Gymnastics Rips on Hands: Causes, Care, and Prevention
Gymnastics rips on the hands. It’s not a question of if, but when. Here’s a typical scenario:
Your son or daughter is gung-ho about their gymnastics progress. They have worked hard and are so close to getting their kip on bars. Chalked up and ready to go for one more round, they extend, lift their toes…then yell and jump off.
A look at the palm of their hand reveals a flap of skin torn off and little pool of blood forming. And then the sting sets in. The young gymnast has just been initiated into the effects of bar friction!
Despite every attempt to prevent gymnastics rips, at some point in a gymnast’s career she will experience rips on the hands. For the beginner gymnast, rips usually happen because the hands are not yet toughened for working on bars. More advanced gymnasts usually rip because of long bar practices or because they did not tend to the calluses on their hands.
- What causes these annoying rips?
- How do you care for them once they occur?
- What can you do to help prevent them from happening?
We’ll cover each question and then give a few product recommendations at the end. Let’s get started!
What Causes Gymnastics Rips?
If you remember your third grade science, friction occurs when two surfaces slide over each other. You may have done the experiment of rubbing two sticks together. Chances are you didn’t rub enough to start a fire, but you probably wore some of the bark away. Skin is like that bark. Too much rubbing on the top layer of skin pulls it away from the blood-filled lower layer forming a blister. If blood or water fills the blister, watch out! A rip is on the way!
Beginning gymnasts may be gripping the bar so tightly that they prevent their hands from sliding easily around the bar. Poor form also contributes to friction. As a gymnast learns the correct technique involved in each movement, she knows when and how to make hand adjustments.
Gymnasts eventually develop tougher skin layers and form calluses, which is good. However, if they are not taking proper care of those calluses, they become large and thick. Sooner or later they rip off, leaving a nice bloody hole in its place. No more bar work until that hole is healed!
Dry hands are also prone to ripping. Dry skin is already predisposed to cracking. With the added friction, it doesn’t take much to turn those cracks into rips. Chalk helps to decrease the friction between the gymnast’s hand and the bar, but it is also very drying to the skin.
Now that you understand how rips occur, let’s move on to caring for them.
How to Care for Gymnastics Rips
As a gymnast, you’ll become much more aware of the condition of your hands than ever before. But even elite athletes who take great pains to keep their hands rip-free still get gymnastics rips. When they occur, follow these steps to help your hands heal as quickly as possible.
*Reminder: Before you run off, unless it’s a severe rip, please take a minute to clean off the bar of any blood or make sure someone can do it for you!
1. Clean the wound. As soon as you get a rip, wash your hands using soap. It will sting! Running the water sideways across your hand rather than directly on top of the rip will lessen the pain a bit.
2. Trim loose skin. If you received a full rip and there is a flap of skin hanging, use sterilized scissors or nail clippers and cut as close to your had as possible. Ask your coach or another person for help if needed.
3. Apply a skin balm. Immediately apply a skin balm to keep the rip from getting infected and to prevent it from drying out. Apply it every hour or two the first few days and then as often as needed until the wound is healed. If the rip dries out, it will crack and/or break open again and you’ll be out even longer. Be diligent during this healing process. Keep it moist!
4. Cover the rip. Keep the wound covered and moisturized with the skin balm until it is healed. Again, the new skin must stay moist while it heals.
5. Keep the hand open. The natural position of the hand is slightly cupped. When the rip is in its beginning phase of healing, try to keep it open with fingers extended. If the wound begins to heal in the hand’s natural position, when you stretch it open, the rip is likely to reopen.The first night or two after you apply skin balm and cover it with gauze, use a small splint taped to the back of your wrist and around your four fingers. A dowel rod, spoon, or even a pencil will do. You can also put a sock over your hand to keep moisture in and then add the splint to make it a little less irritating.
6. Additional helps:
- Tea bags with tannins. Natural tannins in plant extracts are effective antibacterial and antioxidant that promote wound healing. Place a cooled bag of black or green tea on the gymnastics rip for 15-20 minutes. The tannins help stimulate the healing process as well as relieve some of the pain.
- Vitamin E. This vitamin is often used for wound healing. It is an anti-oxidant and promotes the growth of connective tissue. Puncture the gel capsule with a pin and put a few drops directly on the wound. For a double whammy, place the black tea bag over it. Be sure to purchase a high quality vitamin E brand.
How to Prevent Gymnastics Rips
The truth is, some athletes are more prone to gymnastics rips than others. Those unlucky ones cannot afford to slack off on caring for their hands. But don’t think you’re immune to them either! At some point it’s likely to happen if you work on bars. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so here’s your prevention measures.
1. Blisters often appear before a rip occurs. This is your hand telling you to take it easy! Better to stop while ahead than to continue and be out for several days or more with a rip. When you see a blister has formed, it’s best to pop it. Wash your hand then take a sterilized needle or pin and poke a small hole in the skin. Gently squeeze the blood or water out. Cover with balm and a bandaid or gauze and tape.
2. Calluses are good! You need a layer of toughened skin to help prevent rips. But when the skin gets too thick, it’s time for a filing. When your callus begins to look dry and feels rough, that’s a sign it needs attention. Flatten it down and round it out with a pumice stone until it feels smooth without any ridges and is about the same height as the rest of your hand. There’s no magical method on how to heal calluses fast, so practice prevention!
3. Moisturize after every workout. This cannot be emphasized enough! Remember – we love our chalk but it also dries out the hands. Use your skin balm after you wash your hands at the end of a workout and before bed. Keep it in your gym bag.
4. Grips are like your favorite pair of jeans for the hands! Once you begin serious bar training with longer more frequent bar rotations, it’s time to invest in grips. Gymnastics rips may still occur, but grips will minimize the friction. Your coach will recommend a brand as will teammates who have been using them for years.
5. Establish a regular hand care routine. This is probably the most effective way to prevent hand rips. Get in the habit early of washing hands, filing, and moisturizing after every practice. At night, after showering or soaking hands in warm water, use your pumice stone when you notice calluses. Don’t overdue the filing. You need them, but not the big, thick ones.
Caring For Gymnastics Rips During a Meet
The worst time to rip? In the middle of a great bar routine during a meet! Everything is going along perfectly and suddenly, without warning, it happens – you rip! What do you do now? Depending on the severity of the tear, you have two choices.
- If it’s especially bloody and painful, you may need to quit.
- If not, you can quickly follow these steps and try to finish the routine.
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- Remove your grip and quickly wipe around the rip.
- Trim skin if needed.
- Add a dab of balm.
- Make a tape grip.
- Replace your grip.
Be prepared ahead of time for these disasters! Have a rip kit in your bag with a premade tape grip, balm, clippers, tape, and wipes (for you and to clean off the bar)! Your coach could have you back up on the bar in seconds if you come prepared. Your hand may still hurt, but at least it will be protected and less likely to rip further.
Recommended Products for Gymnastics Rips
These are only recommendations! Please research and make what you feel is the best choice. Talk to your coach. Though most rips will heal within 3-5 days with proper home care, please consult a medical professional if the rip is severe, is not healing, or looks as though it may be infected.
Skin Balms
Pumice Stones
Grips
There are lots of options for grips! Talk to your coach and your teammates about what is best and why they like them, then do some searching yourself. Grips do differ! Here are some brands to check out:
Bailie, Ten.0, U.S. Glove, WODies, JAWs, and the Natural Grip™.
Conclusion
That first gymnastics rip can be pretty traumatic for the beginning gymnast. Especially if it’s a nasty bloody one. If you’re the parent reading this and your child is gung-ho about their gymnastics, take some time to go over this with them. Let them know ripped hands are probably inevitable. Get them started on a basic hand care routine of washing and moisturizing after practice and to watch their hands for calluses. They will be much less likely to freak out when that first rip occurs since they’ll know what to do.
Getting a rip on the hand is not a reason to quit gymnastics anymore than getting a bee sting on the foot is a reason never to go barefoot again. Be informed, take reasonable precautions, and do what you love…gymnastics!
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At EmethGym, our coaches are equipped to handle all kinds of injuries. Our in-house training is ongoing so staff are always learning and staying updated on protocols for all kinds of possible injuries. Safe gym practices are part of our gym curriculum. Our progressional program has been carefully designed to help students move safely through levels at a pace equal to their strength and skill abilities.
If you are looking for gymnastics classes near you and live in Northeast Ohio, we offer free trials in a class of your choice.
About EmethGym
Kids gymnastics classes are fun and full of new experiences! But they should be more than that. It’s hard to find fun activities that will also challenge kids to grow both inside and out. A good gymnastics program understands that and creates an environment for that to happen. The best programs take time to develop written curriculums to achieve that goal.
At EmethGym, we use caring coaches, character training, and focus on individual progress. Our coaches receive regular safety and gymnastics training. They also focus on applying our unique character training program during each class. As a result, we’ve been producing confident, fit, young leaders since 2000. To learn more about the Emeth Way, click here.
