Give it time

I appreciate that this may sound contrary to my advice of the previous post ‘Use it or lose it’, but bear with me. The key is not to climb on damaged, lacerated or blistered skin. Trust me, that immense route you have your eye on can wait till the next dry day. Continually battering damaged skin will only delay the healing process, putting you out of action for even longer. It can even lead to permanent scarring.

‘Climb On!’

Climb On, Miracle finger repair

This product is legendary! Using ‘Climb On‘ is without a doubt my top tip for maintaining climb-fit hands. You can either purchase in a tin, containing a lump of the stuff, which has a soap bar like consistency (and lasts forever), or putty like cream in a tub. Whichever your choice, it works the same way; you rub the stuff into you hands after climbing. You’ll feel a  warming sensation as it draws blood to the surface of your skin, accelerating the healing process. Your hands will feel moisturised for the rest of the day, and it won’t undo all that hard work you put into building up your calluses either.

I hope you find this article helps you to keep your hands in great shape, so you can climb as hard and as often as you want to.

If you have any tips on hand care, please share these, using the comment box below.

Rock climbing training – Toughening and repairing your fingers part 2 is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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