Abstract
Background
Friction foot blisters, a common and potentially disabling injury, have been found to be the most likely factor adversely affecting ultramarathon performance. An inexpensive and effective prevention technique is needed for this ubiquitous outdoor occurrence.
Objective
To determine whether paper tape could prevent friction foot blisters on blister prone areas of multistage ultramarathoners.
Methods
This multisite prospective randomized trial was undertaken during the 2014 RacingThePlanet, a 155-mile, 6-stage ultramarathon in the Jordan, Gobi, Madagascar, and Atacama deserts. Paper tape was applied to a randomly selected foot before the race, either to participants’ blister prone areas or to a randomly selected spot, with untaped areas of the same foot as control. Study outcome was a blister anywhere on the study foot.
Results
In all, 128 participants were enrolled, and 109 (85.2%) were compliant. There were 31 women (22.5%), with a mean age of 39.3 years (range 22 to 63 years) and body mass index (BMI) of 24.2 kg/m2 (range 17.4 to 35.1 kg/m2). Intent-to-treat analysis revealed 106 participants (83%) had 117 blisters, with treatment success in 98 runners (77%). Paper tape reduced blisters by 40% (P < .01, 95% CI: 28 to 52), and number needed to treat, 1.31. Results were similar in the compliant group (NNT = 1.35). The majority of participants (78%) had 1 blister, most commonly on the toes (n = 58, 50%) and heel (n = 27, 23%), and 94 blisters (80%) occurred by the end of stage 2 of the race. Treatment success and number of blisters were significantly associated with hours of exposure (P = .01) and stage of race (P = .02); BMI correlated with number of blisters (r = 0.23, P < .01, 95% CI: 0.06 to 0.39).
Conclusions
Paper tape was found to have robust protective effect against foot blisters for multistage ultramarathon runners.