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Flaking fingertips
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 1:36 pm
by diggum
Yes...I'm concerned about my hands...again.
So after the bouldering trip, the tips I had left were really tough. That's fine. Now...they're flaking off. This has happened before, but what I have a question about is these holes.
It's not just flaking off, it's through a couple layers like a blister that popped & is now drying up. There were never blisters.
So the question is...
What do I do with them? Can I file the dead skin away? What do y'all do?
I know this is an ignorant question so let's just forget that part & figure out how to care for my o' so delicate hands.
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 2:12 pm
by Meadows
Sugar or salt scrub that has natural oils.
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 2:20 pm
by longlegsrule
leave it alone and let it do it's own thing...it's gross but guess what...it means you're a climber!!!
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 3:10 pm
by dhoyne
Dremel on low speed with a sanding disc.
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 3:27 pm
by diggum
dhoyne, best advice yet. thanks.
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 3:55 pm
by skychick
Eat More Gummie-Bears!
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 5:13 pm
by dhoyne
diggum wrote:dhoyne, best advice yet. thanks.
Hey, it's what a manicurist does, you might as well do it yourself for free.
Oh, I can't emphasise LOW SPEED enough. Too fast = you'll burn your fingers.
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 5:13 pm
by tomdarch
I've always called it "molting" (I guess that the worst thing is when I absent mindedly peel some skin off in public - I have no idea what the people around me think is going on with my hands...) I'll get it when I build up my skin, then can't climb for a while. But I have had those 'holes' on my fingertips - usually, they're OK, but once in a while, when I climb, they'll peel back and expose some more sensitve inner-layer skin - but it's never been a big problem.
Franklin used to sell a skin care kit with a sort of 'cheese grater' doodad for serious skin filing. I think that you can get something similar for heel calouses. You can use something along these lines (or a pumice stone or, yes, even a power tool) to keep your skin under control before it goes into the 'molting' cycle.
But all in all, it's no big deal, and yes, it makes you an official badass climber!
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 5:19 pm
by marathonmedic
Pumice stone.
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 5:53 pm
by diggum
Tried the pumice. Mostly it's just annoying b/c I pick at it all the time.
So...the verdict is to "Quit whining. Drink bourbon. Climb more."
Got it.