My teen has walked her foot into a state - hideous pic

[Makinganewthinghappen]

My 16 year old has been doing her duke of Edinburgh and has come home like this on one foot.

We bandaged it round last night but it’s weeping today!

I am in two minds whether it needs actual medical attention at this point but I am terrible at deciding these things!

What do people think - leave it or ask gp?

She has proper leather walking boots and she had thick socks but looking at the boots it seems like the arch on one foot has rubbed quite badly - she does have fairly flat feet I think perhaps the arch of the boot is too high?

For the proper walk make sure she’s tying her boots up properly and 2 thin pairs of socks instead of one thick pair I found was much better at staving off blisters-the socks rub against each other instead of socks rubbing on skin

Sometimes two thin pairs of socks is better, so they rub each other rather than the foot. You can get special two layer running socks for it.

Clearly your daughter wasn't properly prepared for yesterday's walk. She need to think about what went wrong. Was it her footwear, her socks? Should she have trained more before launching into such a long walk? Is long distance walking the right physical challenge for her? Would she be better suited to another activity?*

The expedition isn’t optional though. She he can choose her physical skill, but still has to do the long walk.

A bit of a generalisation here, but I know many people with autism prefer looser shoes and I wondered if she wasn’t lacing her boots tightly enough? Loose boots create blisters.

A specialist walking shop will be able to assess her feet and the boots and advise. A softer synthetic boot might be better for her.

Don’t get it wet!
Hydrocolloid dressing or just gauze and

Then consider her footwear. Where her boots properly fitted? Is she wearing liner socks and hiking socks? Have her feet grown? Are her boots laced correctly (there are different lacing patterns for different insteps and four shapes).

She needs a hydrocolloid plaster or dressing, keeping it on for several days at a time to allow it to work on healing - voice of experience here as a major blister sufferer who walks / hikes miles.
I wear 1000 mile double layer socks and they’re unbeatable. If she gets sweaty feet tell her to change her socks regularly, every 5 miles or so, that will help too.

Sudocrem. Lots of it. Proper dressing (NOT blister plasters - useless in this case and often cause more problems than they solve). I'm a DofE leader - I've had people walk with blisters but it needs proper dressing.

leather takes a huge amount to break in - has she been wearing them alot to soften them?

Confused - she did her bronze last year and she’s doing her silver atm. With the bronze she had a small blister but really very minor nothing like this!

She is doing bike riding for her physical activity . I would say the hike is her least favourite part though

Sorry What I mean is, no she can't go today, and next time break softer boots in with 1000-mile socks - they have a thin lining which rubs against the main sock instead of your foot doing all the rubbing

Feel sorry for her. You don't notice it too much while your foot is blistering and then it's too late and the next day is painful.

In normal years she would have camped overnight and the leaders would have seen her foot this morning and said the same thing as you. Because of COVID they are not camping this year so that's made you the bad guys, but there's no question here - pharmacist, dressing, resting up today

Poor girl. I agree with the other advice re sorting out her walking shoes and socks for next time. The practice walk is to help avoid issues in the real deal so in this case for her it’s the shoes or boots.
And perhaps building up walking over the next while?
My son lost his big toenail permanently following the awful I grown toenail he got due to badly fitting boots and a bad weather influenced re-route on the DofE!

My advice (as the blisters have popped and are open) is not to use blister plasters on those ones, but to soak her feet in a mild solution of Dettol or other solution (TCP would work too), gently pat her feet dry, don't rub.
If you can get something like this to help:
www.boots.com/health-pharmacy/medicines-treatments/first-aid/boots-wound-cleansing-wipes-10-sachets-10280912 or
www.boots.com/boots-antiseptic-wound-wash-100ml-10280909
When the feet are dry, (I don't know if these would be big enough to cover the open blister) you could use something like these:
www.boots.com/health-pharmacy/medicines-treatments/first-aid/bandages-dressings-and-plasters/elastoplast-fast-healing-strips-8-pack-10280165
or
www.boots.com/health-pharmacy/medicines-treatments/first-aid/bandages-dressings-and-plasters/boots-scar-reducing-hydrogel-burn-plasters-5-pack-10274921
but I have a feeling that something like this would be more along the lines of the size of what you're going to need:
www.boots.com/health-pharmacy/medicines-treatments/first-aid/boots-pharmaceuticals-adhesive-wound-dressings-3-dressings-16-x-12cm-10203746

Poor kid!

Madness to let her walk on that

Ok so the D of e leaders have agreed she can go ride in the car with them today so she can be part of the cooking etc but she won’t do any walking. So she seems happy with that anyway they are also going to use their extensive first aid kit on her foot.

They said if they were camping they would do this and she wouldn’t be walking so we have agreed to her picnicing in the car.

They suggested it may have been worse yesterday because the whole hike was ok concrete rather than softer ground. Because they had to stay local - no idea if that really make things worse or not!

I hope I’ve done the right thing letting her go in the car! They have first aiders there so it seemed more useful for her than staying her with me being freaked out by her foot

My podiatrist said he regularly sees teens after their D of E expeditions. If they are causing her a lot of discomfort, take her to see either podiatrist or chiropdist (not sure on the difference?)

Sometimes you just don't know you have a fit problem with boots/socks until you've done a really long trek. I once did a long organised walk as a teen (45miles over 2 days in tough terrain) and had to drop out at the end of the first day with blisters similar to your daughter's (back of ankle rather than bottom of foot). The event was run by the army and there was never any suggestion I should carry on - I agonised about it and tried to carry on for several miles though :-) I completed my gold Duke of Edinburgh trek later with no problems.

Let her go she’ll be fine .

I wear a pair of walking socks with a comfy pair of normal socks inside - I would definitely do some experimenting between now and the final walk as that looks hideously uncomfortable. The day out without the walk sounds like a very sensible idea.

@Yrevocsid

You can't let her miss the final walk if she's done everything else.

Dress it and wear different shoes so it doesn't rub in the same way and let her go.

This

Duoderm or comfeel will do the trick.

For concrete walking she'd be much better off in a good pair of trainers. Unless she's walking in bog, even off road, trail shoes would be kinder to her feet, with something like hillys twin skin socks (but watch the toe seam on those). You can get trail shoes as a lightweight boot. Somewhere like Cotswold outdoors or a good running shop would be able to help.

If she can feel her foot getting warm in one place (hot spot) next time she goes out walking, teach her to stop and put something like some moleskin over that area. Carry compeed for any blisters that show up. Don't let her pull them off when she's done, they need to fall off naturally. Change her socks if they get damp and at least at her lunch break.

She needs better walking boots that are properly worn in for the DoE proper. What on earth is she wearing to do that much damage? No decent well-fitting boots would do that.

I agree with PPs, saline solution, keep it clean and let it dry out. Don't cover it with lotions and potions. Any sign of redness or heat, get her to a doc

@Makinganewthinghappen I'd have done the same as you. My son was due to do his bronze at the beginning of July but it's been postponed due to lack of staff (isolating) I was initially annoyed, but now I've realised its for the best, as now I have longer to physically prepare him for the long hike! We are walking loads in all weathers.