WAG rip that is healing like a burn? pic enclosed

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

gymgal

Gold Membership
Proud Parent
To prevent getting this thread locked, I am stating at the top that we have already seen the doctor because I was worried it was getting infected, but I want some BTDT experience specific to gymnastics.

dd usually doesn't rip but when she does, they are very minor. She tears the skin off, puts some cream on it, finishes bars, and within a few days, it is healed. Well, she got one last week that seems to be healing more like a burn. It is about 2x the size of any she has gotten and it was bleeding a lot when it first ripped (dripping all down her arm, apparently), which has never happened to her. Doctor said it is not infected yet, but gave us a script for an antibiotic to fill if we see signs of infection. As you can see from the pic (well, hopefully), it is healing with all these bubbles of skin filled with clear pus, rather than a nice solid layer. And there are little red dots under the "bubble skin". We tried to cut away at it but it is impossible due to the way the new skin is growing. dd says it hurts to touch and stretch it but otherwise, her hand feels fine. Obviously it will hurt doing gym stuff tomorrow with putting the hand on any equipment.

So, my questions are - are these normal and she has just been blessed never to get one this bad? She is a 3rd yr L10, so she has been in the sport a long time to never see one like this in herself or teammates. Is there anything different she should be doing to treat it? She has been washing it and putting antibiotic cream on it. She plans to try teabags? she read online that it helps with the healing?

ETA: I tried to shrink the pic so it wouldn't take over the whole window but it didn't carry over when I posted the thread. sorry...



rip.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: sce
My dd uses tea bags every time she gets a bad one (which is rare these days). She makes tea, puts it in a shallow dish and allows it to cool. She puts the rip in the dish for as long as she can stand. Then we squeeze the tea bag out, put it on the rip, and wrap it up for an hour or so. Usually dries it up pretty quickly.
 
Ouch! That looks super painful. We don't have a lot of experience with rips yet (my daughter is nowhere near as far along on her journey)- and none have looked that bad. She did manage to get 3 at once about a week and a half ago and we used tea bags and that seemed to really help speed the healing process. She does it at night- rubs on some neosporin, taps the tea bag over the rip, and the wears a glove to bed. She then tries to leave it uncovered during the day. Good luck!
 
Hi, I wanted to mention that tea bags are likely to dry out a wound, and the typical thinking today about wound care appears to be that moist wound healing helps a wound heal more quickly and with less tightness and pain, in contrast to a few decades ago when drying out the wound was recommended. In any case, tea bags seem to end up on lists of what NOT to use as well as lists of what to use.

When my sons have had a rip here is what I do. Just realized it has been a while- they must be getting super tough!
At bedtime, we wash the area with a mild soap and water, gently rubbing it to remove bacteria, then gently pat it dry.
Apply a thin layer of Neosporin
Apply liberally a barrier ointment like purified lanolin (as in nipple ointment, it has the best consistency imo) or A and D or simply coconut oil (sometimes I only use coconut oil as it has antibiotic properties, but my sons say they do not like how runny and greasy it is.)
Cover hand with a sock for sleep.
For practice, sons make a tape grip and that covers the wound for practice.
More on moist wound healing and tape grips.
http://www.tabatatimes.com/hand-maintenance-treating-rips/
 
DD last rip looked like this and she uses a balm from the natural (herbal/holistic??) store. It helps cool it down and heal it over a few days.
 
The picture posted looks pretty much like every rip my DD has had. Although my DD was insisting that she wanted to be a no grip gymnast (those that are, wear it as a badge of honor in our gym) she eventually had to go with grips because healing time would delay her progress.
 
Wow impressive not to get them that bad for a 3rd year level 10! My daughters levels 7 and 9 never have a day without their hands like that [emoji19] Warm tea bags are the best
 
  • Like
Reactions: sce
Looks pretty standard, she's very fortunate that she does not seem to be prone to them! Some kids rip like that all the time. Summer has a tendency to bring on the rips- a combination of increased bar work, sweaty hands, and the fact that kids are often spending a good amount of time in chlorinated pools.
Preparation H works well for rips, it helps calm the inflammation and pain while also keeping it covered. I used some kind of herbal salve when I was a gymnast (who ripped constantly), I imagine it was pretty similar to this https://www.jtreelife.com/products/gymnasts-salve?variant=744726193 though I don't remember exactly. There are some smaller sellers on Etsy that make a similar product. Just in my quick searching it appears that with the rise of Crossfit rip solution type products are becoming much more prevalent than they once were.
 
Helpful tip for helping the rip heal....if you place a deflated balloon over the rip and wrap it in grip tape, the balloon takes all of the friction and it allows the rip to fully heal. It was a lifesaver for my daughter who constantly had rips that never had time to resolve because she is in the gym every day. Also body glide sticks help to prevent them in the first place....they sell the stick at Target in the yoga/exercise section. It is sort of like chap stick that creates a barrier. My daughter now keeps the body glide, tape and extra balloons in her grip bag!
 
Thanks all. Glad to know that this is pretty normal. DD's teammates agreed that they never have had one heal like this so she and I were worried. Yes, she is very blessed to not rip often. A former coach once mentioned that she likely doesn't rip because she swings with her hands loose, not in a tight grip. Not sure what that means but I suppose it makes sense in terms of less friction. She was away from the gym for 10 days on vacation and went right back to full skill sets the first day back. I am sure that contributed to the rips.
 
Helpful tip for helping the rip heal....if you place a deflated balloon over the rip and wrap it in grip tape, the balloon takes all of the friction and it allows the rip to fully heal. It was a lifesaver for my daughter who constantly had rips that never had time to resolve because she is in the gym every day. Also body glide sticks help to prevent them in the first place....they sell the stick at Target in the yoga/exercise section. It is sort of like chap stick that creates a barrier. My daughter now keeps the body glide, tape and extra balloons in her grip bag!

Great ideas! I'm going to have her try the balloon trick. Thankfully rips are way less frequent than they used to be, but my dd and her friends swear by Joshua Tree ointment. I find it hilarious that they give it to each other for b-day gifts, lol. https://www.jtreelife.com/products/gymnasts-salve
 
You are lucky and blessed that she's never had a rip! My DD has been dealing with rips (and sometimes multiple at a time) since lvl 3 (she's now training lvl 7). And from experience I can tell you the warm tea bag (black tea) does dry it out and it can crack and bleed.

Our regiment consists of hydrcoloid bandages to keep it moist the first 24-48 hours. Then bandages off and only puts on medicated chapstick or Bag Balm. It takes about 5 days to heal. We also found a great product to use while at gym. It's called Spenco 2nd Skin Squares Soothing Protection for Blisters, Hot Spots and Skin Irritations,. You can buy it on Amazon. It has been a LIFE SAVER when she must go to gym and had rips...which is just about every 2-3 weeks.

So rest assure, it could be a lot worse and yeah they look like death. Here's an example of my DD hands (see below).

I hope by sharing our story and regiment it helps you guys out in any way possible. You're not alone out there!

22.jpg
 

New Posts

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

Gymnaverse :: Recent Activity

College Gym News

New Posts

Back