blister
Meaning of blister: A blister is a fluid filled pocket that forms within the skin's outer layers, most often from friction, heat, or irritation.
Definition of blister
A blister is a small pocket of fluid that forms between the upper layers of the skin, creating a raised, fluid filled bubble. It develops when friction, heat, chemical irritation, or certain skin diseases cause the layers of skin to separate, and fluid accumulates in the resulting space.
Friction blisters are common on the hands and feet, typically resulting from repeated rubbing against footwear or equipment, while burns and certain infections, such as some viral skin infections, can also produce blisters through different underlying mechanisms.
Most blisters contain clear fluid and heal on their own as new skin forms underneath, though a blister that becomes painful, enlarges significantly, or shows signs such as increasing redness and warmth is generally evaluated further, since these changes can indicate infection of the surrounding skin.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
A blister formed on the patient's heel after wearing new footwear for an extended period.
Good to know
A blister's fluid is typically clear, distinguishing an ordinary friction or burn blister from one that has become infected, in which the fluid often becomes cloudy and the surrounding skin more red and warm.