Bumps, cuts, and bruises are an inevitable part of childhood. Falling and scraping a knee, twisting an ankle, and even bumping a forehead happens all the time when children are active. It’s a normal part of play that, while uncomfortable, rarely stops your child from having fun in the long run. Kids play rough and get hurt, but they also bounce back quickly—still, taking care of those little injuries is important. That’s certainly the case for blisters, which can make walking difficult and risk infections. Fortunately, blisters on children’s feet aren’t hard to manage.
Blisters are little sores on the surface of the skin. Most develop from friction, like a shoe rubbing repeatedly against one spot on your child’s foot. The friction painfully damages the skin, causing the top layers to separate from the bottom layers and fluid to fill the gap between them. While not serious, the pain they cause can be pretty sharp, and the break in the skin can be an opening for infections.
Taking care of your child’s blister isn’t difficult, and can actually help with the healing process. Here’s what you should do when your little one complains of blister pain:
- Clean it – Wash the sore gently with soap and water to reduce the risk of infections.
- Keep it whole – If the little bubble is still intact, don’t pop it! Unnecessarily breaking the skin makes infections more likely. If the blister already ruptured, keep the flap of skin in place and over the sore as much as possible.
- Cover it – Bandage the blister with tape or a moleskin patch. This protects against infections and painful friction.
- Switch shoes – Have your child wear difference shoes so their footwear doesn’t continue rubbing the same spot and make the problem worse.