Hand Health for Beginner at Bouldering Gym

Hi everyone,

I have been bouldering at a climbing gym near me for about 2 months now. I feel like my biggest hurdle right now to progress to harder routes are my hands. Tendons and pulleys all seem to be doing okay but I am getting pretty torn up. Occasionally almost healed blisters get more blisters on them and currently one of them go so dried out from chalk that it cracked down the middle. Yesterday the top of it ripped open where my finders bends.
I know my hands need to adjust to the demands of climbing but how much is too much? Is there anything I can do to reduce blistering while I climb? I have been using Joshua Tree Climbing Salve since I started. It works pretty well except for instances where my hands have actually cracked open. Is there another product that works better for this?
Thanks for the help!

-Erica

Erica H. wrote:Hi everyone, I have been bouldering at a climbing gym near me for about 2 months now. I feel like my biggest hurdle right now to progress to harder routes are my hands. Tendons and pulleys all seem to be doing okay but I am getting pretty torn up. Occasionally almost healed blisters get more blisters on them and currently one of them go so dried out from chalk that it cracked down the middle. Yesterday the top of it ripped open where my finders bends. I know my hands need to adjust to the demands of climbing but how much is too much? Is there anything I can do to reduce blistering while I climb? I have been using Joshua Tree Climbing Salve since I started. It works pretty well except for instances where my hands have actually cracked open. Is there another product that works better for this? Thanks for the help! -Erica

Hey Erica,

When I first started climbing I too had a lot of issues with skin when I bouldered. Looking back it was likely a combo of poor technique and because I have naturally dry skin.

Though this isn't as big of problem for me now, I use a pumice stone to reduce calluses, I use a cuticle clipper to cut any lose skin, and I have really dry hands so I try to limit chalk to as needed.

Hope that helps!
-Joe

Sport tape can be used for prevention & to extend a gym session. The trick is to apply the tape as soon as you notice a hotspot.

Type of chalk could help with the dry hands to some extent too. Some chalk feels like it's chalkboard chalk and just sucks your hands dry. I personally use Friction Labs Unicorn Dust. It drys the sweaty palms and doesn't destroy my hands or my wifes'. Try different kinds. Borrow a friends. I know you can buy a sample from Friction Labs for only a few dollars.

I have a problem with dry skin and cracking. Chalk dries your hands and can make cracked skin a problem; some chalk seems to be worse than others. I haven't used Joshua Tree as a skin conditioner, but it does work great for preventing scrapes from infection.

For skin conditioning I use Burt's Bees products; a bunch of them. Specifically I use:
Burt's Bees Fragrance Free Shea Butter and Vitamin E Body Lotion pretty much any time I wash my hands (including bathing-it seems to help retain moisture in your skin after getting your hands wet).
Burt's Bees 100% Natural Shea Butter Hand Repair Cream right after cleaning the chalk off of my hands after I get done at the gym.
Honey & Bilberry foot creme in the morning when I get to work and during the day if my hands feel dr.
At night before bed I use the Shea Butter lotion, followed by the Honey & Bilberry followed by their Almond & Milk hand cream. Note that the last is fairly greasy so I put it on right before I got to sleep.

I rarely use soap to wash my hands except when absolutely necessary (i.e. cooking with raw meat, motor oil/grease, paint)as it strips your natural skin oils.

I also take a daily multi-vitamin which seems to help with electrolyte levels that tend to get depleted by drinking a lot of water (which actually seems to dehydrate me - I found this out in Army Ranger school after all of my tips split under the forced hydration they use as a risk mitigation for hot weather injuries).

Keeping your hands clean helps also - I still have problems at Indian Creek because of the grit.

In regards to the blisters, your hands will toughen up eventually or yes, you may be overdoing it. You want your skin to be tough, but supple, like tanned leather. Not dry and weak like old leather.

try to get into the habit of not re-gripping. i often see beginners, and even a lot of 'more senior' climbers re-grip on almost every hold they hit.

sanding down calluses and using moisturizer post-climbing also help.

What do you mean by "re-gripping"?

I like the Joshua Tree stuff as an analgesic. Not sure if it (or any similar products) actually speed up recovery, but they do make my hands feel better. Just sucks when you have to wash your hands, because suddenly your flappers start hurting again. :/ Bouldering, in general, is hard on your hands, even for elite athletes. One thing I've heard is that moisture can be a big contributor to flappers, so I would recommend thoroughly drying your hands before applying chalk and even considering using rubbing alcohol, which I find helps to get rid of any extra grease or moisture.

Thanks for all the tips so far!

I have been wondering about the chalk as well. I wanted to give Friction Labs a try after my current bag runs out. I am currently using the Black Diamond White Gold. I am not real thrilled with it and heard great things about Friction Labs. I'll also try to experiment a little with less chalk - perhaps I am drying out my hands too much.

Ted - By re-gripping I think pkeds means adjusting your hands after reaching the hold, perhaps to get a better feel for the hold. I think I actually do do this quite often so I will try keeping my grip where it is.I have heard of people using alcohol before but had no idea what it was for!

I am definitely still trying to learn proper techniques so hopefully as that improves, so will my hands.

I will look into the Burt's Bees products. I was hoping to find something I could use when I don't want my hands to be really greasy from the Joshua Tree climbing salve but want to give my hands a little extra moisture.

Thanks again, everyone!

Erica,

Hand skin problems are very common for beginners, since your hands are not used to the increased stress climbing puts on them. Neosporin does wonders for helping blisters to heal. And using a good climbing salve or moisturizing hand lotion will help keep your skin strong and supple, which will prevent blisters in the future. I use St. Ives intensive healing lotion, and it works pretty well without leaving my hands too greasy for more than a minute.

I use a tool to sand down my calluses to keep them thin enough to not rip off, which really seemed to help me.

In regard to the "re-gripping" thing: I believe you are correct in that pkeds means adjusting your hand after grabbing a hold. One way to help with this is to do some drills in which you slowly climb some problems that are easy for you, but you do not allow yourself to adjust your hand or foot position unless it is a necessary part of the problem. Whatever way your hand initially touches the hold, complete the move that way. This will help you develop better technique, or at least it did for me lol.

Lastly, I would not recommend excessively drying your hands to prevent flappers, as Ted suggests. This will probably cause more problems than it solves, in my opinion. You want your hands to be physically dry (no water on the surface of the skin), so that you get good friction, but you want your skin itself to be properly moisturized (i.e. healthy) to prevent injury.

Climb on is a great for after climbing.

Also, if youre prone to ripping.. I use liquid bandage IF you've got a blister that you're worried about opening. Apply before u chalk up. It holds up really well and doesn't get in the way of the chalk.

I used climb on alot when I first started climbing. It helps alot I could notice a big difference between days I used it and when I didn't. I don't really use it anymore I guess your hands get used to it after a while.

I had the same problem when I used black diamonds White Gold chalk. Then I switched to friction labs chalk and haven't had an issue since.

I have to chime in because I have this problem too. Mostly on overhanging problems. I do use Jtree climbing salve after sessions, and Friction Labs Unicorn Dust during. But I still end up with at least 2-3 flappers after a hard day at the gym. So I don't think it's using a different chalk that will help you.
But the re-gripping issue is probably what will. I didn't think about it until I read through these posts, but I definitely do re-grip on the holds that seem to cause me the most problems. And tape just gets in the way of the full range of motion in my fingers. So once I heal more, I'll give those problems another try without readjusting my hands and see if that fixes the problem