What You Need to Know When a Blister Could End Your OCS

With all the humps (forced marches) at OCS, and running in boots, and in wet conditions, my feet never looked worse than as a candidate. Here is my back and forth with an applicant who is getting a pre-OCS practice hump scheduled right after he overdid it in his boots:

How can I heal a blister overnight?

I am going on a mandatory hike tomorrow to train for Marine Corps OCS. Two days ago while breaking in my combat boots, what was a “pump bump” turned into a blood blister the size of a quarter on the back of my lower heel.

I made a cut with a knife at the bottom of it to let all the blood out but it still hurts like hell and I can barely walk.

I’m considering just tearing all the skin off & putting hella bandaids on it or putting a liquid bandaid on the raw skin.

I’m not concerned about any initial pain, I’ll do whatever, I just dont want this to effect my performance tomorrow.

Any suggestions would be very helpful

Response

I’ve been in your shoes before, and here’s what worked for me:

-Drain it and clean thoroughly (done)
-Allow to completely dry
-Apply superglue to form a callous
-Dry
-Don’t use a bandaid, right before the hump apply Bodyglide or similar product
-Apply a topical pain reliever like tiger balm or bengay
-Take motrin or similar to help with the pain and any swelling
-Wear sock liners!

And remember getting through OCS will require lots of pain tolerance so enjoy a little taste of mental toughness to come. Good luck and Semper Fi