Care For Your Hands

With our new pull-up bar has come a new set of issues for your hands.  I've seen many of you with hands that are a little torn up.  (I'll spare you the picture on this post)  It is very important you take care of your hands to avoid callouses ripping.  First, you have to understand that your hands need to be conditioned, and that is just going to be some sweet pain.  It is no different from breaking skin on your knuckles while hitting the heavy bag.  Earn your scars, right?  Here are a few tips I found on the CrossFit Message Board about hand care, and callous ripping.

First, don't let them get to the point of ripping.  You need to file them down, or use a pumice stone. Do this daily. Soak your hands in warm water to soften the callous and then file it down.

I quote directly from Roger Harrell, Gymnastics Certification Coach for CF, and CF affiliate owner.  "Once you rip keep the open area moist for a couple of days. You don't want it to dry out and split. A good sealing lotion or lanolin works well. Once the skin is off, don't try to layer it over. It will adhere, but then you'll have a big lumpy callous that is going to tear off worse at some point. You want deep hard flat callouses."

A couple more tips on callous care:

• once the skin starts to split, I've found that taking Dove soap and wetting it and rubbing it into the skin every so often causes it to toughen quicker. Odd fix I know, but several generations of woodchoppers and lumberjack sports competitors have done it and it works.

• I've found ripping the torn skin off immediately, then washing it right away. Keep it covered and apply neosporin or carmex (i didnt have anything else but it worked even better) for the first day. The following days keep it clean and apply neosporin or carmex until you're good. Carmex works well, especially because it seems to numb it a bit. Which is good if you want to keep training. Tape up for pull ups until its healed and as always good hand maintenance is key.

The best solution is preventative maintenance, by filing or shaving the callouses down routinely.  And last but not least, USE CHALK!  That's why we have it.  Chalk will keep the friction off layers of skin and prevent ripping.

Comments

[Arturo Meuniot]

Careful. I have heard that chalk can also be a culprit. Using too much chalk both dries out your hands and can increase the grip between your skin and the bar, causing the tearing to occur underneath.

I may have the technical stuff jumbled up, but I have seen specific warnings in CrossFit Journal about overchalking and how it leads to tears.

Sweet new pullup bar ya got there!

Cheers,
Arturo