Help! This a foot care question, my husband let my 7yr old son wear wet tennis shoes all day! Blisters etc...

Question

Not only does he a ton of blisters, the bottoms of his feet (the skin) is solid white, you know how they look after you get out of the tub, but 10 times worse... How should I care for his pitiful looking feet????

If your wondering he was at cub scout camp and Daddy didnt want him to go barefoot when he took his shower so he made him wear his tennis shoes! He forgot to take flip flops!

Answer 1

Dry them off and let them dry in the air. Don't bandage them so that the blisters can pop and dry. Poor thing. Powder may help.

Answer 2

First of all, your husband should have just let him take a shower without shoes. Athletes foot is way easier to treat than what your boy has.

Step 1: Don't let him wear that same pair of shoes until after the blisters heal. The shoe will rub on the exact same spots that your son has blisters.

Step 2: Dry the feet. No socks, no shoes, nothing on the feet for at least 24 hours. Let him run barefoot, or if you absolutly have to, light sandles.

Step 3: Treat the blisters if they are popped, (non stick sterile bandages will do) (bandaids). If the blisters are not popped, LEAVE THEM ALONE. The bottoms of the feet will return to normal within 24 hours.

your son should be back to normal in about 7 days.

Answer 3

By tomorrow, the bottoms will look alot better. Get him a pair of flip-flops until the blisters heal up. Do not pull the skin off of them; just drain the ones that have water in them with a sterile needle and leave the skin intact. They will hurt like hell if you remove the skin. Keep the dry and clean. If you want to put on a bandaid do so, but no antibiotic creams or peroxide. Let them dry out and the dead skin will fall off when the wound is healthed. Next time, have the kid wear cotton socks and put lots of vasaline on his feet before putting them on. Friction is what causes blisters.

Answer 4

dont worry, the white will go away soon. within a couple hours the pickeled look will subside.

the blisters, well first of all, dont let him pop them. if you do need to relieve some of the pressure in some of the ones that are bigger or painful, make sure you steralize a needle before you poke a little hole in it. and do it just on the side enough to relieve some of the fluid. then make sure you wash it (before and after) really good with soap. then fix it up with some anti bacterial cream or neosporin. they should go away in a couple days. let him wear flip flops for a few days so his little piggies can breathe!

Answer 5

soak em in hot water with some epsom salt, then make sure his feet can breathe the next few days (sandals, flip-flops, etc...). Pop the blisters, but leave the skin on to protect the new skin untill they naturally fall off. Admonish your hubby, lol, but no worries, it'll get better...kids heal up quick.

Answer 6

It sounds like your son has the beginnings of trench foot. Nasty stuff...not that I think even for a moment that your son will develop true trench foot after spending only a day or so in wet shoes--it usually takes many days to weeks for that to happen. However, the treatment is easy: dry them, keep them dry, air them out, and keep him off of them for a day or two. I would skip on the foot powders, most of them are meant to be used when he is wearing shoes, they may serve to trap moisture, and may increase the chance of infection if there are any breaks in his skin (including ones that you can't see). Make sure that he does not enclose his feet in socks and shoes (sandals only) untel the whiteness and prunning go away.

Generally speaking, you should never "pop" a blister. The bilster is your son's skin reacting to some irritation and trying to protect itself. If you pop the bilster, you will take away that protection and it is possible for an ulceration to develop, not to mention infection now that he has a large open wound on his foot. Try and protect the area...wear shoes that don't rub there and change socks frequently. Try the Dr. Scholl's bilster pads to place around the area to cushion and protect the blister. Or, you can purchase moleskin or molefoam (also from Dr. Scholls) and cut a donut out of it with the inner hole the size of the bilster and apply it. The moleskin is soft on one side and adhesive on the other--it keeps the shoe away from the bilster and reduces friction. Molefoam is similar, only thicker and padded. If the bilster pops on its own, wash the area with soap and water, drain it completely, and apply neosporin---but keep using the bilster pads or moleskin. Also, make sure that you use these for a day or two after the area is healed, so that you don't redamage it immediately. If you plan on doing something that you believe may cause a bilster in the future (such as hiking) you may want to apply tape to high friction areas, such as the heel and the ball of the foot. In the military we would completely wrap the feet of those plagued with blisters in duct tape before long marches, if nothing else was working for those poor souls. If you consider doing this, please be kind and shave any excess hair from the foot first.

The best thing is prevention. Wearing good fitting shoes is best, but I bet that it is difficult to keep a growing 7 year old in good, appropriate foot wear. Changing socks frequently is key. I personally take at least two changes of socks with me when I go hiking. Even if with shoes/boots that are soaking wet changing socks will help. Sit down, take off the shoes and the wet soaks and let your feet air out for a bit. While they are doing so, drain as much water out of the shoes as you can. Then wring the wet socks out and use them to dry out the insides of your shoes as best as you can, removing the insole and getting under it. Then pull on a pair of dry socks, put back on the shoes, wring out the wet socks and hang them someplace where they will dry. The new socks will quickly get wet, but less so than the first pair. After an hour or so, repeat the process. If your socks are still wet a hour or so after that, and you are out of the wet area, pull back on the first pair as they should be pretty dry by now.

Make sure that you get your husband involved in all of this. While I agree that athlete's foot is no fun, it hurts a lot less that torn up/blistered feet and is easily treated. When I have been in similar situations--had to use a communal shower without shower shoes--I would put something on the floor like a dirty shirt or news paper and stand on it. Or, I would just go bare foot and make a point of washing my feet just before I got out.

Usually all of this heals well on its own. If you have any concerns, or if you son's feet still look really bad after a day or two, take him to a doctor. Make sure that you watch for signs of infection: spreading reddness, pus and purulent drainage, the area becoming warm to the touch, his developing a fever (temp > 100.4 F or 38 C). If you notice any of that or anything really concerning, take him to a doctor. Foot infectons are no fun. Good luck.

Answer 7

They will dry out but a talc for sensitive skin will help or one for sweety feet. No socks or shoes for a day or two will help and getting the air to them will help. No sun though as the skin is very delicate at the moment and he may burn.
I doubt your husband will forget flip flops again in a hurray, i hope you are making his life hell today!

Answer 8

just dry them off and leave the shoes off- they will be fine in a couple hours tops-let them air dry- no socks nothing- as for the blisters- dont worry about them either- they will go away in a few days.

Chilax my friend! As the great philosopher Bob Marley once said... "e'ry little thing, is gonna be alright!"

Answer 9

the best thing you can do is keep his feet dry, put socks or booties on is feet try using some power on them or put in the sock, as for the blisters, use multi-antibiotic cream and cover with bandaid for a couple days., do this prior to putting powder on. keep him off his feet as much as you can, and of course no shoes of any kind.

Answer 10

clean them real good and dry them then put some bag balm on them you can find it at like walmart in the pharmacy are or some times in the pet department it is in a green square metal tin, cover his feet with socks over night it will show improvement overnight.