J M:
GYMNASTS: Since more than 1/2 of my Facebook friends either are or were gymnasts – I request that all of you take a second and leave a comment on the following:

1. When you have a rip, what is your strategy for taking a shower? Do you just grin and bear the pain or do you have a strategy to make showers less painful for your hand?

2. And what do you do to heal your rip faster?

I think we can all help each other here by sharing our methods!!

A L: For me, I try to just suck it up and endure the shower. I usually let it heal up on its own time too, but I hear rubbing vitamin E oil on it keeps it from drying out and cracking.

L B: haha, well nothing you can really do about the shower… and as for healing, i just put neosporin on it with a band aid when not in gym, and then put handy-balm on before i chalk up for bars… that keeps it from getting too horrible.

S G: I hold a used green tea package on my rip when I can, then do the neosporin and band aid. I suffer in the shower.

A H: To make my rip better, I put Burt’s Bees on and then cut a piece of balloon, put it over it then I wrap my hand with tape. And sleep like that every night until it heals (:

A H: And in the shower I suffer or wash with one Hand lol

A L: The old-fashioned Montana fix is to keep a section of steel bar in the freezer, then when you get a rip, take it out and hold on tight for as long as you can. It doesn’t help the healing at all, but after you do it nothing else really seems to hurt at all – haha.

A H: Wow thanx lol she wants healing not pain and numbness

A L: Haha, just throwing out some options, that’s all!

A H: Ok

M E: More bars…lol

M M: ‎1. For taking a shower, I bear the pain!! There is nothing I have found that makes the rip burn less!!
2. I use Watkins petro-carbo first aid salve. I think it works really well!! It heals rips much faster than triple antibiotic ointment. I also put it on at night if I feel like I am about to rip!
Hope that helps!:-)

E R: Once when I had rips I put tea bags on them for 20 minutes. Then as I was working out, I was putting Vaseline on it with a band aid, wrapped it with tape. For school, I put the band aid on to wear with a glove .

J M: I have heard that in the shower, you can wear a Nitrile Powder – Free glove over the hand to protect the rip from the soap. That’s what I do now … because the pain is just rough!! (Of course, this is after you wash your hand and clean up the rip!).
As for healing it, I use handy-balm or regular lotion and my hand in a ziplock back over night.
In practice, I use rip-guardian taped to my grip – I love it because it helps SOO much.
Keep the comments coming! This is great.

S A: I put my hand in a plastic bag while i shower 🙂 and for rips pee on it – lol

B S H: I have never had a rip, and I’ve been doing what I’ve been doing for over 30 years.

J M: But Brad … have you ever swung a bar routine? That would be why you have never had a rip.

S A: – you pee on your rip!?? ew!

S A: I’ve heard of it.. I don’t do it!! LOL I just tape mine up 🙂

M S: ‎1. try to keep it outside the water as best u can and just use one hand to wash ur hair etc and 2. u can soak ur hands in salt water, sleep with them in a glove or sock with preparation H and neosporin on them, you can put hot tea bags on them as well

P M: well when i got that HUGE rip i just took the pain and it actually wasnt so bad. i think it hurts less when u prepare yourself for it
i put neosporin and a bandaid or i just let it air heal lol and keep it clean

C C: Hand-e-balm ♥

L R: for gymnastics practice, put neosporin on it, then use a little piece of a balloon and tape it up with a tape grip. it helps with the friction i guess! works for me! 🙂 and shower, i just keep it out of the water :p

G L: Just get it out the way fast with cold water and it stops hurting. So grin and bear the pain, very briefly. Neosporin helps a lot, especially when you go to sleep. Keeps it from cracking.