Blisters

[King Tiger]

I'm relatively new to Muay Thai (3 months), and i get these really painful bloodblisters on the balls of my feet. I was wondering if anyone has any remedies for these, and also how to prevent them, if possible. Any help would be appreciated.

[retired]

First things we need to know is:

What surface do you train on?

Do you wear ankle straps? (sock straps with heal & toes cut-out)

How long are you training before this happens?

Have you had problems with your feet before?

[Kingston]

you can try to tape it up. I took kendo for a while, lol the the wood floor literally shredded the skin of your feet. If you tape it up you should be able to keep going.

im pretty sure if you give the blisters enough time to heal eventualy you'll stop getting them.

only problem with taping is you mite lose some traction......but if you keep at it you should eventualy stop getting blisters.

[King Tiger]

I train on carpet, I don't use ankle straps, and It usually happens about an 1-1.5 hours into training. Also, I haven't had problems with my feet before; the blisters come from the pivot.

Thanks a bunch guys. Tonight I'll try taping them up before. Let you know if it helps.

[retired]

I got to be honest mate but carpet ain't the ideal thing for thai, but if it's the only place you can find you'll have to work around it, how long does a lesson last & do you kick for the full lesson?, when your feet blister see if your instructor can give you something else to do while recovering as there are plenty of exercises, stretching & bag work that i have managed to do since breaking my leg so im sure he can give you something, maybe try walking about the house/garden without socks to see if this helps harden the skin?

To everybody:
Skin hardening any exercises?

[Calv1n]

yeah, punch things more, your knuckles will callous up. Plus be nice to your hands they all you have.

[Kingston]

Originally posted by Calv1n
yeah, punch things more, your knuckles will callous up. Plus be nice to your hands they all you have.

he was talking about his feet.

[King Tiger]

Well, I found the answer to my own question. The answer: Wear socks. I agree that carpet is not the ideal surface for MT, but I'll have to make do with what I have. Socks certainly help minimize the damage to my feet. Thanks a lot for all your help.

PS: I'm also curious as to these skin hardening excercises that retired hinted at.

[retired]

Well think about it: you meet a man from africa who has spent his life walking around bare foot, how hard do you think this guys feet are? Yes Exactlly rock hard!!!
With the advent of shoes & socks etc... people have relied on these forms for a long time & we wonder why our feet can cut so easily & our skin is so soft due to our living enviroments, im not saying that you have to live like the african man but you can slowlly adapt your feet to hard surfaces & eventually toughen the skin by bare foot (karate has relied on this) walking/running.

anybody else is welcome to add to this (gotta go for a minute).

[King Tiger]

Haha, I never even though about that. I'll start walking around barefoot more.

[King Tiger]

Bah, I hit the back button. Sorry about the double post.