About Us
It was 2008 and it took 8 minutes…
Eight minutes to get blisters on my heels – again!
This was not the first time. My heels seemed to be in a perpetual state of blister recovery, in spite of my best efforts to prevent them.
So, out of sheer frustration, I committed myself to finding out why my own foot blisters were so persistent. In fact, I spent a couple of years (yes, years) of experimenting and reading the scientific research on foot blisters.
Since then, I’ve been helping my patients and the broader active community manage their blisters better.
Rebecca Rushton BSc(Pod) graduated from Curtin University in 1993 and has worked in private practice in Esperance WA since 2000.
In 2008, due to her own struggles with blister-prone feet, Rebecca developed a special interest in blister management. She began documenting her learnings on the Blister Prevention website in 2012, and in 2014 started providing volunteer foot care at multi-day endurance events so she could be exposed to the worst blisters and challenged to provide meaningful treatment and prevention.
Under the BlisterPod company banner, Rebecca continues to be involved in various blister-related projects. She has written articles for Lower Extremity Review, Current Sports Medicine Reports, and with Dr Doug Richie, two papers in the prestigious Journal of Athletic Training:
Friction blisters of the feet: A new paradigm to explain causation
Friction blisters on the feet: A critical assessment of current prevention strategies
Her website is a wealth of information on the topic and she has an APodA CPD Approved course called Blister Prevention University, aimed at educating and up-skilling podiatrists in all aspects of blister management.
Not Your Average Website
Blister Prevention is not your average health-related website. For instance, you won’t find unhelpful generic information or advice here – the type that seems to dominate the internet these days. No way. Nothing here has been written and regurgitated by AI. Instead, you’ll find:
Detailed commentaries about the science behind blister formation, prevention strategies and wound healing physiology.
Balanced accounts and thorough discussions that weigh up the pros and cons of all the different blister management interventions.
And articles that are factual and impartial as I can make them, whilst actually having an opinion. An opinion based on:
A 15 year focus on all things friction blisters of the feet
My own blister susceptibility and history
My 30-year occupation as a podiatrist
And my voluntary blister care work at multiday ultramarathons
TAKE A LOOK AT:
- This, the Blister Prevention website
- My course called Fix My Foot Blisters Fast
- My YouTube Channel
- The Blister Prone Athlete’s Guide To Preventing Foot Blisters book
- Oh and I’ve been volunteering at multiday ultramarathon and hiking events since 2014, including:
• ANZAC Ultra (2015)
• Big Red Run (2016)
• Oxfam Trailwalker (2017)
• And three episodes of the Adelaide 6-Day Ultramarathon (2014, 2018, 2019 – 2020 cancelled)
Read reviews on Blister Prevention’s Facebook page or Reviews.io.
Read all about it!
I am extremely proud to have recently co-authored the following peer-reviewed papers with Doug Richie, DMP.
They are published in the Journal of Athletic Training:
Our Aim
The overarching function of this site to be as helpful as possible. Not token help, I mean real-world helpful advice and truly useful insights. It aims to educate you and help you find the best way forward for your circumstances. In fact, you’ll find yourself approaching your blisters from a different angle. I like to call it an inside-out approach.
Taking An Inside-Out Approach
I like to take an inside-out approach to foot blisters. This includes the unavoidable movement of bones under the skin. Bone movement is inextricably a part of blister development. An inside-out approach involves an understanding of foot structure and function. That’s because structure and function have direct relevance to blisters at each anatomical location. Neglect this and you’ll never understand blister prevention.
An inside-out approachacknowledges the anatomy and physiology of the skin. Specifically how repetitive shear forces cause a mechanical fatigue within the epidermis.
An inside-out approach includes the recognition of friction as a force. A “force that resists the movement of one surface over another”, not simply rubbing. It recognises how pressure combines with friction levels to keep skin, sock and shoe surfaces in stationary contact. In the meantime, the adjacent bones are moving back and forth to create shear distortions in all the soft tissue layers between skin and bone.
Here’s a photo of me, my partner Sandy and our dog Mazey at our favourite beach.
I’m a self-employed full time private podiatrist at Esperance Podiatry. I’ve lived in Esperance on the south coast of Western Australia since 2000 and can’t imagine living anywhere else. If you’ve ever been here, you’ll know why!
I guess you could say I’m a thought-leader on this subject.
I’ve raised debate and influenced the narrative around blister management in recent years. You might have noticed a shift occurring in the “what causes blisters” conversation. It’s less about heat, moisture and friction and more about shear distortions (ie: the skin stretching). This distinction might seem minor, but it matters for blister outcomes! Examples of this include:
Thousands have used my advice to fix their foot blisters and have stayed in their race after I have personally treated their blisters. I’m here to tell you that you don’t need to be a podiatrist to do this.
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