At my last appointment with Dr. Mike Smith, my awesome rehab chiropractor, before I headed to Spain he said to me “Make sure to take care of your feet.”
“No problem! I’ve got this.” I thought in a very self congratulatory way. I had denied myself from getting any pedicures all summer in order to toughen my feet up. I hadn’t had any blisters from my training hikes. My feet were going to be just fine. If only.
Earlier in my travels I met Melanie from New Jersey who was walking El Camino with her father and his wife, her step mother. Her father had wanted to do El Camino for several years and they were finally on the journey. I walked with Melanie for several miles.
“How are your feet doing?” I asked her. Basically the thing that all pilgrims seem to have in common is foot pain (including various treatment strategies) and the weather.
“I don’t have any blisters but they are burning terribly.” Melanie said. “I think that I have some sort of tendinitis.”
“Oh, that’s no good.” I said as empathetically as I could. I wasn’t actually feeling very empathetic since she didn’t have any blisters and mine were basically hurting me with every step. No blisters and complaining of foot pain seemed ludicrous. If I didn’t have any blisters I certainly wouldn’t be advertising that fact to a suffering fellow pilgrim I thought.
“Yeah, I have been thinking about how to train your feet for El Camino.” She paused for what I assumed was dramatic effect. “Basically you hit the ball of your foot repeatedly with a hammer until it is swollen. Then you grind up some shards of glass and step on that.”
OK, maybe she did get how bad things could feel even if she didn't have blisters. I started to laugh.
“But you have to make sure that the glass is really sharp and you really need to dig that into your foot… And THEN you walk for 15 miles.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “If only they would put THAT in the guidebook!”
She nodded and we both hobbled on together.
Now I have an entire foot care strategy. Taking care of my feet is like an El Camino hobby. Firstly, each morning I have an entire taping routine. I have come to love the Omniflex tape that is available here at the local Farmacias. The tape is soft and stretchy so it contours on my feet very easily. Also the Omniflex is perforated so it feels like I am still able to get air to my blisters that I am trying to protect to promote healing.
Another product here that is used for blister treatment is called Compeed. This is a super sticky padded tape that you put directly over an undrained blister and then leave on until it falls off.
At the Farmacia, the pharmacist, who looked to be about 16 years old, examined my blister and then handed me a 5 pack of Compeed (for almost 10 euro I feel compelled to add here!!)
“Don’t drain the blister.” She instructed. “Just put the Compeed straight on top.”
I was dubious. The blister on my heel was very angry and full of fluid. A couple from Texas was behind me in the pharmacy line and they confirmed what the pharmacist was saying. They said that they had used it per the pharmacist’s instructions with success.
“I have heard that the Compeed actually has some sort of topical pain treatment in it so the blisters feel much better.”
“I don’t think that’s true.” One of the Texans said.
“Well I guess that some people are just spreading El Camino rumors then.” I said.
It would be a good idea to have some sort of topical pain medication as part of a blister treatment product I thought.
I can now tell what blisters need to be drained and which ones need to be left alone just by looking at them. After seeing layered infected blisters I know that my needle needs to be wiped with iodine to sterilize it before I insert the needle into my blister to drain the liquid. I also wipe down the drained blister with iodine for good measure prior to taping it.
I also now have an entire sock changing routine. Because it is so dry here I am able to put my socks on the outside of my pack and they will dry very quickly. I now change my socks approximately every 3 hours and dry the worn pair in a mesh bag on the outside of my pack.
In the mornings I will rub my feet with deodorant to try to promote my feet staying dry. Every night I massage my feet with a heavy cream to prevent cracking and to try to keep the callouses soft and healthy.
So, Dr. Smith was right. Take care of your feet was (and is) excellent advice. I don’t know what I would have done differently to take care of my feet better. Sometimes even with the best warnings life can be a little reactionary because maybe sometimes that is where the best learned lessons are.