UKC

palm blisters from indoor bouldering

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 pebbles 29 Jun 2017
I'm quite little, so when I boulder at my local indoor wall, I need to do a lot of dynamic moves and swinging around to do the bigger moves, and also quite often to shift my grip on the holds in between catching them and then turning my hand round to push off to the next . The problem with this is that I tend to end up with the skin worn away in the palm of my hands by the end of the session, like little stigmata. Any idea how to deal with this? Not doing big moves isnt an option - I'd never get up anything at all.
 nniff 29 Jun 2017
In reply to pebbles:

You probably need to work on your core strength so that you don't swing as much, and make a concerted effort not to move a weighted hand. Almost certainly easier said than done
 peppermill 29 Jun 2017
In reply to pebbles:

Wee bit of vaseline before 'warming up' maybe? ;p
 Timmd 29 Jun 2017
In reply to pebbles:
In the end I developed callouses on my hands as a young teenager in the 90's, which 'worked' in stopping my skin from peeling. Other than developing good core strength or different general technique, Climb On cream or similar might help? I didn't really mind having callouses on my hands but some people can do.

Less swinging about is possibly helpful towards avoiding injury, but that could depend on how used to that your body is already perhaps.

Edit: Thick finger tape across your palms might help?
Post edited at 18:44
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 Timmd 29 Jun 2017
In reply to pebbles:
As a keen teen male youth I quite liked having callouses I think.
Post edited at 18:45
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OP pebbles 30 Jun 2017
In reply to peppermill:
slightly bemused...loads of likes for this, but wont it just make my hands incredibly slippery so I cant hold slopers? unless you mean just over the bit which gets worn...which tbh would be fairly easy to pinpoint by the pink newly healed skin each time!
wee bit of finger tape just round the bit that gets worn might be worth a try too. agree that better lock off strength etc would help but in order to develop that I need to work on exactly the routes that are giving me stigmata ! so I need to try some interim things
Post edited at 08:27
 jelaby 30 Jun 2017
In reply to pebbles:
Just because you might find problems easier by having better core strength, doesn't necessarily mean you will get better core strength by doing those problems - I find that I tend to compensate by using my existing strengths instead.

You need to work on that core strength specifically, by doing problems where you use it, or specific training. The Cafe Kraft book "Get Kraft" had a load of games that you can play, like climbing where you can only use a handing after you have touched it with a foot, or dropping both feet then relaxing them on every single foot movement. These games feel, too me, sufficiently like actual climbing that I actually enjoy it.
Post edited at 08:59
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 Timmd 30 Jun 2017
In reply to pebbles:
I think there may be a laddish joke relating to Vaseline on the palms of the hands, which isn't very helpful for you.
Post edited at 09:36
 Fraser 30 Jun 2017
In reply to pebbles:

> I'm quite little ....Not doing big moves isnt an option - I'd never get up anything at all.

How tall (or short) are you?

 C4T 30 Jun 2017
In reply to pebbles:

As frustrating as it is having to wait, make sure to give your hands time to heal. If you keep climbing on them when they are 'raw', you won't be able to build up tougher skin in that area. When you do build up tougher skin, file any rough edges regularly so they don't catch and get pulled off. Using cream like MonkeyFist and ClimbOn is great to aid healing, keep your skin in good condition, without softening it too much.
 Tony Jones 30 Jun 2017
In reply to sabriel:

And always wear your marigolds when doing the washing up. Too much immersion in water does nothing for toughening up your hands.
 peppermill 30 Jun 2017
In reply to pebbles:

whoosh!
 Tony Jones 30 Jun 2017
In reply to Tony Jones:

> And always wear your marigolds when doing the washing up. Too much immersion in water does nothing for toughening up your hands.

Um, I should add that my comment was a general observation and not meant to be directed at members of any particular gender group. `Personally, I have found that wearing marigolds (the cheap unlined rubber gloves are a false economy) whilst doing the dishes have certainly helped toughen up my hands.
 slab_happy 30 Jun 2017
In reply to Tony Jones:

Indeed, was it not the great Ron Fawcett who was reputed to be a user of marigolds (in the bath)?
 planetmarshall 30 Jun 2017
In reply to pebbles:

> The problem with this is that I tend to end up with the skin worn away in the palm of my hands by the end of the session, like little stigmata. Any idea how to deal with this?

Not sure. What would Jesus do?
OP pebbles 30 Jun 2017
In reply to planetmarshall:

no point asking him, he had huge bloody great stigmata! could walk on water apparently, but no record of him having done anything significant on grit
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OP pebbles 01 Jul 2017
In reply to Timmd:

Ok got the idea re the vaseline. In the end I tried tape round the hand just enough to cover the worn bits (had to renew it three times during the session). Then tried to change the way I used big holds, made.myself use fingers more rather than putting my whole hand round them. Worked well on overhanging jugs, less succesful on slopers. But I left the session with no new holes in my hands. Guess my liking for thuggy overhangs doesn't help . On t'other hand trying harder routes with smaller holds might not cause the same problem.
 Fraser 01 Jul 2017
In reply to pebbles:

> I'm quite little ....Not doing big moves isnt an option - I'd never get up anything at all.

How tall (or short) are you?
OP pebbles 01 Jul 2017
In reply to Fraser:

About 163 cm. Not hugely short, but does mean I often have to swing for big reaches.
 stp 02 Jul 2017
In reply to pebbles:

How much to do your palms sweat? I find sweat increases the skin wear rate tremendously. If you've got sweaty palms you could think about using chalk with a drying agent or using antihydral.

Secondly if it's your palms it means you must be climbing on big holds quite a bit. It depends on your wall but hopefully there should be plenty of problems (usually the majority of problems) using smaller holds. These won't involve using your palms at all. So simply spend less time on jugs.
 duchessofmalfi 02 Jul 2017
Ah, stump cream for hard, glassy smooth, low friction skin. No more blisters because you'll shine right off the holds!
 Fraser 02 Jul 2017
In reply to pebbles:

> About 163 cm. Not hugely short...

Okay, so it's clearly not really a height issue as plenty of other [shorter] climbers / boulderers don't have the same skin problem as you have and can still 'do big moves'. It's therefore either technique, a particular skin problem, or bad luck in choice of boulder problems, which are repeatedly causing blistering in a very usual part of the body for a climber.

As stp said above, spend less time on jugs and your palm skin won't come into contact nearly as much as it is does now.

 Graham Booth 02 Jul 2017
In reply to pebbles:

Cut down on the lard???
OP pebbles 02 Jul 2017
In reply to Graham Booth:

You're right Graham, larding the holds was probably causing the problem by leading me to slip off unexpectedly. I've had a little chat with someone who informed me most climbers prefer to use chalk instead. I knew I was doing something wrong!

In the meantime the suggestion to use a bit of tape worked well for me the other evening. Yay, who says you don't get constructive suggestions on UKC any more .
 rocksol 03 Jul 2017
In reply to slab_happy:

No Geoff Bartlesville said he did
 Timmd 05 Jul 2017
In reply to pebbles:

Seems to be the thing all injured climbers warn others about, but perhaps take it gradually in climbing harder things on smaller holds, would be annoyed to change climbing to avoid palm blisters and end up injured.

Indoor bouldering can be intensive.
 Graham Booth 05 Jul 2017
In reply to pebbles:

Rookie mistake!!
OP pebbles 05 Jul 2017
In reply to Timmd:

Exactly, timmd.

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