Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 12:11:42 -0500 From: "Keith Conover, M.D., FACEP" Subject: blister treatment advice The following is reposted from SARNEWS, the email newsletter of NASAR, with permission. (Subscription is free at www.sarnews.com.) > Blister Treatment Tips > > Dr. Murray Hamlet, a frequent presenter at SAR conferences in the > Northeast because of his military background and cold weather > expertise, advocates making a blister kit. It should contain > BetadineTM swabs, SiliposTM, Triple antibiotic ointment, 22g > needle, and tape. If a blister forms, wash and dry the area and > paint and let dry twice with Betadine. Start outside the blister > with the needle tip and advance into the fluid. Press out the > fluid with the swab. Cut a doughnut shaped piece of Silipos bigger > than the bleb. Stick it on the skin and fill the chamber over the > bleb with ointment and cover with tape. Change tape and add ointment > daily. > > Silipos is a product that functions similar to moleskin, but has a > gel inside, making it vastly superior to simple felt. It comes > in sheets (stock number 11205). Information may be obtained at > 800.925.2995 or at: > > http://www.silipos.com/ I would suggest that bacitracin ointment is a better choice than triple antibiotic ointment, as it will kill any bacterium that's likely to infect a blister. Triple antibiotic (AKA Neosporin[TM]) ointment contains bacitracin, but also polymyxin and neomycin, which is overkill--and neomycin is well-known for causing severe allergic reactions in a fair number of people. --Keith Conover, M.D., FACEP http://www.pitt.edu/~kconover sent with Pegasus high-security email download free from www.pmail.com