My skin doesn’t like UT, help!

Pandy Facklerwrote:

You should really only be using antihydral if you have very sweaty hands, otherwise it's going to dry your skin out and make it even worse.  I have very dry skin, especially in the winter, so I can offer my advice on my tried-and-true routine. 

After climbing, either shower right away or wash your hands well, and then sand the tips with a light sandpaper to remove excess skin. If you have any "skin tags" or excess callus buildup, trim it away with a toenail clipper or something similar (from the photo you posted, your middle finger needs a lot of trimming around that hole, as does your pointer).  Sanding and cleaning off the excess is going to help your skin regrow and stay malleable.  

Every night I use Climb On (or something similar, Rhino Repair, whatever).  I do agree that using normal hand lotion makes my skin worse, no idea why.  

Also, there will be times in the winter where my tips are pure glass and won't stick to anything. A good hack I discovered is to pour out about a teaspoon worth of olive oil into your palm (about the size of a quarter), and then a similar amount of sugar.  Wash your hands with this solution for about 2 minutes, and then wash with soap and water. Your tips will be instantly tacky and sticky.  Do this the night before climbing. 

I've also found the Rhino Spit solution to be very helpful pre-climbing to help the skin get more malleable and tacky.  

Other than that, sounds like your skin is just getting used to the new rock, but it will adjust if you take care of it.  Sanding seems to be counter-intuitive if it's already raw and sore, but it will help the skin regrow faster and more healthy.  If you have very, very sweaty hands then I don't know....

Does this sugar/oil wash lower the hardness though?

Bb Cc wrote:

If you rub it in thoroughly.

It lowers hardness if you rub it thoroughly?

Seth Bleazardwrote:

Does this sugar/oil wash lower the hardness though?

I have very dry skin, so I'm not sure if it'd help your situation - especially if you have generally sweaty hands.  Regardless, sanding your tips will help to get rid of the callused skin that will cause splits and/or the glassy texture that can make you dry fire. The olive oil/sugar thing helps to make the skin supple, moisturized, and more bendable so that it will perform better. It may not work for you, but it's been a game changer for me. I only do that about once a week, the other stuff is daily.

Seth Bleazardwrote:

It lowers hardness if you rub it thoroughly?

Doesn’t sound right….  

Seth Bleazardwrote:

Rock canyon & LCC

Cold dry winter is usually hard on skin.  Keep chalk off as much as you can. Clip any flakes. 

File your skin. Switching to more frequent outdoor climbing will be hard on your skin at first. But you’ll get conditioned to it. Too much lotion will lot help. File every night. Only use lotion if there is splitting activity that needs to remain pliable.  Take protein/collagen (may help). Make sure you’re getting your omega-3s and relax. Haha

Antihydral will actually make things much worse if you’re not extremely careful with it. I’d recommend not using it at all.