F-ed up foot blisters

[boosterp]

Ok Doc,

I have been trying to figure this out for the past week and a half.

http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr245/la_porte_dv/Blisters.jpg

This is my left heal, the top gash is 2mm into the skin surface and the bottom is 1.5mm thick, both full thickness into the skin at the time they occurred.

I was up at my property for a few days, I wear work boots that are now 4 years old, I change socks once a day, and I check my feet.

The first day I walked nearly 5 miles, checked my feet and noticed these two blisters on my left heal. I injected them aseptically with benzoin tincture (old soldiers cure), painted around them with it, and applied a bandage. Day 2 I change said bandage, the blisters were getting hard, change socks, all is well. Walk another 2 miles around my property and had sharp heal pain. Return, change band aids and noticed the blisters had blown. I rebandage, put on more padded socks and move on. By day 4 this hurt, so I pad it, rebandage, and move forward, no signs of infection. I get home and after a day back I notice wounds like what you see in the picture.

Now after many years in the Army and marching many miles I never had seen blisters do this. Why did mine turn into gashes? These boots are in good shape, 4 years old, and I take good care of my feet.

I am betting the injection of benzoin tincture which of course hurts like shit since it has alcohol in it, but I used proper aseptic techniques.

Your thoughts?

Oh, I do walk with a slight limp favoring my left side, which has not been a problem before.

I need to add that I used one syringe to aspirate the blisters and one to inject the benzoin tincture. Also I am on pain killers so the pain response was delayed.

[boosterp]

BTW Booster, that does not look good. How did you photograph that? How also do you have access to injectiom stuff. Just curious.

It was easy to photograph with my digital set to macro. I have access to a lot of stuff via my prior job, my previous profession in the military, and my step-dad is a doctor and mother a nurse. I have performed minor surgery and have had to suture myself up. Just tricks of the trade budday.

[Dr Steve]

Ok Doc,

I have been trying to figure this out for the past week and a half.

http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr245/la_porte_dv/Blisters.jpg

This is my left heal, the top gash is 2mm into the skin surface and the bottom is 1.5mm thick, both full thickness into the skin at the time they occurred.

I was up at my property for a few days, I wear work boots that are now 4 years old, I change socks once a day, and I check my feet.

The first day I walked nearly 5 miles, checked my feet and noticed these two blisters on my left heal. I injected them aseptically with benzoin tincture (old soldiers cure), painted around them with it, and applied a bandage. Day 2 I change said bandage, the blisters were getting hard, change socks, all is well. Walk another 2 miles around my property and had sharp heal pain. Return, change band aids and noticed the blisters had blown. I rebandage, put on more padded socks and move on. By day 4 this hurt, so I pad it, rebandage, and move forward, no signs of infection. I get home and after a day back I notice wounds like what you see in the picture.

Now after many years in the Army and marching many miles I never had seen blisters do this. Why did mine turn into gashes? These boots are in good shape, 4 years old, and I take good care of my feet.

I am betting the injection of benzoin tincture which of course hurts like shit since it has alcohol in it, but I used proper aseptic techniques.

Your thoughts?

Oh, I do walk with a slight limp favoring my left side, which has not been a problem before.

I need to add that I used one syringe to aspirate the blisters and one to inject the benzoin tincture. Also I am on pain killers so the pain response was delayed.


damn! #1) Benzoin isn't designed to be INJECTED INTO THE SKIN. yikes! To do the army thing, you just use the needle to train the blister, then refill the blister with benzoin. or is that what you did? injecting benzoin into living skin tissue will cause a lot of local inflammation. Oh wait, rereading your note, perhaps you did just inject the blisters themselves. set me straight on what you actually did before I insult your intelligence any more :smile:

2) Your picture got taken down because I took so long to answer this question (sorry)...can you post it again?

3) the limp may indeed have something to do with this. it didn't bother you before because your younger body could compensate for the abuse...your newer, older body may not be so resilient.

repost and I'll try to get to it asap. as a matter of fact, email me at drsteve202 at gmail dot com and alert me to your message and I'll answer it within minutes.


your pal,



steve

[boosterp]

The pic: http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr245/la_porte_dv/Misc/Blisters.jpg

It's better now.

But, I aspirated the blister with a tuberculin syringe then used a second to inject the benzoin into the blister, not the underlying skin. I then used some benzoin to adhere a bandaid to cover the two blisters.

I spent 7 years in the Army and many after that treating myself within my comfort level, the picture shown was the first ever to happen to me or any other soldier that I did this to. Two mm skin deep is bad and I know that I only hit the blister itself because I could see the bevel of the needle when I moved it around through the skin, not like when you administer a TB test.

My step-father who is a physician thought I hit the underlying tissue, or the inflammation of the underlying tissue was greater than what I had suspected. The latter makes more sense since injecting the benzoin hurt worse than I remembered it hurting.