Doing bars with rips?

[Mack_the_Ripper]

Hi all,
I used to rip really badly all the time. Well, it's started again. I just wanted to know what your policies are on doing bars while the girls have rips. I did USAG level 7 last year and am training 8 right now. I rip probably twice a week, and a lot of the time, I can fight through it. However, I recently got new grips so my hands have been very bad. On Wednesday I ripped at the beginning of our bars rotation - it was pretty deep and bled pretty heavily for such a small cut. I worked through it but, at the end of the rotation, ripped again (sort of a re-rip of an old one, but it also bled).

My question is about what to do when my hands are torn up like this. Yesterday I taped my hand up and tried to do bars, but because of the pain and the amount of tape that I had to use, I was having trouble shifting my wrists properly and it didn't go well. My hands bled again. Today I just did strap bar because regular bars hurt too badly. I know I should be able to fight through the pain, but I really can't. I will get up and do skills, but I don't swing hard for them and they're no good.

What can I do to avoid getting rips or help them heal faster? When I have bad rips like these, what should I do during bars? None of my teammates get rips as badly or as often as I do, so I'm losing an awful lot of productive time on bars.

 

[MaryA]

Have you tried that "rip guardian" stuff? DGS had it as their "deal of the week" not long ago, so it was $12 instead of $20. I bought some for DD, but she hasn't ripped since then (wouldn't you know it?). Her hours increase dramatically in the summer though, so I suspect it will get used then. I've also heard that putting down something like bag balm and then a cut up piece of balloon and then tape has the same effect. Truly, last year before she went off to Woodward, I made a list of every rip remedy and preventative I could find on this site and put them together into a "rip first aid kit" for her... There was tape and wrap and cut-up balloons and bag balm and antibiotic cream and hemeroid cream and a pumice stone and I don't remember what all else. According to her cabin mom, she would often have a line a her bunk of girls waiting to have their rips treated! But honestly, I just don't know how you gymnasts work through things like that. If "normal people" had cracked and bleeding hands, they'd be avoiding using their hands as much as possible rather than going back and doing the same things that caused the injury in the first place.

 

[iwannacoach]

Rub fresh garlic on it. It burns for about 10 seconds, but not anything like working bars. Try it just once, it really works. Just peel a garlic clove, cut it in half, and rub the garlic oil on it. Put some lotion on and try to keep lotion on it over night. If it isn't a lot better the next morning.......I got no where to run, just tell the whole world how wrong I was. Maybe it only works for me.

 

[Aussie_coach]

One thing I find helps a lot to train with rips is taping a balloon to your hand over the rip. One part of the ballon sticks to the hand and then the friction which would be happening between the tape and the hand happens between the two sides of the balloon so you don;t feel the friction pain. It also prevents further ripping.

 

[my4buffaloes]

My dd coats her hands with bag balm at night and wears socks to bed. it really helps her hands stay moisturized, which can prevent rips. if she has a rip, we squirt vitamin e oil on it and then a bandaid. I have also heard that you should take a pumice stone and rub all your callouses each night after your shower to help keep your hands soft. Good luck! I don't think you should do bars if your hands are bleeding. They need time to heal properly or it will only get worse.

 

[iwannacoach]

^^^^220 grit sand paper^^^^ It works great on slightly moistened skin (lotion after, not before). Rub the calloused area until the dead skin stops "balling" up, remoisten put on a towel to remove excess water, rub again as before. Do this until you "feel" the sanding action.

 

[sally]

When I use to play tennis my feet use to rip so I used epsom salts and soak them everynight for about 15-20min. It really worked.

 

[GymBee97]

My DD uses the Bag Balm at night too with cotton gloves like my4buffaloes does. It helps alot and it has antiseptic in it too. Smells bad but really works. The pumice stone after showers is a must too. to keep the dead skin from ripping again and again. in the AM DD always uses hand lotion her favorite is Aveeno.

 

[coachmolly]

Balloon pieces do indeed help with friction and can make doing bars much more manageable, but I guess it probably wouldn't be too practical if you have rips over your entire hand. If you're ripping a lot, you might want to consider what is going on with the skin on your palms. Rips will happen because of the friction between your hand and the bar, but dry skin as a result of the chalk can really compound the problem. If that is the case, the previous suggestions of lotion and socks on your hand are good possibilities to help get your hands healed. Other things like swimming and harsh soaps can also cause an increase in rips. But you don't want your hands to be super soft and smooth, either.
If your meet reason is over, it might be helpful to spend your bar rotation working on things other than heavy-swinging skills to give your hands a small break and let some of the residual rips heal and allow the skin to toughen up again. You can still work cast handstands, pirouettes, strap bar, strength and those types of things, but it sounds like maybe your skin is telling you it needs a little bit of a break to heal.