An Orthotist’s Perspective on Blister Prevention From Hiking the Camino de Santiago Trail

Hiking adventures come with a passion to hit the outdoors, discover what is ahead, and to meditate on the sensory input from the environment. Unfortunately, for most hikers, at some point there will also be unexpected and often preventable blister formation. Pain from a blister will completely alter plans, delay continuing, sometimes for days, and may end the hike completely.

In 2022, my wife and I walked the Camino de Santiago Frances Way in Northern Spain. We were paying tribute to my late father-in-law who had completed the full 500-mile trail twice in his 70s; we were scheduled to join him on his third trip when the pandemic led to cancellation. During our pilgrimage, I noticed that at least 75 percent of the people on the trail with us were fighting numerous blisters and other ailments of the feet by day three, which is a huge problem when you are walking 15-20 miles—30,000-40,000 steps—per day with a 20 lb. bag. I was shocked at how many people could have prevented these issues, especially blisters, with a little bit of pedorthic preparation and shoe modifications, and/or carrying small things such as ShearBan, doughnut pads, silicone toe spreaders, foot orthotics, etc. As a practicing orthotist, I found myself helping some hikers on the trail with suggestions and makeshift metatarsal pads, doughnut pads, and toe spreaders from the kit we had packed. Most were treating their blisters retroactively by simply treating symptoms and not getting rid of the real problem.