Parents Hand pain

[GrayCatMom]

My DD complains that her hands hurt during bars. We got a new pair of grips hoping that would help since her old ones were wearing thin. We got the wider ones and they helped for awhile. She is level 6 working giants and kip cast handstands. After a few turns on the bars, she complains that her hands hurt... every time! She is callused but has no rips. Coach had little advice. Just to shave down the calluses so they don't rip.
Is there some routine or something (lotion/balm/oil) to put on her hands to keep them from hurting? she can't afford not to be on bars as she is still trying to get that kip-cast handstand!

Thanks in advance!

 

[John]

DD lotions once a day, usually at night. I think after swinging bars for an hour that the inevitable is sore hands. DD is 11 and has the hands of a 50-year-old stone mason.

 

[sce]

I think that she just has to push through the pain.

 

[GrayCatMom]

DD lotions once a day, usually at night. I think after swinging bars for an hour that the inevitable is sore hands. DD is 11 and has the hands of a 50-year-old stone mason.

Any certain type of lotion?

 

[GrayCatMom]

I think that she just has to push through the pain.

I agree but when I tell her that but she looks at my like I have three eyes! What do moms know?!

 

[gymgal]

What exactly does she mean by her hands hurt? Are her palms burning/feel like they are raw? Do her fingers hurt at the knuckles or along the whole length of the fingers? Do the back of her hands hurt? These would all have different causes and treatments. Try to pinpoint the pain for her.

 

[John]

Just her favorite thick moisturizing lotion. Coach says tough but not dry is what he wants. They have to wash their hands after bars as well.

 

[Madden3]

DD is 11 and has the hands of a 50-year-old stone mason.

ha yes.

OP, Assuming this is topical pain, I am wondering what she is actually doing to "shave down" the callus? What tool is she using? No matter what she is using, could she be shaving too far or (if using a pumice stone or similar) rubbing too hard, or "shaving" too often, and not only further irritating the skin but preventing a "good size" callus to form? While a very thick, rough callus might lead to a bad rip, too little callus is also a problem. Generally my sons try to maintain a "good size" callus with a smooth, rounded shape.

To ease topical pain of sore hands, the routine my sons have done when their hands were sore is lotion put on after every hand washing during the day, (when they remembered) and then at night, putting a nice barrier ointment layer on the palms and wear cotton socks over the hands to bed. We have also found coconut oil helpful but the kids did not care for the greasiness. (Good barrier ointments are basically anything you might use for diaper rash.) We have found lanolin base or petroleum base ointments work the best but I imagine a good plant base diaper ointment would work fine as well. Barrier ointments work by "holding in" the skin's natural moisture and this speeds healing.

This is a little far out there, but in my opinion, a little topical anti-biotic ointment (or again, coconut oil- natural anti-biotic) rubbed into the hands once a day may help and could not hurt. When skin is dry and rough or irritated, tiny fissures can open up and bacteria can grow there, adding to the pain.

And YES to washing chalk off hands asap.

 

[Mama Duck]

My daughter puts this on her hands every night at bed time and it works great. It’s not cheap but it lasts a long time.

Link Removed

 

[duyetanh]

They are all so different. If my kid uses lotion, she rips. So her palms are like an 80 year old construction worker. Every time we try any kind of moisturizer it is a nightmare. So we just. Don’t. Go. There.

 

[tpMom]

I just asked my daughter - a 9 year old level 6/7, she told me that her hands hurt every time she does bars. Having the skin on a gymnast's hands hurt after bars is normal. Having their wrists, joints, back of the hand hurting is less normal. I think every kid has a different pain threshold and a different amount of information they share with their parents. For instance, my kid will walk around with a Sever's flare up for a week and won't tell me anything until I notice that she's walking funny. She has literally never mentioned her hands hurting on bars, other than to casually point out a disgusting rip here or there, but when I asked her if her hands hurt during bars she looked at me like I was crazy - of course her hands hurt every day on bars. So, if my kid started complaining about pain on bars - I would take it very seriously .

On the other hand, my second daughter lets me know about every ache/pain/creaking noise she experiences in a day. I've heard about every hang nail, every scratchy throat, every headache that she's ever had. It's not that she's less tough than her sister, she just communicates about her day differently. I think you need to evaluate your own child and figure out what level of communication is normal for her. If she never complains but says her hands hurt, maybe take it a little bit more seriously than if she comes home from every practice with a list of discomforts.

 

[sce]

I agree but when I tell her that but she looks at my like I have three eyes! What do moms know?!

How old is she? Maybe teach her about friction? Explain how that effects her hands but that if she wants to do bars it's just part of it.. Then also explain the difference between soreness (ie sore palms, sore muscles) and injury pain. Soreness means you are working hard and you will get tougher/stronger. Injury pain means you need to stop and get it taken care of.

 

[GrayCatMom]

What exactly does she mean by her hands hurt? Are her palms burning/feel like they are raw? Do her fingers hurt at the knuckles or along the whole length of the fingers? Do the back of her hands hurt? These would all have different causes and treatments. Try to pinpoint the pain for her.

She said it mostly hurts where the calluses are and her palms. That it feels like they are burning.

 

[GrayCatMom]

ha yes.

OP, Assuming this is topical pain, I am wondering what she is actually doing to "shave down" the callus? What tool is she using? No matter what she is using, could she be shaving too far or (if using a pumice stone or similar) rubbing too hard, or "shaving" too often, and not only further irritating the skin but preventing a "good size" callus to form? While a very thick, rough callus might lead to a bad rip, too little callus is also a problem. Generally my sons try to maintain a "good size" callus with a smooth, rounded shape.

To ease topical pain of sore hands, the routine my sons have done when their hands were sore is lotion put on after every hand washing during the day, (when they remembered) and then at night, putting a nice barrier ointment layer on the palms and wear cotton socks over the hands to bed. We have also found coconut oil helpful but the kids did not care for the greasiness. (Good barrier ointments are basically anything you might use for diaper rash.) We have found lanolin base or petroleum base ointments work the best but I imagine a good plant base diaper ointment would work fine as well. Barrier ointments work by "holding in" the skin's natural moisture and this speeds healing.

This is a little far out there, but in my opinion, a little topical anti-biotic ointment (or again, coconut oil- natural anti-biotic) rubbed into the hands once a day may help and could not hurt. When skin is dry and rough or irritated, tiny fissures can open up and bacteria can grow there, adding to the pain.

And YES to washing chalk off hands asap.

Thanks for all the great info. She has a pumice and a corn/callus shaver. Although I suspect she isn't very vigilant about doing either. She had a private today and she got a tiny blood blister. Coach said she needed to work on filing the calluses when he looked at it. I'll get her to start doing the ointment or lotion and see if that helps.

 

[GrayCatMom]

My daughter puts this on her hands every night at bed time and it works great. It’s not cheap but it lasts a long time.

Link Removed

Sound so like that might help. Willing to try anything at this point! Thanks!

 

[GrayCatMom]

How old is she? Maybe teach her about friction? Explain how that effects her hands but that if she wants to do bars it's just part of it.. Then also explain the difference between soreness (ie sore palms, sore muscles) and injury pain. Soreness means you are working hard and you will get tougher/stronger. Injury pain means you need to stop and get it taken care of.

She is 12. Good advice. She will be able to understand that and might encourage her to push through it as I'm pretty sure it's just soreness!

 

[GrayCatMom]

I just asked my daughter - a 9 year old level 6/7, she told me that her hands hurt every time she does bars. Having the skin on a gymnast's hands hurt after bars is normal. Having their wrists, joints, back of the hand hurting is less normal. I think every kid has a different pain threshold and a different amount of information they share with their parents. For instance, my kid will walk around with a Sever's flare up for a week and won't tell me anything until I notice that she's walking funny. She has literally never mentioned her hands hurting on bars, other than to casually point out a disgusting rip here or there, but when I asked her if her hands hurt during bars she looked at me like I was crazy - of course her hands hurt every day on bars. So, if my kid started complaining about pain on bars - I would take it very seriously .

On the other hand, my second daughter lets me know about every ache/pain/creaking noise she experiences in a day. I've heard about every hang nail, every scratchy throat, every headache that she's ever had. It's not that she's less tough than her sister, she just communicates about her day differently. I think you need to evaluate your own child and figure out what level of communication is normal for her. If she never complains but says her hands hurt, maybe take it a little bit more seriously than if she comes home from every practice with a list of discomforts.

She is probably somewhere in between your two. She has had hip and ankle problems but usually ices and goes on. But she usually backs off on bars when Her hands start hurting. She starts shaking them and usually just does the floor strength stations on bars from then on. It might be psychological too as she is struggling get the kip cast handstand and blames her hands somewhat. I have no idea but it sounds like hurting hands is normal and she needs to learn to cope.

 

[sce]

She is probably somewhere in between your two. She has had hip and ankle problems but usually ices and goes on. But she usually backs off on bars when Her hands start hurting. She starts shaking them and usually just does the floor strength stations on bars from then on. It might be psychological too as she is struggling get the kip cast handstand and blames her hands somewhat. I have no idea but it sounds like hurting hands is normal and she needs to learn to cope.

If she stops whenever it hurts her hands they will not continue to toughen up. As well, New skills can put new different pressure on the hands and therefore more pain and rips. When my Ds was learning giants, he got so many terrible rips.