The scar tissue from a couple of large week-old blisters is starting to crack. I've been moisturizing with scent-free Cetaphil and treating with wet-bandages and neosporin at night.

It's still drying out, cracking and bleeding.

What other treatments might be helpful?

Blisters will peel and shed/flake skin, but they should not be cracking and bleeding. Where are they located?

No wet bandages- ironically they are drying your skin. It is like licking your lips when they are chapped.
No triple antibiotic ointment- you don't need the antibiotics and the ointment is disrupting the skin from healing.
Just keep it clean as follows: Use Dove soap to wash it, pat dry and then dry dressings or bandages.

There is another dressing you can use and I will see if I can find a link for you.

EDIT: Here you go: [www.drugstore.com] They contain a hydrocolloid which keeps the moisture level at the wound constant and optimum . Constant/optimum moisture levels and the protection provided by the outer bandage provide the best environment for healing. They are available in different sizes and you can probably get them at your local mega-drugmart.


BT



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2006 11:42PM by Baby Tats.

. . .if I were U, I'd make a doctor's appointment.

I've never had a healed blister with the symptoms U described. . .

Sounds like something else is @ play. . .

Doctor. . .stat. . .

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!

The wet bandages are only really good for burns I've found. Go with the ones that Baby Tats pointed out. Those work wonders. They stay on forever and the wound just heals inside. It will look like it is full of @#$%&, but that is just the color of the bandage material, don't be alarmed by it. It changes color as it absorbs moisture. It is like an artificial scab.

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MacResource User Map: [www.zeemaps.com]#

> Blisters will peel and shed/flake skin, but they should not be cracking and bleeding. Where are they located?

On my feet. I'm walking a LOT. About 50 miles per week. Initially, I had the wrong shoes and socks for it and did a nice job destroying the soles of my feet.


> Go with the ones that Baby Tats pointed out.

I do have those pads and I'm using them during the work day to prevent further abrasion-damage. They stay on all day, but by the end of the day they are peeling at the edges and catching on stuff. Were it not for the fact that I'm still putting on major miles, I expect they'd stay on for days without end.


> . . .if I were U, I'd make a doctor's appointment.

Were these burn-blisters I would have gone to the hospital immediately, but it's friction-blisters and there's no nerve damage, just a loss of skin over a fairly large area. And it's healing rapidly. The wounds are half the size they started out at and they aren't painful any more.

It's just that I'd like to minimize the dryness and cracking during the normal contracture of the healing process and ordinary measures aren't working as well as I'd like.


> I've never had a healed blister with the symptoms U described. . .

It's a matter of scale. With typically small blisters, the tiny amount of scar tissue means you probably wouldn't experience this kind of thing. These blisters are BIG. they started out about 4-inches long and almost as wide. Have you ever seen the Discovery Channel show about the guy who got burnt over 60% of his body...? That's the kind of symptoms I'm dealing with, except that it only covers ±0.12% of my body.


> the ointment is disrupting the skin from healing.

The ointment does seem to help keep the skin flexible and given that I'm getting bleeding fissures in the wound, I'm inclined to keep applying it to prevent infection.


> No wet bandages- ironically they are drying your skin.... pat dry and then dry dressings or bandages.

I'll try switching to a regular bandage for a couple of days and see what happens.

...

Any other suggestions for keeping it soft and flexible?

Podiatrist. They are not MD's and cheaper.

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Da Good Life

I like to let cuts and wounds air out at night when I am in bed. I usually do not apply anything nor use any bandaids at night, except maybe some neosporin if it looks like it is getting infected. I feel like it helps things to heal more quickly. But then again, I am naturally a very fast healer for some reason.

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I've had blisters on my hands "scab" over and dry out. More like a really thick skin and have ripped the edges pulling the old skin off.
I've had sun-burned feet. ( first day out bare-foot on the sail-boat/ I should know better). Couldn't walk or wear shoes for three days. Crutches for a week. Water bandages.

Like $tevie, I find bandages can slow down scarring/healing. I Only use bandages to keep dirt out.Then take them off so air gets to the cut/burn.

I also find aloe works wonders on cuts/burns. Never tried on a blister scar, though.

Edit: damned keyboard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2006 11:19AM by billb.

Quote
billb
I also find aloe works wonders on cuts/burns.

yes it has great healing abilities.

Remember, if you are buying aloe vera gel in the store (as opposed to getting it directly/freshly from the plant) check ingredients. . .get just the aloe vera gel. ..some aloe vera gel bottles have alcohol as an ingredient which tends to be drying.

You don't wanna put that on a burn, so get "pure" aloe. ..

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!

Sounds like you are not giving the skin time to heal properly. Blisters are a collection of fluid that separates the various layers of the skin. So. When the top layer of skin (dead by this time) gets sloughed off (in your case, with the walking, sounds like in a day), the new skin underneath is very thin. If you do not give it time to heal properly and build up thickness (which it sounds like you are experiencing, with walking on them all day and reinjuring the same areas to cause sloughing and bleeding), then yes, you will get these symptoms. You are continuosly breaking down your first like of defense without letting it rebuild.

The best way to treat them is to let them heal, then do more walking. If they reappear, let them heal and then do more walking. Eventually you will get ugly looking callouses (sp?) on your feet and they will look like hobbitses feet.

My 2 cents worth

Well you didn't mention that the blisters were on your feet. As you can imagine, feet are a little more problematic than skin that is normally exposed to air as they are trapped in a dark, warm, moist environment all day. While antibiotic ointments are generally not needed, there is some argument to be made for using them in this case.

You also didn't mention that you were walking 50 miles a week on these blisters and expecting them to heal correctly. I don't really know what to tell you. It is going to be painful and take longer than normal to heal. You are undoing most of what your body is doing to heal the blisters every day.

This is what I would do. Remember Lt. Dan's first standing order: "Take good care of your feet." Wash them and dry them well before you go out walking on them. Apply your bandages. Put on clean socks. Do whatever it is you do all day. I would recommend changing your socks at least once during the day. If you sit at a desk, then remove your shoes if you can to allow your feet as much circulation as possible. When you get home I would remove the worn bandages, wash them again, dry them and then rebandage them until you go to bed. I would leave the wounds open or lightly covered with a dry bandage while you slept. Repeat the next day.

It is a lot of work but it sounds like you have some big blisters on your feet and you don't have the option of slowing down to let them heal.

let them heal. ..that is probably why they are cracking and bleeding. . .

also. . .something must be causing the blisters. ..shoes, socks. . .time for a change?

continuing to aggravate them won't help them to heal. . ."time heals everything. . ."

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!