Skin Care for Thin/Sweaty Tips

I climb outside 3-4x a week, lots of thin granite face climbing down here in NC. It's also generally pretty humid, as you can imagine. 

My tips get destroyed and when they get thin, they're also a little wetter; all of that sucks. 

I've resolved to be good about taping if I'm climbing on already bad skin AND using Rhino Performance daily to build drier/tougher skin.

Question is, if I also moisturize with Split+, Climb ON, or whatever other product does that negate the desire effect of Rhino Performance?

Question #2, is there anything else I should be doing to get the best outcome? I'll experiment with different strengths of drying-agents but if y'all can cut me to the chase sooner, that'd be much appreciated. 

I dealt with the same problem for a while. I have notoriously thin and weak skin. I experimented with rhinoskin performance, and I found that moisturizer actually worked better to grow and repair skin. The rhino dries it out and works if you have good moist skin, but will hamper skin growth. Skin needs to be moist to heal and grow. I put on Cera-Ve every night before bed and my skin has never been better. 

First, I have pretty wet skin, I've only met a few people that seemed to be on my same level of wet.

I think moisturizer works by protecting your skin with oils which trap in moisture in your skin which helps it grow.
I'm not an expert but at least climbing brand moisturizer shouldn't make your skin more moist, it should just protect it.
If your skin is already naturally moist I don't think moisturizing does much except protect open wounds like splits.
Only in the dead of winter my skin might feel slightly dry/flakey in a way that I think makes sense to moisturize.

For me, using Rhino Performance or Dry daily didn't have a noticeable effect.
The only thing I've found to actually work is intermittently use good ol antihydral.
Using antihyral does have the downside of being a bit of a mess but for me it is the only thing that works.

My working understanding is that drying out naturally wet skin will actually trigger your body to "repair" the area and grow more skin.
I have found that additional layers of skin gained through using antihydral more than ~2x a week might actually require moisturizing.
I've experienced thicker but flakey skin that would wear out almost immediately and might have been worse than not using anything.
However, I've never actually tried to use antihydral and moisturize a ton and it seems possible to me that moisturizing might not actaully fix the problem.

That all being said, I only employed skin tatics when I was doing a ton of bouldering and currently I don't do anyhting for my skin.

Congrats on the FA of Stained Glass!

Kaleb Wellswrote:

First, I have pretty wet skin, I've only met a few people that seemed to be on my same level of wet.

I think moisturizer works by protecting your skin with oils which trap in moisture in your skin which helps it grow.
I'm not an expert but at least climbing brand moisturizer shouldn't make your skin more moist, it should just protect it.
If your skin is already naturally moist I don't think moisturizing does much except protect open wounds like splits.
Only in the dead of winter my skin might feel slightly dry/flakey in a way that I think makes sense to moisturize.

For me, using Rhino Performance or Dry daily didn't have a noticeable effect.
The only thing I've found to actually work is intermittently use good ol antihydral.
Using antihyral does have the downside of being a bit of a mess but for me it is the only thing that works.

My working understanding is that drying out naturally wet skin will actually trigger your body to "repair" the area and grow more skin.
I have found that additional layers of skin gained through using antihydral more than ~2x a week might actually require moisturizing.
I've experienced thicker but flakey skin that would wear out almost immediately and might have been worse than not using anything.
However, I've never actually tried to use antihydral and moisturize a ton and it seems possible to me that moisturizing might not actaully fix the problem.

That all being said, I only employed skin tatics when I was doing a ton of bouldering and currently I don't do anyhting for my skin.

Congrats on the FA of Stained Glass!

Appreciate the detailed answer and the congrats, Kaleb! Sounds like I might have to sort of titrate skin dryness until I reach the desired level. 

I've always had really thin and wet skin (skin would be completely raw after less than hour of indoor bouldering), and antihydral is the only thing that worked. I've heard people (even those with similarly wet skin) say that they only apply once a week otherwise they split, but I put it on pretty much every night and my tips still wear through after 2 or 3 hours.

It does seem to improve my skin recovery, and it added quite a solid layer of skin all over my fingers, to the point that my friction is pretty bad for the first few minutes of a session because it's so calloused. 

Now I also spend most of the day at work wearing latex gloves, so that surely affects my antihydral frequency.

TL:DR: I'd try using antihydral and skipping the moisturizer. Start with only once a week, and it might take a few weeks for it to start making a difference. Just don't go overboard too fast, and avoid getting it in your creases. Apply it to your tips and let it dry before going to bed, and wash it off in the morning.

Louka Hendrickswrote:

I've always had really thin and wet skin (skin would be completely raw after less than hour of indoor bouldering), and antihydral is the only thing that worked. I've heard people (even those with similarly wet skin) say that they only apply once a week otherwise they split, but I put it on pretty much every night and my tips still wear through after 2 or 3 hours.

It does seem to improve my skin recovery, and it added quite a solid layer of skin all over my fingers, to the point that my friction is pretty bad for the first few minutes of a session because it's so calloused. 

Now I also spend most of the day at work wearing latex gloves, so that surely affects my antihydral frequency.

TL:DR: I'd try using antihydral and skipping the moisturizer. Start with only once a week, and it might take a few weeks for it to start making a difference. Just don't go overboard too fast, and avoid getting it in your creases. Apply it to your tips and let it dry before going to bed, and wash it off in the morning.

How do you not get antihydral all over your bed?

Kaleb Wellswrote:

How do you not get antihydral all over your bed?

Just gotta let it dry before you get in bed. Some of it still flakes off or wipes off onto sheets, but it washes off just fine.

Louka Hendrickswrote:

I've always had really thin and wet skin (skin would be completely raw after less than hour of indoor bouldering), and antihydral is the only thing that worked. I've heard people (even those with similarly wet skin) say that they only apply once a week otherwise they split, but I put it on pretty much every night and my tips still wear through after 2 or 3 hours.

It does seem to improve my skin recovery, and it added quite a solid layer of skin all over my fingers, to the point that my friction is pretty bad for the first few minutes of a session because it's so calloused. 

Now I also spend most of the day at work wearing latex gloves, so that surely affects my antihydral frequency.

TL:DR: I'd try using antihydral and skipping the moisturizer. Start with only once a week, and it might take a few weeks for it to start making a difference. Just don't go overboard too fast, and avoid getting it in your creases. Apply it to your tips and let it dry before going to bed, and wash it off in the morning.

Thanks, Louka. 

Would you recommend putting it on already raw tips?

I’d second the antihydral cream. Works wonders for my sweaty tips and makes my skin last longer. Once a week overnight works great for me. I wear some thin mitts to not get it all over the place.

Also I would not recommend putting it on raw tips. I found using climb on to repair skin and antihydral once a week works as a pretty good combo. 

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