How to prevent blisters when rollerblading is every skater’s desire, especially the ones that frequently experience the problem. The truth is, blisters ruin the fun and can make you hate your skates for a long time. However, that’s not how it should be!
So, what can you do to avoid blisters when rollerblading? The good news is, I’ve broken down the solutions to three simple recommendations for a newbie or an intermediate skater. Here’s the quick rundown:
- Apply the right rollerblading technique during the push and glide motion
- Use the best fitting Inline skating shoes and Socks
- Check on your Rollerblading frequency and intensity
How to Prevent Blisters When Rollerblading
But this is only the scratch on the surface. In the rest of this guide, we’ll dive deeper into how to make your skates more comfortable to prevent blisters when rollerblading. So, without much ado, let’s get to it! Shall we?
1. Apply the Right Rollerblading Technique during the Push and Glide Motion
What’s the right rollerblading technique? You could be asking. When pushing and gliding, you want to make sure you’re doing the movement with the entire foot. Some skaters use the toes, meaning a lot of the weight is transferred to the toes.
After skating for longer distances, the toes begin to blister because of uneven weight transfer to that area. However, if you do the push and glide using your entire foot, the weight is transferred evenly throughout the foot, thus preventing incidents of blistering.
Related Posts: How to Fall when Rollerblading (4 Incredibly Safe Techniques)
How to Get Better at Rollerblading | 10 Sure-fire tips
2. Use the Best-Fitting Inline Skating Shoes and Socks
Picking the right inline skates plays an integral role in preventing blisters when rollerblading. By all means, the skates should feel comfortable in your feet for an enjoyable rollerblading experience. How do I mean, you ask?
See, the skates need not be too tight nor too loose but should snuggly fit. Blisters are primarily caused by friction and ill-fitting inline skates, so you’ll want to ensure you have the right ones. This starts by buying the right size according to your foot size.
For example, if you wear shoe size 11, your inline skates shouldn’t be significantly bigger or smaller than that. A rule of thumb is to get skates that are at least an inch or half an inch bigger in size. This also helps with reduces friction between your toes and the skates.
Inline skates come with liners that make them more comfortable. However, sometimes the lines aren’t effective at preventing blisters. Because of this, it’s advisable always to put on socks when rollerblading.
Having socks on your feet reduces friction between your feet and the skates, thus preventing blisters. In addition, you can add more padding by using nylon or polyester socks under your regular socks. This helps to reduce the point of contact between your feet and skates.
Also, you can use different types of socks when rollerblading since there’s no hard rule for a preferred type. Because of this, you can use the regular pair of socks or special ones like My Fit by Power Slide. Nonetheless, the most important thing to look out for is the thickness.
Related Posts: Inline Skating Brands|Best Brands for Rollerblading
Inline Skating Gear: The Must-Have Complete Gear for Skaters
Choosing the Right Inline Skating Shoes
Choosing the right inline skating shoes shouldn’t feel like a brainer. The right rollerblades are snuggly fitting. This means they shouldn’t be too tight nor too loose. So, you’d want to resist the urge of buying oversized inline skates because it’ll mean your feet will wobble in them.
If you don’t know what size will fit you, you can compare it with your shoe size. For example, shoe size 9 translates to rollerblades number 9.
It’s not rocket science! However, for more comfort, you may choose to pick inline skate shoes that allow at least an inch of space between your toes and the skates.
Also, you may opt for adjustable inline skating shoes. These skates are flexible, versatile and can be worn by people of different foot sizes. All you have to do is pull the front part to create more room for your feet. They’re mostly built for kids and teenagers.
Related Post: Inline Skates: How to choose Inline Skating Shoes |Beginners and Intermediates
Choosing the Right Socks for Rollerblading
Choosing the right socks for rollerblading should be pretty simple. First, they should be moderately thick. Between 2 mm and 3 mm should work fine. The rule of thumb is that they shouldn’t be too thin nor too thick because that can hinder smooth skating.
Also, your budget will come into play when shopping for a pair of socks for inline skating. Depending on the budget, you can buy some moderately priced or highly prized socks. However, it’s more important to consider the quality more than anything else.
The right quality socks should be made from high-quality materials like cotton for durability. The last thing you want is to replace the socks more often, say weekly, because it may take a toll on you.
In addition, if you have a tight budget, it may mean putting skating on hold because you don’t have a pair of socks. So, by all means, go for quality ones. For the record, cotton socks are a good place to start.
3. Check on your Rollerblading Frequency and Intensity
Covering long distances when rollerblading can lead to devastating blisters all over your feet. Sadly, this isn’t only a problem facing newbies and intermediate skaters but also experienced skaters.
In addition, it has little to do with skating technique or equipment but the force you apply when hitting the roads. If you’re dealing with this problem, you may want to reduce your frequency and intensity of rollerblading.
For example, instead of covering 13 miles at once, you can break it into smaller milestones. Also, if you go rollerblading 15 times a week, you may want to lower the number down to manageable times, say seven.
Related Post: Where to go Rollerblading | 9 Amazing Places for Inline Skating
How to Treat Blisters from Rollerblading
Treating blisters from rollerblading is pretty much like you’d treat normal blisters. First, don’t break the bubble because it can cause you more unending pain. Second, if you have some aloe Vera, you can apply it to the affected area.
According to a study, ‘Healing Home Cures for Blisters’, by Everyday Health, Aloe Vera is an excellent home remedy for treating blisters. This is because it helps to relieve the redness and swelling around the blistered area.
Put some of the aloe Vera liquid in a cotton wool ball and gently rub it on the surface. Besides that, you may want to use a Band-Aid around the affected area, especially if you want to put on shoes. However, it’s recommended you keep the area dry for quick healing.
How to Prevent Blisters When Rollerblading: Frequently Asked Questions
1. How Do I Make My Inline Skates More Comfortable?
Apart from using inline skates that snuggly fit your feet, using a pair of My Fit socks or ordinary skating socks of various thicknesses helps a long way in achieving comfort in your inline skates. Socks of 2 mm or 3 mm thickness reduces friction between your feet and the inner skate walls, thus providing more comfort.
2. Should You Buy Rollerblades a Size Bigger?
Buying rollerblades that are one or an inch bigger can help achieve more comfort, thereby helping to avoid blisters when rollerblading. When choosing a pair of inline skates to buy, the most important consideration should be a snug fit to prevent wobbling feet or extreme tightness.
3. How Do I Know My Rollerblade Size?
Knowing your ideal rollerblade size is pretty simple when you know your shoe size. Therefore, if you wear size 9, you should also get the same size for your rollerblades. However, it would help if you considered the possibility of your feet widening in the future. In this case, getting rollerblades that are one or half an inch larger can be helpful.
4. Do Rollerblades Stretch Out?
Like ordinary shoes, rollerblades also stretch out with time (after 2-3 weeks of active rollerblading). So, if one is tightly fitting when you buy it, it should stretch out after a few instances of using it.
5. What Socks Do You Wear with Rollerblades?
You should wear socks of moderate thickness when rollerblading. Therefore, a pair of socks of between 2 mm to 3 mm thicknesses should work pretty fine for you. In addition, you have the option of using ordinary socks or ones specifically made for skating like My Fit socks.
6. How Do I Make My Rollerblades Bigger?
The easiest way to make your rollerblades bigger is by buying a pair of adjustable rollerblades. These skates are more suitable for kids, versatile, and you can adjust the size by pulling the top part to your preferred size.
Wrapping Up | How to Prevent Blisters When Rollerblading
If you’ve been wondering how to prevent blisters when rollerblading, I believe you’ve found this post quite helpful. Blisters can be painful and a real pain in the flesh!
However, your best shot at avoiding them is buying the right rollerblades, mastering the correct push and glide techniques, and putting on a pair of socks to stop your feet from rubbing the walls of your skates.
If you stick to these simple recommendations, blisters when rollerblading or after a skating session will be a thing of the past. So, what’s stopping you now? Happy skating, and stay safe!
