Beat Blisters With Surgical Tape

Blisters are the arch nemeses of your feet. These painful fluid-filled sacs can be debilitating due to the friction caused by your shoes and socks rubbing against the already irritated skin.

If you suffer from blisters, there is a preventative measure you likely haven’t tried before, and it costs as little as 69 cents at your local store.

According to a new study published in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, one common and simple product can banish your blister problems—surgical tape.

“People have been doing studies on blister prevention for 30 or 40 years and never found anything easy that works,” said study author Dr. Grant Lipman, a clinical associate professor of emergency medicine at Stanford University in California.

Surgical tape’s rise to blister-fighting glory happened after 128 runners had surgical tape placed on their feet where blisters were most likely to occur. The runners then ran a 155-mile, seven-day ultramarathon.  For those with no history of suffering from blisters, the researchers placed surgical tape on random areas of the foot as a baseline.

At the end of the race, the research found that 98 runners did not suffer from blisters where the tape was applied, while 81 runners suffered blisters in untaped areas.

If you are prone to developing blisters, you may want to try this life hack before your next run. Your feet will thank you for it.

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