WAG Rips!!

[Press Handstands]

I am a gymnast that has naturally soft hands. Sadly, too soft, so they rip all the time. I've had over 20 rips while my teammates mostly have had 5-10. Any tips or products you can recommend would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Deleted member 17723]

Don't use lotion! I have found that less contact with water helps too - shorter showers, less swimming, etc.

 

[Press Handstands]

Thank you so much! But I thought you should keep it moisturized?

 

[wh/gh]

Moisturize only when your hands are very dry/cracked. Keeping them soft will just make you rip more.
I'm very prone to rips too - it never went away for me. Getting grips, and then dowel grips, did help, but I always ripped way more than my teammates. I actually noticed that I rip more when the seasons change - in the beginning of fall and the beginning of spring - maybe due to changes in air moisture.

So you might just have to deal.

 

[Press Handstands]

Thank you! Also, do any of you have tips on how to care for the rips themselves?

 

[Deleted member 17723]

Yes, when you get rips wash your hands with soap and water. When you get home, put a wet but squeezed out black tea bag on the rip with a plastic glove over it. Then put neosporin on over night. That usually does it for me. Honestly, you just need to learn to suck it up and deal; that is the only thing that truly worked for me. Palm guards on dowel grips could help but I still get rips occasionally.

 

[Vivianflips]

Don't use lotion! I have found that less contact with water helps too - shorter showers, less swimming, etc.

For me, putting lotion on my hands once a day has helped! I used to rip every practice but after starting to use lotion I rarely rip anymore! My skin is rather dry to start with though so that's probably why. Not to mention that there is a lot of chlorine in our water most of the time!

 

[Deleted member 17723]

oops... sorry... maybe I was wrong about the lotion? Idk, that is just what I thought, but I could be wrong

 

[Press Handstands]

Thank you to everyone who replied!!!
I'm going to keep this thread open for anyone else who wants to reply. I will try these out! I have a few methods I know of if anyone would like to hear them. I created this thread so I could find some new methods to figure out what works best.

 

[raenndrops]

oops... sorry... maybe I was wrong about the lotion? Idk, that is just what I thought, but I could be wrong

If hands rip because they are too dry = yes, lotion
If hands are just soft, but not too dry = no lotion
It's all a matter of context.

When my gymmies get a rip, we wash it, trim the edges, then apply hand-e balm and a latex free (latex allergy) nitrile glove. If it is particularly bad, just before bed, the hand is washed again and neosporin is substituted for the hand-e balm.

 

[Vivianflips]

oops... sorry... maybe I was wrong about the lotion? Idk, that is just what I thought, but I could be wrong

Now that I think about it, my skin is naturally very dry. So lotion helps that but I can see if your hands are already pretty mosturized lotion would not be a good idea!

 

[Press Handstands]

Thanks for the replies!! Anything else would be helpful!

 

[cadybearsmommy]

For my dd we use a pumice stone for callouses that are getting large/close to ripping and also when she has a rip and it's had a day or two to desensitize we use the pumice stone then as well to smooth the area over. Then we use Gold Bond healing lotion both before and after rips. I know some don't like lotion but it's made a world of difference for her. Best of luck to you, they aren't fun! Keep building those callouses and it will get better eventually! My dd went through a time of ripping every single week and not it's only occasionally.

 

[Press Handstands]

Thanks so much!! It has gotten a little bit better since I first posted this!

 

[Reagan_Sterling]

My sister does rowing (yes, ) and gets rips all the time,and they are really bad. She uses corn huskers lotion on her hands when she rips and it seems to help them heal a lot faster. So, I know this post as a lot of "she says", but, that should at least help a little bit. And just so you know, her rips look a lot worse than normal rips, so the corn huskers lotion should help rips really well.