WAG Rips!!

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I have searched for this in the forum and have come across a lot of great posts, but none of them speaks directly to what I need, so here goes:

DD's hands are TORE UP from swinging bars! I mean chewed to pieces tore up. She looks like she has lumberjack hands. Her coach says 'awesome' 'amazing' 'beautiful' etc. She is devastated. I know her coach means that the rips are the evidence of someone really working bars, but seriously. What do I do for her? I've gotten a couple of regimens from other posts here and we're going to try them to see which one works best/she prefers, etc.

But in the meantime...

How the heck do we tape up her hands so bars doesn't become a bloody mess? She taped them today but the tape kept coming off (I guess tape doesn't stick well to chalk?). For coaches, what do you recommend? Long time gymnasts, what has worked for you?

(DD is 11 and is training 8/9 skills on bars, if this info is relevant).
 
I'm guessing she is not using grips then? Some of my girls make "tape grips". By using white hockey tape they cut a strip and then cut another strip to put the sticky sides together. At the one end cut a hole to fit either her middle or ring finger. Put it on then tape it to the wrist (mine use sweat bands to tape them too). This seemed to help a little bit. When their hands are really soft they usually rip easily. I tell my girls before a competition not to bath, swim, do dishes,etc so that their hands aren't as soft. Hope you can understand what I am saying! Good luck!
 
She does use grips. Her rips are mostly on her fingers, wrists (those are the ones she says really hurt the most), and the first and last pads where her fingers join onto her hands. She has one healing that is right smack in the center of one of her palms and she said she got that from bars warm up (coach nixes grips for this part of bars) because they're doing just cast handstand (but they do an ungodly amount of them as he says everything on bars is about the cast to handstand). Is this where she is getting the rips? If so, I can maybe see if he'll allow her to tape her hands up for that....or maybe she should just be taping her hands up anyway?
 
Most of my girls rips are on the palms of their hands and they will wear these tape grips underneath their grips and seems to help a bit. I would tape her fingers where they are ripping as well as long as coach is ok with it. I have no problem with my girls taping their hands where they need too
 
For her wrists, cover the in duoderm then pre-wrap and then athletic tape. On top of that have her use wristguards. For the fingers duoderm then athletic tape.

http://www.amazon.com/DuoDERM-Extra-Thin-CGF-Dressing/dp/B0002DMANU
http://www.amazon.com/Mueller-2119-...&qid=1437628312&sr=1-1&keywords=athletic+tape
http://www.amazon.com/Mueller-Rainb...&qid=1437628337&sr=1-3&keywords=athletic+tape

Done right the tape should stay on the fingers as my ds often has to tape a finger and still has the tape on when he gets home.

For new rips, have her use tea bags to toughen the skin.

I agree too, for the palms tape grips really help when the skin is raw.
 
Tape grips are life savers! I teach all my girls how to make them so when they rip they immediately know what to do. I have one girl that literally rips almost every week, and she is so grateful for tape grips, haha! They can be pre-made for practice and kept handy in the gymnast's gym bag, and are great to wear for when rips are still in the healing process, too. They can also be worn under normal grips, and can be made to be thin or wide. I can post a video if you like.
 
Another vote for tape grips! Neither of mine rips much any more, but both swear by tape grips.

For dealing with the ones that are already there, yes to teabags, but you can also try Carmex and/or Vitamin E oil. Make sure she's keeping them clean so they don't get infected.

I'm wondering about the wrists though -- is there something odd about how her grips are fitting or how she's wearing them? Or is she doing a ton of strap work? Both DD and DS usually use their wristbands when they do a lot of strap bar stuff. (If it's just a short turn to fix something quickly, then usually not.)
 
Another vote for tape grips! Neither of mine rips much any more, but both swear by tape grips.

For dealing with the ones that are already there, yes to teabags, but you can also try Carmex and/or Vitamin E oil. Make sure she's keeping them clean so they don't get infected.

I'm wondering about the wrists though -- is there something odd about how her grips are fitting or how she's wearing them? Or is she doing a ton of strap work? Both DD and DS usually use their wristbands when they do a lot of strap bar stuff. (If it's just a short turn to fix something quickly, then usually not.)

D's wrists rips too. Usually after a lot of strap, even with wrist bands. Those are the worst.
 
Tape grips are the bomb. Also the lifesaver. My kid's hands don't fit yet in her 000 real ones...which incidently, really ticks her off...
 
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Prewrap under tape. Always worked for me. To heal, I usually do neosporin with a black tea bag (with liquid drained) on top with a surgery glove. Hope she heals fast.
 
My dd gets terrible rips on her wrists. What works well for her during practice is Vaseline on the rips, with one of those padded blister band aids over it, then prewrap and tape. It keeps the pain to a minimum and keeps it fairly clean. Outside of practice she likes to keep it clean and uncovered in order to air it out and dry it up. One thing that seems to exacerbate these rips is when she uses wristbands that are "crusty" aka disgustingly dirty and sandpaper-like. I am constantly nagging her to bring them home to be washed because when they get all chalky and stuff they are much harder on the skin. Hope that helps!
 
Tis the season for rips.

All our girls are taped at some during the week.

What helps tape grips. We have at least a dozen premade in her gym bag at any given time. PS notice I said helps not prevents.

Next maintenance.

Pumice the callus and lotion regulary. The tough skin is going to happen and should its protective. What you don't want it the callus to toughen/harden so much it rips.

Pumice and lotion
 
Thank you so much for all the feedback!

She said what worked best for her is Vaseline and the blister band aid, with pre wrap (2x around), stretchy gauze-like tape (1x around), and finally regular athletic tape. I think this will be her regimen for bars, rips or not, as the ones on her wrist hurt her more than the others (I think her hands are pretty well used to rips now and that skin has toughened up a bit; her wrists, not so much yet).


One thing that seems to exacerbate these rips is when she uses wristbands that are "crusty" aka disgustingly dirty and sandpaper-like. I am constantly nagging her to bring them home to be washed because when they get all chalky and stuff they are much harder on the skin.

Yes to this! She has about 6 pairs of wristbands; he is allowed only one in her bag each week, they get washed and recycled and she takes a 'new' (clean) pair each week. Thus, she only uses each pair one week out of every 6 (her competition wrist bands stay in her competition bag and get washed after each meet).
 

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