UKC

I've been climbing a few times now. Last night I went to my local bouldering wall for the first time and perhaps my hands aren't yet hardened to gripping onto small rough edges because it ripped the skin off my fingers.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v424/peterbone/skin_issue.jpg

Will my skin harden to this? Can I tape it up and go climbing tomorrow or should I wait for it to heal?

In reply to Juggler13:
yes to any option.
The skin will harden up in time, you can always tape them up as well and chalk is useful for drying out these little blisters when they remain wet.

In reply to Juggler13:
Mine look like that on pretty much every joint of my fingers.
The problem is it hardens between sessions then it doesn't bend and just tears again.
Chalk just dries them out and hardens them up, you want them bendy but tough not rigid and hard.
I've found washing your hands immediately after finishing and the Norwegian formula hand cream an hour before (do it's not too greasy)and immediately after the session then once or twice a day.

In reply to Juggler13:
Your skin will harden but use hand cream to keep the skin flexible and sand off any calluses with fine grade sand paper to avoid tearing as much as possible.

In reply to Juggler13: wee on yourself apparently is good for hardening skin.

In reply to Juggler13:

I slather Climb-On all over my tips before going to bed - expensive, but it really does work.

http://www.climbonproducts.com/

In reply to Juggler13:
It will harden, my hands were ripped when I first started climbing, your skin's just not used to it.

In reply to Juggler13:
I've noticed that indoor bouldering is the worst for hands, so I try to mix up my climbing with outdoor on different rock- "a change is (almost) as good as a rest" your skin will get harder, but dont over do it because you will only have to nurture a more serious injury.

In reply to Juggler13: Ive only been climbing for a couple of months and that always used to happen to me but I managed to do it on every single finger joint. I found that when i couldnt go climbing for about 2 weeks due to being on holiday, my hands had time to heal properly and now they seem to be tougher. But i find that bouldering on overhanging problems still makes them abit tender so i try to stop before i get to the skin being pulled off stage.

I also found that when the skin was like that putting tape on made it hurt alot less for climbing (but the guy in the shop told me that this isnt what tape should be used for).

So I would suggest that if you really want to go climb then put some tape on, but if you can wait then rest your fingers and take it easy on them until they toughen up.

In reply to Juggler13:

Climb through it, don't tape it, just chalk it!