Shoeperwoman to the Rescue: How to avoid blisters in new shoes

Anna-Miina writes…

Is there a way to avoid getting blisters when wearing newly bought high-heeled shoes?
Because I just have the feeling I’m doing something wrong, I always get the most evil blisters from any sort of footwear. Except trainers, but well… That would be even more pathetic than my situation already is.

~ Anna-Miina

 This is actually a problem you can run into with any new shoes, as the blisters are caused by the shoes rubbing against your foot, rather than by the size of the heel: it happens to me most often in flats and running shoes, which seem to quite literally rub me up the wrong way!

The answer to this (other than making sure your shoes fit perfectly, of course, and even that isn’t a great solution, because even shoes that seem to fit perfectly in the store, and during the first hour or so of wear can start to hurt once you’ve been walking around in them for a while) is to wear your shoes in before letting them loose in public. Wearing brand new shoes for the first time, when you’re going to have to wear them for hours, is pretty much a recipe for blisters, I find, so when I buy shoes I’ll normally wear them around the house first, to soften up the leather (if that’s what they’re made from) a little, and to get an idea of whether they’re likely to rub, and where. Once you know a shoe’s likely to rub in a certain place, you can either apply a blister patch or band-aid before putting them on or try using something like wax or even Vaseline to soften up the leather in that place.

Some other tips for you:

  • Wear socks or tights if you can
  • Talcum powder or foot spray will keep your feet dry and help prevent blisters from forming
  • If the worst comes to the worst, Compeed blister plasters – they’ll help the blister heal and cushion it against further chafing. You can also use these as a preventative measure – apply them in the places you know your shoes will rub.
  • Scholl Party Feet Invisible Gel Sore Spots. Again, apply these to the places your shoes are likely to start hurting and they’ll prevent blisters from forming.

Anyone else got any anti-blister tips?

[image source]

 

11 Comments

  • Compeed Anti-Blister stick! It won’t harm your shoes and is a miracle at stopping shoes sticking to your feet and therefore rubbing. Available at Boots.

    • This doesn’t really help me the blister I got from the new shoes happened right on the bottom, of my big toe. Not a pleasant place to have a blister, I don’t know how to prevent this from happening until the shoes are broken in, and until the blister hurts because it is so painful !

  • Vaseline! Seriously, rub it on the bits that are likely to rub (front at the vamp and at the heels). It makes the shoe slide rather than rub AND softens your feet too – double whammy!

  • Half Insoles. If your feet just need the teeniest bit of length to stop the movement, then put a leather half insole, or even one of the party feet gel insoles. It can be all that is needed to make a firmer fit, and then cause less rubbing. I buy a pair for every pair of shoes I have, only £1.50 from Clarkes shoe shops, or anywhere else really.

  • Heel grips from footpetals.com have worked the best for me. They are a kind of soft foam and unlike leather heel grips, don’t actually chafe my skin.

  • My friend taught me about wearing your shoes in the house for a while, when putting duct-tape on the bits most likely to rub. Then, as you wear them in you won’t get blisters! I also use Vaseline t ostop rubbing and keep plasters with me at all times.

  • I so wish I’d read this 24 hours ago – before wearing my new (low heeled) shoes that I bought specially as I knew I’d be standing a long time and needed shoes to match the shirt that I got to go with the dress. (Yeah, I know…)

    Up until now, I’d also have suggested wearing blister plasters pre-emptively, but today discovered that in hot weather they can come loose and make the problem worse. Love the duck tape idea – will definitely try out!

    A version of the blister ‘tape’ I used to use a lot is just ordinary waterproof strapping – worth trying if you don’t have plasters to hand…

  • Thank you so much for your help!
    I will definitely try some of these things out, but I’m (still!!) waiting for my blisters to heal…

  • if your toes rub in peep toes use silicone tubes they slide over your big toe and cushion it from rubbing, I think Scholl make them

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