Biking with a blister?

[Dianyla]

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional but I have had a lot of field experience with bad blisters.

What's the best thing to do if it's very uncomfortable but you don't want to wait for it to go away on its own?

Well, one thing you can do is just grin and bear it. Start slowly and go gradually, but eventually you will be able to adjust to the pain. Be aware that continuing to use the area with the blister may make the blister worse and it will certainly slow healing. The most important thing if you must walk/run with the blister in place is to avoid limping or altering your stride in any way to accommodate the blister - that will just cause you muscle and joint overuse problems because of poor stride and bad alignment.

Also, why is alcohol a bad disinfectant and what would be better?

Alcohol is very volatile and once it dries/evaporates you no longer have any antiseptic protection. Betadine (povidone iodide) continues to provide some protection even after it dries. If you choose to lance and drain a superficial blister, at least coat the entire area with betadine, moisten the needle with betadine, and keep it well covered. For infected blisters where you have opaque pus instead of clear lymph fluid, you can make two holes in the blister, one on each side. Inject betadine through one hole using a simple syringe, and let it rinse/wash through the exit hole. You can do this several times a day and keep the skin flap intact while the blister heals. As long as you can keep infection at bay, it's preferable to keep the outer skin intact if you must continue to use your feet.

Superficial blisters have a thin translucent layer of skin outside and you can clearly see the fluid squishing around inside. Deep blisters may not alter the appearance of the skin, or you will see a thick white layer of skin over the blister. You are better off just leaving deep blisters the hell alone until it heals. Perhaps consider some sort of cross training like swimming in the meantime?

My 'personal worst' blister was on the bottom of my pinkie toe. I attempted to lance and drain it daily for several weeks, using only alcohol and triple-antibiotic ointment on it. After the first few days, nothing more would drain out but the infection went deeper under thicker layers of skin. After 3 weeks of excruciating pain my entire toe was turning green and I was able to get to a health clinic to get antibiotics. I'm very lucky to still have all of my toes. Do not underestimate blisters! If anyone is interested, I have a photo gallery of scary pilgrim blisters that I experienced or witnessed personally. Note: this link is not for the squeamish!