Infected blister

Duck Girl

Have a fairly big (50p-size) heel blister. Skin at top has ripped off, & area around is red & sore. Has been around a week & not healing up, but now it has gone yellow & is oozing pus.
What's the best way to fix it? I've tried salt, meths, germoline & dettol, but it's not getting better. Will I need antibiotics ?

Duck Girl

Serves me right for 25m with new shoes in sand dunes I suppose!

[Deleted User]

Amputation.

Just been watching Ranolph Fynes on top gear and he did his own in his garde shed!!

Duck Girl

OK. Any OTHER suggestions?
Though I was beaten by a runner with one leg in a 10k recently & I'm not THAT slow.

[Deleted User]

germoline type creams don't allow the skin to heal which will probably explain why the blister isn't healing.

if it's infected and the area around it is getting red and sore it might be worth going to the docs to see if you need anti biotics.

or you could try dressing it with those dressings that will draw the infection out (can't remember what they are called, sorry), keep replacing the dressings twice a day until they come away clean and then start using something like savlon to encourage the skin to heal

[Deleted User]

Duck Girl, get yourself off to the docs and get some antibiotics, do it today.

[Deleted User]

I had MRSA in a toe once, healed it with hot water, tea tree oil, eucolyptus oil, lemon, thyme, and salt. Bathed it 20 mins in the morning, 20 mins at night, and amazingly it went away after about a week. Got the recipe from the internet as nothing was working and they were talking of whipping the big toe off.. Horse pill antibiotics didn't touch it...!

Picked it up from an ingrowing toenail op - thanks to the NHS!!! You could try that - but give the pills a go first and clean out your system!

[Deleted User]

Ouch! My sympathy.

Fixing Your Feet by John Vonhoff, published by Wilderness Press, says:

Recheck blisters daily for signs of infection. ... An infection will be indicated by any of the following: redness, swelling, red streaks up the limb, pain, fever, and pus. Treat the blister as a wound. Clean it frequently and apply an antibiotic ointment. Frequent warm water or Epsom Salt soaks can also help the healing process. Stay off the foot as much as possible and elevate it above the level of your heart. If the infection does not seem to subside over 24 to 48 hours, see a doctor.

JJ2

Potassium permanganate soaks - 10mins twice a day. You can buy Permitabs from chemist. Should dry things up nicely.
Remember that it will stain nails, bowl & clothes brown though.

[Deleted User]

Old fashioned,but good

however Id get it reviewed by a doc

Matt the Brum

Had an infected blister twice now. No puss, just redness, swelling and pain. You could see the red line where the infection was tracking up my leg. Went to Docs for antibiotics which soon cleared up the problem both times.
I still pop my blisters though:)

Duck Girl

Thanks. Uni Health Centre was closed all hols (students aren't meant to be around yet, so we just have to die quietly & fall in the lake), so had to do the best I could at home - hot salt water & dettol & tea tree & lots of plasters to put shoes on. Today Health Centre came back from holidays so saw a nurse who said 'Oh dear', stuck a fancy dressing on that looks like a giant plaster, & said to come back Monday for antibiotics if it's not fixed.