What Causes Blisters On Feet?

Tell me, what do you think causes foot blisters. Chances are you’re saying something along the lines of: Heat, moisture and friction or poorly fitting shoes … or something along those lines. Well firstly, there’s more to it than bad shoes. You can have perfect shoes and still get blisters, just like I did.

And secondly, blisters on feet aren’t caused by heat – they’re not a burn; or moisture – you don’t have to get blisters just because your feet sweat a lot; Are they caused by friction? Well, kind of! The problem is, when you say friction, you actually mean rubbing – and blisters are not caused by rubbing. Let me explain. Do this with me:

• Place the tip of your right index finger on the back of your left hand.
• Wobble it back and forth but keep it stuck to the same bit of skin. Notice how your skin stretches? This is what causes blisters – the skin stretching too much. This stretching is called skin shear. Now keep wobbling while you think about this…

Shear might look like rubbing but it’s not. Notice how your finger tip has not actually moved relative to the skin of the back of your hand – because your finger is stuck to the same bit of skin? But your skin has moved relative to the underlying bone and everything in between is stretched. This is shear - a parallel sliding of tissue layers across one another. Shear happens internally, whereas if we were rubbing the back of your hand, rubbing happens on top to the surface of the skin. Yes it involves shear too, but it’s the internal stretching part that causes blisters, not the external rubbing part. When skin shear is excessive and repetitive, a tiny tear occurs just under the skin surface that within 2 hours, fills with fluid to look like what we know and love as a blister.
Does that make sense?

Learn more about what causes blisters on feet here:

Now think about it: is it any wonder, that if we’ve got the wrong end of the stick when it comes to what causes blisters, that we find it difficult to stop blisters, or to make them feel better when we treat them. No – it’s not surprising at all. We’re focusing on the wrong thing!

You know, it’s when you match the science of what causes blisters, to the science of how blister prevention strategies works that everything just falls into place.

Related:

[jehovy]

Was looking for a solution, but I learned how I get it.

[Battttt]

i just came back from the biggest basketball session of my life and my feet are destroyed, blisters on every corner imaginable and thats why i searched on youtube for an explanation, thank you!

[bryansbag]

I put my index finger on my left hand and moved it back and forth and now I have a blister on my left hand

[BeeAKerman]

Best video explaining blisters online!

[randywoodworth]

I had one underneath my toe nail, really painful, putting pressure on the nail pushing it up, had it punctured and drained out.

[backwoodstrails]

Excellent explanation! I teach this in my first aid class but your demo was extremely valuable and much better than just explaining the process!

[tanjirodluffy]

Me who got it by walking 6.6km barefoot at 37° C

[christopherskeels]

When she said, "you mean rubbing". I responded "no, I mean friction."

[jumeralcantara]

On grade 3 i had blisters 8 yo so i didn't know i was infected by my classmates but now i found out because of my mother she said everything about the group chat.

[hayleykitty]

I get blisters no matter what shoes I wear when I go on hiking trails

[cheesecakesgame]

I got a blister on the top of my foot because I wasn’t wearing socks and my shoe was too tight

[oliverbrunncarstens]

I stopped wearing shoes, I don't get blisters anymore

[samirsindhi]

Dear medam you are 100% right. There are normal skin person walk half and hour then gets blister...but i have problem that i walk 10 to 15 minute and gets blister ...what i have to do for prevent blister? Pls responce

[HippieChick]

This explains how my 1 yr old got her blister on her side of foot she likes to put on her older sisters slippers

[ppals]

And... THAT'S why I wear socks in sandals

[sesidonkor]

I did NOT want to see ugly pictures of other people's foot blisters but I just *had* to know why this was happening

[YtEllieplayz_Roblox]

I got my blisters because I put jolly ranchers in the microwave and when I pulled the out the spilled on my hand... ☺💀🌫

[SunaksDabPen]

I had a 6 hour karate seminar I had a total of 12 blisters all ripped and full of dirt after

[diego_the_eggo]

Bruh what’s with all these feet picks, you know people get blisters on their hands to right?

[Asia-sklc]

How in the world did I get a blister behind my leg? Or calf muscle?