[dave]

whats the score with this, anyone used it?:

http://www.scottishclimbs.com/newspage.php?newsid=170

can a hand cream really help strengthen tendons? :huh:

helps the hands to let go of the fear encountered in scary climbs.

eh???? :?:  question!

[Blunk]

Though I'm not very familiar with the herbs in this creme I can say Chinese herbs are indeed useful for keeping tendons etc healthy. I know this both as an herbalist and a former martial artist who has used herbal liniments for a long time.

I would not expect a dramatic or rapid response. Typically these things are meant to be used over the course of years whilst training, and one's hands should look like hands rather than misshapen lumps of scar tissue despite rigorous punching exercises.

[saltbeef]

lat thing i read about chinese herbal medicine in the british medical journal was that loads of the stuff had steroids in...

[vivahate]

lat thing i read about chinese herbal medicine in the british medical journal was that loads of the stuff had steroids in...

not all steroids have the same effect as anabolic steriods (the ones used to build muslce), asthma inhalers have a type of steriod in them, so these might not be the banner in competitive sport type.

[T Nagler]

"The Arsenicum album in homeopathic dosage, helps the hands to let go of the fear encountered in scary climbs. This fear also contributes to the pain and stiffness and cramping encountered after a rigorous climb."

I'm struggling to make sense of this! It sounds like it's a beta-blocker, these: slow the heart rate, and I think reduce adrenalin (and is on the banned list). Useful in sports such as archery, golf, snooker and the 10m-air pistol, but I wouldn't have thought useful for climbing! Unless of course you are climbing so well within yourself that it isn't physically strenuous at all (in which case why should you be scared :? ?  Maybe it's some other kind of relaxant (which I would have thaught is also useless?)? Otherwise, I haven't got a clue!

[saltbeef]

right, steroids are small fat soluble hormones their main action is protein synthesis, you've got sex steroids or androgens; glucocorticoids that deal with stress; and mineralocoricoids that deal with blood volume. In asthma you use either inhaled or tablet coticosteroids, ie glucocorticoids. the main effects of cortisol is increasing energy metabolite levels in blood and supress the immune system.
there's lots of side effects, regular injections of steroids can indeed lead to tendon rupture.
the analysis of various chinese herbal remedies had shown higher than prescribed levels of man made synthetic analogues of various steroids.
parents are sometimes wary about use of inhaled steoids for kids with asthma, but then use these "natural" remedies, and then wonder why they're son grows breasts...

[saltbeef]

oh yeah and homeopathy... the active ingredients are too small to be effective, probably placebo effect.