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Fitness

Hand Care 102: Treating Rips

You work out hard and occasionally you do some serious damage to your hands. Last week we talked about how to prevent rips to the skin on your palms, but what happens once a rip occurs?

Becca Borawski

Written by Becca Borawski Last updated on August 16, 2011

You work out hard and occasionally you do some serious damage to your hands. Last week we talked about how to prevent rips to the skin on your palms, but what happens once a rip has occurred? What can you do to heal quickly and safely?

Wash It Out

The first thing to do when your hand rips is clean it out well. It is going to be painful, but wash it out with warm water and soap. Depending on the environment, you may also want to rinse it with Iodine.

Trim Excess Skin

If the skin is torn in a way it is going to catch and rip further, use sterilized scissors and trim the excess skin away. If the tear is small, more like a burst blister, than leave the skin to protect the healthy flesh underneath.

Bandage and Keep Moist

The key to healing quickly and to minimizing pain is to keep the wound site moist. Use a product with Vitamin E, if possible; otherwise anything from Vaseline to Bag Balm will do the trick. Keeping the rip moist will prevent it from drying and tearing further. If you have cracked open a dried wound, you know it is very painful and causes healing to take much longer.

Bag It Overnight

One trick many gymnasts use, and I have taken advantage of myself, is to wear gloves or plastic bags over my hands overnight. It keeps your hands moisturized and also helps prevent you from spreading lotion all over your bedding.

Folk Remedies

If you look around the Internet you will find a large variety of folk remedies for ripped hands. The sport of gymnastics has been dealing with this problem for many decades. Two of the most common suggestions are tea bags and Preparation H. It is possible the tannic acids in tea help the healing process, but using them is a bit messy. Preparation H is more useful. It can help with swelling and more importantly has a mild anesthetic quality that may provide temporary relief.

Synthetic Skin

You have ripped your hand, but you want to keep training. What can you do? Three different options are quick and easy.

The first option is to use liquid New Skin to create a tough, synthetic layer over your rip. Be aware, New Skin sticks to healthy skin, too, and if it starts to peal off you do not want to pull on it.

The second option is to use a synthetic skin patch. There are a number of different brands and they work with varying success.

Lastly, you can always use the same leather grips you wore when you were trying to prevent your rips. Keep your rips moisturized and bandaged and wear the leather grips over the bandage.

But, remember the best way to deal with rips is to prevent them. Take good, daily care of your hand and keep sanding down your calluses.

Becca Borawski

About Becca Borawski

Becca found her way to a career in health and fitness through Martial Arts and CrossFit. Originally a music editor for film and television, Becca started studying Martial Arts in 2000. Though she started with traditional Martial Arts it was not long before she discovered Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and her path was forever altered. She began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and Muay Thai and started working with professional MMA fighters, building websites, working on fight promotions, and producing videos.

As a competitor in BJJ herself, Becca wanted to get stronger and fitter. In 2006 she discovered CrossFit and became a student at CrossFit Los Angeles. In only a couple of years she became CrossFit Level III Certified, left her career in the film industry, and dedicated herself full time to coaching. She has since been certified through CrossFit in Olympic Lifting, Powerlifting, Nutrition, Endurance and Kids coaching. She also held an NSCA-CSCS from 2006-2008 and is a certified IndoRow instructor. In addition to coaching adults, she founded the CrossFit LA Kids program in 2010 and taught children aged 5-17.

Becca regularly takes on new sports, which have included indoor rowing, fencing, and most recently, cycling, as she believes it makes her both a better athlete and a better coach. In order to reach more people with her coaching, Becca also created ModernAthena.com – a website dedicated to women in pursuit of physical fitness and self-improvement.

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