falling apart hands

[Collin]

Any sugestions on how to keep the skin on your hands from constantly peeling/blistring from climbing? My hands look like I put them in a meat grinder all the time.

[Blake]

When I started rowing crew my hands had the same thing. After continued use (ie weeks and months) of every day, they eventually toughened up to where they are practically blister-proof. I think it just takes a long time of constant "roughening up." Lifting weights where the knurling of the bars will rub on your hands (ie deadlifts, chin-ups) helps too.

[Collin]

I destroy my hands climbing every day but I was looking for maybe a quick fix. For me it's not all the time my hands fall apart but lately i've been getting new blisters and hanging skin regulary. I do use superglue sometimes but the crap is spendy.

[fenderfour]

I noticed that my callouses were always peeling off when I climbed. Especially if I slid off a hold. A friend told me to use a file to keep them cut back. I never tried it, but it seemed like it might do the trick.

[Matt_Anderson]

1) you need to climb regularly, coming back from a layoff almost always results in peeling skin for me.

2) Keeping extra flaps trimmed so they don't get caught and made worse helps. they will heal faster

3) Use GOOD lotion, and slap on some aloe afterwards. A bunch of people think it makes your skin to soft, and I imagine that you could do it to often, but doing it after you stop climbing and before you go to bed is not to much. When my hands are feeling it, I'll also do it in the morning. There is a difference in the quality of lotions. right now I'm using this Oil of Olay stuff my wife has on the counter. Kinda pricey (and easily made fun of), but it makes a difference. . .

4) blister? don't know what to tell you, I don't get them rock climbing. I could see getting them from repeated use of a tool (no pun intended), but I'm not doing any alpine these days, so what do I know.

[swaterfall]

When I was climbing sandstone a lot it trashed my hands. I would smooth out the callouses with a nail file to prevent them from snagging and turning into nasty flappers. It worked great.

[Collin]

Climbing regulary isn't the problem for me. I climb 4-6 days a week. Mostly bouldering tears my hands up. I do use lotion but it wears off so quick just doing every day things. Thanks for the advice though.

[Matt_Anderson]

Alrighty, then if you have done all that, there are other ways to preserve your hands. I had about a 1 1/2 year period where I had some bizarre dryskin problem that resulted in split tips, hang nails, split nail beads, etc . . .. Here are the things I did when I was getting truly desparate. Some are quite odd. Most are inconvenient, but they all help.

 

Obviously, climbing less and not climbing to failure will help, but you are likely unwilling to do that . . .

 

Showering with lukewarm water and washing hands with cold water (and infrequently) makes a huge difference.

 

Putting rubber gloves on when doing the dishes (or, for that matter showering), or using any solvents, etc, also will help alot.

 

If you're really desperate (and your honey won't immediately dump you), you can put on latex gloves before going to sleep (and after lotioning up). It helps heal quickly.

 

Icing after climbing also speeds healing. 10 minutes in a bucket filled with ice and water is about right. It'll also help loads with swollen finger joints, recovering finger tendons, etc.

 

matt

[fenderfour]

Another suggestion is to make a clean fall on the routes. If you know you are going to drop, don't keep clinging on in the hopes that your one battered finger will heroically keep you on a problem. I did this for a while and it destroyed my hands.

[sk]

Climbing regulary isn't the problem for me. I climb 4-6 days a week. Mostly bouldering tears my hands up. I do use lotion but it wears off so quick just doing every day things. Thanks for the advice though.

I bet that if you are bouldering alot you are loosing skin from the chalk. It super dries out your skin and damages it. MOISTERIZE use lotion. LOTS of it . especialy after you get home and shower and before bed. You need not buy the most expensive lotion. you can also use bag balm it works realy well but feels sorta greasy.

 

p.s. the lotion isn't wearing off it is seeping in. re apply as often as you can stand it... bagbalm before bed. seriously it realy helps

[Dr_Flash_Amazing]

Dr. Flash Amazing's hands get fuuuuuucked up from climbing. They've always been peely, perpetually, and chalkin' up and holdgrabbin' does not help. Two things have been very helpful.

 

If you're like DFA and are a compulsive dry skin picker-peeler person, STOP PICKING AND PEELING! Definitely makes it worse when you do that, so be a good boy and resist the temptation. Secondly, DFA's missus introduced him to Neutrogena Hand Cream (comes in a stubby tube -- but the tube's in a little box at the store, so just look for the name!), which works fantastic-like. It's sort of pricy seeming at first, ca. $5 for a tube, but it lasts F-O-R-E-V-E-R; you only need a little bit. It absorbs pretty well, and isn't too greasy, e.g. DFA can put it on when leaving PDX on a Saturday morning, and there's no greasy-slippery on the routes at Smith. Definitely worth a try.

 

Edited April 15, 2004 by Dr_Flash_Amazing

[Dru]

if you got peelin' skin who needs pringles?

[chucK]

try not using chalk

[Dane]

Pretty simple but the best thing I have seen is no matter how ripped you get, is make sure you wash afterwards with hot water and a good soap. If you have or get a bad flapper, benzoin and tape it to give it the time to heal. Really wanting to do some nasty edges and your fingers are trashed, tape your tips.

 

Wash them a often as is possible climbing, first in the morning and last thing at night. Take any tape or bandages off at night.

 

Tape, benzoin, soap and water will get you through several months of hard climbing in the valley. Taping my tips is the only thing that will get me through a couple of weeks at Smith.

Edited April 15, 2004 by Dane

[Dima]

Some people recommend Glucosamine Sulfate.

It's pricy and may not totally work, but worth checking out.

I use it all the time.

 

Helped at the start, not sure now.

[Collin]

I'll give it a try.

[John Frieh]

You take glucosamine sulfate for you skin? Ummm... that's recommended for joints; specifically for suffers of osteoarthritis. I load it two weeks prior to big races, but for my knees NOT my skin. It should be pointed out that unless you have osteoarthritis, you shouldn't take it continuously as some studies have shown that it degrades cartilage over time: something you'll need if you plan to continue to climb. On an unrelated side note it gives you WICKED gas (if its a sulfur based derivative). Collin: give up chalk (Pusher recommends it as one of the best ways to enhance training on their website) and learn to take rest days. 4-6 times a week is well on your way to elbow/joint issues. You'd probably start climbing harder if you actually allowed your body some recover time.

[catbirdseat]

Actually glucosamine is a component of hyaluronic acid, which is present in skin as well as synovial fluid. The stuff is ubiquitous.

[Dr_Flash_Amazing]

Mmmmm ... synovial fluid ...

[Dima]

You take glucosamine sulfate for you skin? Ummm... that's recommended for joints; specifically for suffers of osteoarthritis. .....

 

"Glucosamine Sulfate plays a role in other body structures besides joints. It is involved in the formation of nails, tendons, skin, eyes, synovial fluid, bone, ligaments, heart valves and in mucous secretions of the digestive, respiratory and urinary tracts. " - http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/arsupp.html

 

Maybe it is another quack medicine, but it seemed to have helped. Somebody else suggested it to me. Does not hurt to try.

 

you shouldn't take it continuously as some studies have shown that it degrades cartilage over time: something you'll need if you plan to continue to climb.

 

There are too many of these "studies" with "conclusions".

I take it on days after hard training. I may try to stop as my skin is sufficiently adjusted to climbing demands of weekly routine. Besides skin, climbing does stress tendons and joints!

 

4-6 times a week is well on your way to elbow/joint issues.

 

That is very true. I may have overdone it with 4.

But this is all personal.

[Collin]

I do tend to use lots of chalk. I think some of it's mental. I don't rest enoungh sometimes but I must keep on.

[marylou]

Off topic, but I've had decent results with Glucosamine for treating arthritis.. Doesn't make it go away, but it helps.

[Dima]

I do tend to use lots of chalk. I think some of it's mental. I don't rest enoungh sometimes but I must keep on.

 

I think chalk becomes necessary when you start to sweat (not always from fear).

 

As to the load, I am totally with you. I feel terrible sometimes, if I don't change my dimension once in a while. But it pays to take breaks if you love it enough to want to keep doing it for a long time!

 

The book by Udo Newman and Goddard recommends at least 6 weeks a year of complete rest and to take care of the problems while they're small (Chinese proverb).

 

Also if you train too much w/o rest, it may actually impede your progress (see the charts). Periodization also helps.

 

Per glucosamine: I overdosed this week taking twice the normal daily thing. It really reduced pain in fingers. Should help with the skin, but it does not eliminate the problem, the only solution being to rest. Pain comes back after hard day.

 

I saw in one article that it's best to take the sulfate derivative of glucosamine as it's also major building block of tissues (unlike HCl). Sulfate should not create a prob. with gases: those come from undigested food in the gut from bacteria living there. Bacteria eats not sulfate, but sugar. Chemically there is no way for acid to interact with sulfate to make gas!

[thelawgoddess]

lots of salve?

[scott_harpell]

use the stuff they put on cow udders. it is good because it doesn't wear off or soak into the dry skin because of chalk.