Blisters - Game Changer

knee-high-socks
#1

I have always taped up my feet and toes before a run or a long distance walk to avoid the inevitable blisters that come along with strenuous exercise.

I had run out of socks and only had a pair of knee highs left in my sock draw before laundry day. I put them on without taping my feet as I hadn’t planned a long run. As it turned out–due to a recently acquired fitbit–my 30 minute run turned into a very long run coupled with a very long walk in an effort to complete a fitbit trail challenge (62000 steps in total). Usually if I run/walk over 20000 steps (untaped) I will be plagued with blisters, much to my surprise after taking off my shoes and socks there was not a blister in sight.

Initially, I hadn’t suspected the socks as the reason for this phenomena, it was so strange that I thought it had something to do with changing to a ketogenic diet, which may still be a factor, but the next day–after having done my laundry–I put on a pair of ankle socks (untaped as I wasn’t going to go far) and headed out. I could feel a the friction on my fourth toe on my right foot within an hour. That’s when it dawned on me that the knee high socks might have something to do with this.

Yesterday I repeated a 62000 step day to see if my hypothesis had any validity. Again, I wore my knee high socks with feet untaped and headed out, reaching a total of 65111 steps for the day. Lo and behold, the experiment was a success: not a blister in sight.

#2

Are your knee high socks thinner than your ankle socks?

I’m wondering if the change in result had more to do with the thickness of the sock than the length of the sock…

#3

Good question, both were from the same shop, same brand—they aren’t a fancy brand.

@KevinB ETA, I am rather certain it is due to the fact that knee high sock stay in place and there is no friction unlike ankle socks that are more prone to slip.

#4

So… I used to have problems with blisters.

In recent years, I’ve switched to wearing minimalist shoes. These shoes have almost no cushioning, the heel is at the same height as toe/metatarsal area of the foot, and the toe box is wide enough to let my toes spread out. When I first started wearing this style of shoe, the toe box in some of the shoes felt too wide. But these days, I sometimes wish they were even wider!

Anyway, many of my foot problems, including blisters, have gone away after I began wearing this style of shoe. I used to finish long hikes with the small toes on my feet getting rubbed raw. Perhaps as a reaction to this pressure, the pinky toe and the toe next to it, would curl downward creating a sort of hammertoe situation often causing me to lose the nails on those toes. All of that is a thing of the past now. I’m able to do arduous day long hikes now with my feet feeling good (albeit tired) at the end of the hike.

From a blister prevention standpoint, I think the change is largely due to the increased volume in the front of my shoes. My toes have more freedom of movement now and do not rub against each other or against the confines of the shoe as they used to when I was wearing more restrictive footwear.

Some of my hiking companions have managed their blisters via the use of socks with individual pockets for each toe. I’ve tried this type of sock, but lack the patience to wear them on a regular basis.

An example of the type of shoe that I wear is the Altra Superior - I don’t actually own the shoe linked below, but I’m still wearing a much earlier version of this shoe.

https://www.altrarunning.com/men/superior-35

#5

Interestingly enough I have made that change too, I stopped wearing cushioned sneakers for over a month. Although it helped in terms of my foot not slipping down into my shoe it hadn’t made a difference with blisters. I guess it’s a combination of things.

#6

If you’re willing to experiment, try finding some really thin ankle socks and some really thick ankle socks. See if either the really thin ones or the really thick ones make a difference.

I’m wondering too if the knee-high-sock might be providing some other benefit - perhaps it’s improving circulation to your feet and toes?

#7

Another note about footwear…

Two of my hiking companions, both women, have recently switched to wearing the Altra Lone Peak. They are both thrilled with these shoes and both have said that they wished that they would’ve switched earlier. Here’s a link to the women’s version:

https://www.altrarunning.com/women/womens-lone-peak-35

The soles on the Lone Peak are quite a lot thicker than what I’m comfortable with. But they still have the “zero drop” feature and the wide toe box. I think the game changer for both of them is that they now have more room for their toes.

#8

I have done that experiment before, there was no difference except in that it cost me much more for expensive thick socks, which is why I decided to just tape up my feet.

I would think that that is exactly what is happening, along with no fiction which is the biggest difference.

#9

Thank you for the suggestion but I don’t have an issue with my shoes, perhaps when I need a new pair I will try these ones as I too look for wider shoes for the same reason. I find that Adidas has that nailed down too, as opposed to Nike which are shockingly tight for my foot.