Feet are raw after Silver D of E walk

[SweetDCofMine]

15YO DD made some bad choices during her walk and as a result she has suffered greatly. Water got inside her boots, she wore the wrong socks, and didn't tell a member of staff for 2 days. Her feel look like she's been walking with cheese graters inside her boots. The skin has completely come off the back of her little toes and there are other patches or open blisters, raw skin. We've cleaned the area, applied a thin layer of sudocrem, I have given her some paracetamol What else can I do to help her feet heal as quickly as possible and avoid infection?

Keep them aired, not in socks. Sounds like you've done everything else you can

Lots of fresh air on them.

No Sudocrem, no socks, clean and out in the fresh air.

Areas of actual blisters or burst blisters - pharmacy today and buy a load of Compeed plasters of necessary sizes and stick them where needed. Like magic.

other brands are available but Compeed is the best

Thank you all. Re Compeed, I thought they'd be more for prevention. Is there any point in applying them where there's broken skin?

Compeed will definitely help if she needs to put her shoes back on at all, for today if she can stay barefoot do that, but if she’s got school tomorrow, dose her up as soon as she gets up, & stick the compeed on. If she can be trusted with meds, give her a couple of paracetamol with her to take at lunchtime. It will be uncomfortable, but she should be able to tough through it & if she can put her feet up any chance she gets eg lunch & break. Oh and maybe change her socks half way through as well. I would let her off PE tho.
unfortunately feet are often a lesson you have to learn the hard way.

I had a similar experience and had to wear socks and sandals for a few days (note sent in to school) as I couldn’t get my school shoes on without extreme pain. 😬

At my DCs school, pupils were allowed to wear any sort of shoes or slippers for a few days after DofE expeditions if they had blisters.

So many of them wore boots which weren't broken in that they very sensibly allowed for that.

I hope your DD heals quickly.

Yep. I seem to have great experience with blisters etc… new shoes don’t like me.

Keep the skin dry and aired. No plaster or socks etc most if the time, at night etc… If she has still some blisters, don’t burst them. I’d avoid disinfectant that will keep the area ‘moist’.
when wearing shoes, blister plasters (compeed but tbh many other brands are good too) on every bit if skin that is raw.

Tbf, I never go on a long walk/expedition Wo blister plasters. There has always been someone in the group who has struggled with blisters, regardless of how dry/wet the walks are.

The only thing to do now is wait for them to heal whilst keeping an eye that there is no infection.

For me, the whole point of blister plasters is to use them AFTER you’ve got blisters.
They will give you some padding and will help the area heal. I’ve actually found that I can usually tolerate shoes once I’ve put them on in a way I can’t with normal plasters.

When your dd goes to school tomorrow, give her PLENTY of spare plasters just in case. There is nothing worse that wearing shoes with protection at all when you are sensitive blisters.

The way things are right now, I don't think she'll even be able to go to school tomorrow. She can barely walk to the toilet 😥

Compeed stay on for a few days. They create a seal, especially on the broken skin, which means you can still wear shoes. I would do as suggested above and air them today and use compeed for school tomorrow.

Oh my life I remember the pain so clearly 😂 I stayed off school for 2 days to completely rest my feet, and ended up using my boyfriends old pair of crutches from a rugby injury my blisters were so bad! And I'd worn the right shoes. Hope her feet heal soon!

No compeed are for treatment, not prevention. They draw the fluid from the wound into the plaster and make a cushioned area over it, allowing the skin to dry and heal underneath. They are brilliant

Keep her off school for a day or two,see if school can set online work for her.

I got a mild form of trenchfoot once after a 6 week archaeology dig over the wettest summer ever. Very painful and looked awful. Keep feet aired, take painkillers and if no better speak to dr.

If she can hardly walk then a day or two at home is probably a good idea.

I did something similar at about that age. The agony! I still remember it now.

I hope she heals soon

Compeed are amazing. Don’t get the knock-off ones, get the real thing. If they start to drop off or peel a bit around the edges, stick normal plasters over the top to hold them on. I always have them in my backpack if I’m off on a big walk, just in case. If she’s really struggling to walk, I’d let her stay home so she can properly elevate and take care of her feet, especially if her school are going to make her wear uniform shoes that might make her feet worse.

Bless her, that’s a hard lesson to learn. I hope it doesn’t put her off hiking as with the right boots and socks, and taking care of your feet, it doesn’t have to be like that!

Compeed do both prevention and treatment. They are beyond amazing, they stick for days and when they fall off it's all lovely and healed underneath.

As someone v v blister prone if I have new shoes I stick them on for prevention as well at the first sign of trouble, I have packets everywhere.

I remember my DofE vividly before Compeed was invented. I was hobbling for weeks after.