Rips, Tears and Burns...oh, my
Over the course of the past 3 days, I’ve acquired ripped hands, a giant bruise on my thigh and rope burn. One of my son's teachers saw my taped up hands and said, "oh you poor thing, what happened to you?" After I explain that I've actually chosen to do this to myself, I'm often met with confused looks or half hearted compliments like "wow, I could never do a pull-up." I think they're half scared, half impressed, mostly confused. Now, like many of you this is nothing new for me. As crossfitters, rips, tears, and burns are gonna happen but we still have life and wods to get through, so.... I thought this would be a great opportunity to talk about treating them.
Let’s start with the rope burn. Depending on how you climb the rope you might have burns on the inside of your thighs (which can sometimes be confusing to explain to your non-crossfitting significant other), outside of your lower leg or even on your hands. So what do you do? Well, that depends on the amount of tissue damage and the extent of the infection. Generally, if it is red and "angry" looking, but hasn't spread to the surrounding tissues, clean it and apply an antibacterial cream, such as Neosporin, Polysporin, etc., and bandage it with clean bandages and change the dressing at least every day (but not every hour, you'll just irritate it further).
If, though, there is oozing and pus, lots of redness and swelling, and the surrounding tissues are warmer to the touch than the healthy tissue, you should consult someone who can possibly do a better job of cleaning and dressing it or prescribe an antibiotic.
Here are some additional tips for rope burn:
Tea bags- (not to be confused with tea bagging)
When the rope burn first happens, apply something cold, like a wet tea bag. Wet tea bags have been used for many years for different skin abrasions just for the cooling sensation. Tea contains antioxidants, so it may also be that it will promote faster healing if you have a rope burn.
Aloe plants-
Aloe has long been used as a remedy for many types of skin ailments. A rope burn could be soothed with aloe, and will potentially heal faster. If you do not have aloe plants in your home, most drug stores sell topical products that contain aloe. Cover the aloe with a bandage. Change the bandage as needed, keeping the area clean. Reapply the aloe as needed with each bandage change.
Whatever you decide to do for the rope burn, be sure you get medical attention if needed. When there is a break in the skin, an infection can happen quickly, and this should not be taken lightly.
Now on to hand rips and tears
There are basically two qualities that make your hands susceptible to ripping. Your chances increase a lot if you’ve got either a) soft hands with little or no callus build-up or b) too much callus buildup that makes bumps or ridges on the surface of your hands. You need a happy medium. Keep calluses shaved down (pumice stone) to help reduce ripping.
Once you get a rip, the healing and maintenance process must begin immediately. Cut off the flap of skin with a sterile blade or nail clippers. Clean the wound with soap and water. Now is when you want to get all of that chalk and dirt out. It will sting; close the door so nobody sees or hears you crying. Now apply an antibacterial cream, such as Neosporin, Polysporin, etc. and wrap them up. I personally use pre-wrap and tape and keep them that way for about a day. Some people do the “soak your hand in warm salt water” route or if you’re really hardcore, pouring a fistful of salt into your hand and hold for a while. I’ve heard (b/c I sure as hell haven't tried it) this is extremely painful, but great for healing the wound faster.
Another tip I’ve heard about is to make a slurry out of ibuprofen and water. Take Advil tablets and crush them into a powder. Use a drop or two of water and mix in some of the powder to form a paste. Apply to open wound. It’s a cheap, but highly effective topical anesthetic. The worst part for me is showering, especially the first day. Let me suggest plastic gloves or I recently came across some waterproof tape that is awesome.
The Final Phase is the healing phase. In the evenings, put some antibiotic ointment on the wound and cover your hand with a glove or a sock to keep the ointment from getting everywhere. Apply lotion, vaseline, chapstick or antibiotic ointment a couple of times a day to keep the area from drying out and cracking. You should be back to normal in about a week.
That’s great but I want (or have) to workout before my hands are completely healed. Here’s a great video that shows you how to make some tape wraps for your hands.
Hils
Reader Comments (16)
Holding a Guinness seems to help a lot...mmmmm, Guinness
What time does FADO open?? anyone??
LOL. Dalton, I almost inserted holding a cold beer in your hand on the way home helps, but I didn't want to be promoting drinking and driving. Ha. Good call on the Guinness.
After almost 4 years of Crossfitting, I say buy some gymnastics grips, stop trying to be 'tough' about it. Using those for pull ups and gloves for rope climbs, the only thing you'll worry about is deadlifting.
I agree with Craft, live to workout another day.
Whose hands are on the left in the picture above?? They are going to need skin grafts...
There is an excellent t shirt idea in that picture somewhere, T-Rex; after we get the Roadhouse themed CFNA shirts up and running, of course..
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