How to Treat Kid's Foot Blisters And Stop Them From Coming Back

As a parent, you naturally want to protect your children in every way possible, but blisters often get the best of most parents. While blisters can seem like a simple fact of life for children, they don’t have to be. Once you understand why children tend to get blisters on their feet and how to prevent them from coming back, you’ll be prepared to stop blisters for good.

The Top 4 Reasons Children Get Blisters

So why do children get blisters in the first place? Understanding the driving factors behind blisters can help you be on the lookout for issues. As you try to prevent blisters on your children’s feet, learn more about the top four reasons kids get blisters below:

1. Children Tend to Be More Active

Between running, sports, recess, playing, and other activities, children tend to be on their feet more than their parents. All this activity can cause friction, heat, and moisture, which are the three main causes of blisters. While kids run around and play, their feet will rub against their shoes, socks, and insole, resulting in friction. This friction then generates heat that can then cause more sweating. Over time, the combination of friction, heat, and moisture will create blisters.

2. Kids Have Sensitive Feet

In general, a child’s skin is thinner than an adult’s skin, which makes it much more sensitive. A study published in the National Library of Medicine reports that children’s skin starts to gradually thicken once they are two months old. However, their skin doesn’t thicken fully until age 13-15, meaning there are plenty of years where your children’s feet are far more vulnerable to blisters than your own. Due to this vulnerability, your child will be especially prone to blisters and other wounds until they reach their teenage years. 

3. Growth Spurts Can Cause Poorly-Fitting Shoes

We have all heard the term “growing like a weed,” but many people do not fully understand this saying until they see how quickly their child can grow overnight. It might seem like your child is growing faster than you can buy new shoes. When their shoes become too tight, they increase friction against the skin—quickly leading to blisters. Since young children’s feet are constantly growing, they’re far more likely to be wearing shoes that are too tight and get blisters from them.

Conversely, many parents understandably choose the next shoe size up when shopping for children. While buying larger shoes helps avoid paying for shoes their child will quickly outgrow, loose-fitting shoes also create constant movement and friction against the skin. An additional challenge is that new athletic shoes can create blisters. Because children outgrow their shoes so quickly, they constantly have to “break in” new shoes. The stiff material of new shoes can be less forgiving than worn ones, raising the chance children get a blister.

4. Children Often Wear the Wrong Socks

Many children want to dress head-to-toe in clothing representing their favorite characters each day, and this desire to dress like their heroes often extends to the socks they want to wear. While cartoon socks might look fun, they are often designed more for appearance than they are for quality or blister protection. Thankfully, you can find children’s anti-blister socks that provide protection from blisters while still being fun, attractive, colorful, and affordable.

What Do You Do When Your Child Has a Blister?

Though preventing blisters from occurring in the first place is the best way to deal with blisters, your child will likely have a blister at some point in their life. Instead of letting your child play through the pain and wait for the blisters to clear up on their own, it’s best to treat them quickly to prevent infections and extended pain. 

How to Treat Children’s Blisters

If your child develops a blister on their feet, heels, or ankles, follow the instructions for blister treatment below:

• Do not pop the blister: Though it might be tempting, never pop your child’s blister. The fluid inside the blister helps keep the area clean, prevents infection, and promotes quicker healing. 
• Wash the area and keep it clean: Blisters leave your child’s feet vulnerable. If the blister pops and gets dirty, it can become infected, leading to worsened pain. Before you put a bandage over a blister, make sure to wash the area with soap and water. Any time you put a new bandage on, wash the area again to lower the risk of infection. 
• Bandage the blister if it pops: Should you put a Bandaid on a blister? Some experts believe that leaving the area uncovered can help speed up the healing process. During the day, you might consider covering the area with a Bandaid for blister protection if you fear it will face any irritations. However, if the blister has popped, you’ll need to place a bandaid over it to keep any topicals (like antibiotic ointment) intact and stop the blister from getting dirty. 
• Apply a cold pack: While a cold pack won’t remove the blister, it can reduce discomfort and swelling. If your child is in pain due to the blister, apply an ice pack to the area to help them stay comfortable.
• Use antibiotic ointment if the blister pops: While you won’t want to pop a blister, they might burst on their own, or your child could pop them despite you telling them not to. When you notice that the blister has popped, wash the area again and treat it with a dab of antibiotic ointment. Once you’ve applied the antibiotic ointment to the blister, cover the area with a non-stick bandage.
• Go to a doctor if the blister is very painful and large: Since popping blisters on your own can do more harm than good, it’s important to go to a doctor if the blister is too painful for your child. A doctor can safely drain the blister for you and give you advice on how to treat it further.

How to Prevent Children’s Blisters

As you might suspect, prevention is always the best route when it comes to childhood blisters. Though you can’t do anything about your child’s more sensitive skin or their active lifestyle, you can still prevent blisters by investing in well-fitting shoes and anti-blister socks. For example, it can be hard to maintain properly fitting shoes for quick-growing children, but you’ll still want to replace their shoes when they get too tight and never buy a size up.

Besides making sure your child’s shoes always fit, you can protect your child’s feet with anti-blister socks. These types of socks feature an inner and outer layer that work together to absorb the friction and heat that soften your child's skin. These socks can also help prevent moisture, lessen foot odor, and improve your child’s comfort, making them a must-have for any parent who wants to stop blisters from forming in the first place.

Do Children Need Anti-Blister Sports Socks?

Anti-blister socks for kids are great for everyday use, but they’re especially important when your children play sports. Since sports lead to increased friction, heat, and moisture, they put your child’s feet at risk and can also slow them down on the field. 

If you know the feeling a blister creates with each step, you know how hard it can be to ignore. Even so, most adults can push past this pain to enjoy their hike, walk, or athletic adventure. In contrast, kids have much more sensitive feet, and blisters will slow them down much more than they would for an adult. 

Kid’s blister-free sports socks are the one-stop solution for all your sports needs, as they’re perfect for soccer, baseball, track/running, volleyball, skating, tee-ball, kickball, football, cheerleading, and more. With a dresser full of anti-blister sports socks, your kids can enjoy the sports they love without being slowed down by blisters.

Browse Wrightsock’s Selection of Anti-Blister Socks for Kids

At Wrightsock, we’re proud to offer anti-blister socks for kids. Our blister-free kids socks are designed with our patented Double Layer™ system that targets the three main causes of blisters. We’re so confident in our double-layer socks’ ability to protect your children from blisters that we offer a 100% blister-free guarantee, where we’ll refund you the full cost of the socks if your children get a blister while wearing them. We also have a sizing guide that you can use to find the right size of socks for your kids!

Browse our full selection of anti-blister kids socks today! If you have any questions or want help choosing a pair, please contact us.