so for you! Again, my apologies.
http://www.johnsonsbaby.com/all-our-products

 

[fortview]

Thanks Falcon, for your excellent piece of research
Apology accepted

Helen

 

[supersullivan]

Sue

From an experienced hiker but novice peregrino. Teva do very good sandals but if you experience prolonged wet weather you will be walking with damp feet and likely to experience similar problems, I'm going with good leather hiking boots and bringing a small pot of Brasher leather cream, they do me proud on winter hiking in Irish upland bogs and dry fairly well overnight- even better with a couple of sheets of newspaper stuffed inside to speed up the drying, 2 spare pairs of good hiking socks and liner socks means being able to change socks midway through a long wet day and still having a dry pair for the following day.

On my baby Camino last September most of the people I met with blister problems made one of these two errors: Had good boots but hadn't put sufficient preparation miles in wearing them to be sure they were right size/fit or wearing runners/trainers with gym socks which although fine for pavement/road walking didn't offer enough protection on the stretches of uneven ground.

For all the great advice I've come across on this forum and taken on board gladly, the most useful suggestion I'd make to any fellow novices who may come across this posting is that you will be spending many hours walking your camino and the impact however small of every step you take will go through your feet first before dissipating, getting your socks and boots/shoes right will pay off every step of the way. Buy in a good outdoors retailer who will let you wear them for 30+ minutes around the shop, wear a pair of your hiking socks when you are trying out hiking boots/shoes and go for 1 size bigger than you would wear in normal footwear- to allow for the thicker socks and also the slight swelling that your feet will undergo doing the course of long days walking.

Buen camino

Seamus

 

[Tia Valeria]

For foot powder we buy 'Fungusol' available from farmacias in Spain. It also comes in other forms so check it is 'polvo'.

 

[max44]

How did you go Sue? I was wondering. I have been drifting through old posts.
Are you sure it was "trench foot"? That has quite specific mechanisms of injury.
Hope it went well for you