| "body"> | | | | never work for me. I believe the old adage: |
| Liberal applications of rubbing alcohol, applied in the | | | | "when the going gets tough, the tough get |
| morning and evening, will help toughen your feet. | | | | blisters." Sooner or later, all those macho types |
| Alcohol won't make the foot and leg musculature | | | | get blisters. It can't be helped if you refuse to |
| any stronger---only walking will do that---but it will | | | | minister to a hot spot. Hot spots, left untreated, |
| tighten and toughen the skin, making it less prone | | | | very quickly bloom into full-fledged blisters. Even |
| to hot spots and blisters. | | | | worse than blisters that balloon on the surface |
| I continue using alcohol, along with food powder, | | | | are those deep ones in heel or ball of foot that |
| while on a trek. I remove hiking boots and socks | | | | can actually incapacitate you. |
| at every rest stop---usually once hourly. A few | | | | At the slightest sign of a hot spot---long before |
| drops of alcohol serve to dry and cool my feet, | | | | the area even turns red---I start treatment. |
| as well as continuing the toughening process. This | | | | First, check for any obvious cause, such as a |
| is followed by a sprinkle or two of foot powder | | | | wrinkle or rucked up sock, and correct it. Worn |
| and, if I think it necessary, a change of socks. | | | | areas (you know, almost, but not quite, a hole) |
| Alcohol and powder are carried in small plastic | | | | are no different than wrinkles, and such socks |
| bottles. Such containers are available in specialty | | | | should be discarded. |
| shops, but I stole mine from Friend Wife. Originally | | | | Next I clean and cool the area with a liberal use of |
| they held her contact lens cleaning stuff. The | | | | rubbing alcohol, and make sure it is thoroughly dry. |
| nozzle in those containers is especially useful | | | | The alcohol, by the way, because of its rapid |
| controlling the amount of alcohol dispensed, but | | | | evaporation rate, contributes to the drying |
| has to be removed from the powder bottle. | | | | process as well as cooling your feet. |
| There is a tough-it-out school of thought that | | | | I then cut a piece of moleskin slightly larger than |
| says to leave footwear alone. Those in this school | | | | the sensitized area, making sure to bevel the |
| put on their socks and hiking boots in the morning, | | | | edges. |
| and don't take them off until nightfall. That would | | | | |