4 Ridiculously Easy Ways To Treat Golf Blisters (Or Prevent!)

Golf blisters seem to take forever to heal and tend to get in the way of your golf game and affect your swing. They are hard to prevent, and once you have a blister, it could take weeks to heal through continuous play but are ways to heal faster, and can you do things that prevent these blisters from happening?

One of the best ways to prevent blisters is using tape because they help avoid blisters of fingers, especially when gripping golf clubs. I encourage you to read this article about the nine best tapes for golf blisters to prevent blisters.

Constantly hitting the golf ball might seem like the best way to train and improve your game, but it often leads to friction between your hands and the club grip.

Constant friction or rubbing would lead to calluses like you would find from a bodybuilder in the gym. Eventually, these could turn into blisters on your hands.  

What If There Was a Way of Treating Blisters or Preventing Them From Happening?

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) recommends immediately stopping any activities that cause blisters and using a powder or petroleum jelly to the area in a bid to help alleviate the pain and heal. Unfortunately, it is not possible for some of the top golfers. Quitting is not an option when you want to be the best.

Leader Scott Piercy is dealing with a blister on his foot @3MOpen 🦶

He’s finding ways to remedy the discomfort 😅 pic.twitter.com/s6G2kzqbXY

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 23, 2022

How Do Golf Blisters Occur?

Before we look at some of the ways that you can prevent golf blisters, we should consider how golf blisters occur in the first place. As an amateur golfer, you might not need to deal with golf blisters due to only playing on weekends. However, more consistent players might run into the following situation when playing.

Golf blisters often occur when your hands constantly rub against your golf clubs’ grip. This could be due to using the wrong grip with more friction or constant playing. The first stage would be calluses forming in your hands, but if you constantly play, the hardened skin from these calluses would rub off and expose the new skin.

By continuing to endure the pain, you would also rub through the new skin, eventually exposing some of the flesh, which is often referred to as blisters.

The deeper the chafing takes place, the longer it would take to heal from these wounds, which ultimately leads to a player being unable to hold the golf club and enduring significant pain.

Keep in mind that these blisters are not related to a specific golf club, but clubs that need more force and require the full swing motion could lead to more significant blisters than playing a small chip shot with a wedge.

See also: Why Blisters Happen And How To Prevent Them From Golf?

How Do You Treat Golf Blisters?

So, you have fallen into the trap of enduring the pain, but it keeps getting worse. The question now is how you treat golf blisters. With the assistance of medical professionals, we have identified some of the main methods you can use to treat golf blisters effectively:

1- Take A Break

If you visit your medical doctor, the first suggestion would be to take a break. According to medical doctors, the blisters could take up to 2-weeks to heal, with some smaller blisters only needing a week to heal. You might want to take a sabbatical on your golfing journey for a few weeks and come back injury free. 

2- Clean The Wound

The main idea of helping you heal from blisters is to keep the condition from worsening. You might be at risk of a bacterial infection if you don’t keep the wound clean.

One thing you should do is apply some rubbing alcohol to the wound. Yes, it might burn like hell, but the alcohol would kill any possible bacteria, which could lead to infection.

3- Apply A Cream, Powder, Or Petroleum Jelly

Once you have cleaned the wound, you need some way of making sure the wound heals. While time is the only way to help the skin regenerate new cells, you can assist the process. The application of petroleum jelly or antibacterial creams can hydrate the wound, speeding up the process at which the healing takes place.

If you need to continue playing, using a powder before gripping the clubs could prevent the rubbing from taking place. It also dries up some of the moisture from perspiration, which often contains some salt that can cause more friction and induce chaffing. 

4- Wrapping A Band-Aid

If the wound is clean and you have applied a jelly or some form of dermatology-approved cream, you can wrap it with a band-aid to prevent any further dehydration.

Bear in mind that you want to remove the band-aid after a day or so to give the wound time to heal naturally. At this point, you can continue using the cream or jelly to assist with cell regeneration and keep the part of your body hydrated.  

How To Prevent Blistering From Golf Clubs

The best way to heal from blisters is to prevent them. If you prevent blisters from occurring, you don’t need to spend as much time focused on healing the wounds. Instead, you can continue to hone your golfing skills while competitors deal with blisters.

With the assistance of top medical doctors, we have found the best ways to assist you in preventing blisters while playing (also, some common sense helped!)

1- Changing Your Grips

Changing your golf club grip can be interpreted in two ways and both of them make sense.

• The first one would be to find a different actual grip that you put on the golf club. You might want to look for something with better absorption and moisture-wicking capabilities. Moisture from sweat is often one of the main causes, but the grip structure could also cause some of the chafing.
• The second way would be to change the way you hold the golf club. Various ways can be used to hold or grip your club in your hands. Some of them might allow you to have a slightly lighter grip, which should help to reduce the chaffing and the rubbing. Ultimately preventing blisters from presenting themselves. 

2- Using Tape Or Gloves

The glove is one of the best accessories you can use to reduce chafing. The glove would serve as the perfect go-between, which is situated between your hands and the grip of the club. They would wick away most of the moisture and prevent the grip from continually chaffing your hands to cause blisters.

If golf gloves are beyond your budget, you might want to wrap some tape around your hands. Having tape wrapped directly around your hand will serve the same purposes as wearing gloves. However, standard bandages might not have the same moisture-wicking capabilities as a high-quality set of gloves.

3- Taking Longer Breaks Between Playing Intervals

While this is not always possible, you might want to take a few breaks when you are playing. Instead of constantly allowing your hands to rub against the grip of your golf club, you could take a break for a week or so. If any blisters were in the process of forming, time would help to heal them as soon as you take a break.

You can also apply petroleum jelly or different dermatology creams designed for keeping skin hydrated during this period. This would reduce the chances of dealing with chaffing significantly.

See also: Can You Wear Two Gloves in Golf? (With top 4 golf gloves!)

Should I Endure Golf Blisters Or Take A Break?

It is better to take a break instead of enduring the blisters. Yes, you might have the creams and the accessories to help you prevent or reduce the chances of the blisters, but if they are already present, you could have a hard time recuperating.

The best course of action would be to take a break for a couple of weeks, which would help you heal from the pre-existing blisters. Once you have healed from these blisters, you could start implementing some of these tips into your game. They might not have an immediate effect, but you will notice that blisters don’t happen as easily.

Additionally, golf blisters might be a way of the universe telling you to take a break. Yes, you need to play often to become the best golfer, but it helps to take a break now and then to refocus yourself. 

Are Specific Golf Clubs More Prone To Blisters Than Others?

You are correct if you thought that specific golf clubs could lead to more blisters than others. Some of your longer and heavier golf clubs require you to have a firmer grip.

Due to the firmer grip, you will be holding them harder, which could lead to more chafing. You won’t encounter as much of the chaffing problem when playing with wedges.

Wrapping Up

Golf blisters can be frustrating, and they will significantly affect your game. The best course of action would be to stop and figure out some way of dealing with this problem.

For some, it might be adjustments to how they play; for others, it could be adjustments to gear. We would love to see your thoughts on how you deal with blisters in the comment section.