UKBouldering.com
the shizzle => diet, training and injuries => Topic started by: ducko on September 03, 2021, 11:20:05 pm
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Ola Gringos,
I’ve got quiet chunky fingers and when clinbing on edges I get bruised pulp under my fingertips regular, it’s a pain in the hoop as my skin is fine but to climb is painful
I was wondering if anyone has the same issue and has found any work around for this issue?
Cheers fellas
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I get the same when I manage to stick small holds I'm slapping for. I have not found any workarounds other than to accept the pain. It is just pain after all.
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I have a similar issue and am currently trying to resolve it by doing longer duration hangs on micros. For me this currently means 15s reps on the BM 8mm - hoping it will help build tolerance in the longer term!
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I have a similar issue and am currently trying to resolve it by doing longer duration hangs on micros. For me this currently means 15s reps on the BM 8mm - hoping it will help build tolerance in the longer term!
I’d be interested in hearing how this works for you, I don’t find it as bad in the winter when it’s cold
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Isn't this what antihydral is supposed to help with? Not tried it myself other than the similar Rhino Skin products.
Otherwise as Micha says I think it's something you can condition, so same principle as anything else build up gradually.
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Isn't this what antihydral is supposed to help with? Not tried it myself other than the similar Rhino Skin products.
Otherwise as Micha says I think it's something you can condition, so same principle as anything else build up gradually.
I think antihydral just drys the outer layers of skin the issue is the fleshy bits getting bruised rather than skin being thin
I’m definitely interested in the conditioning though, cheers
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Isn't this what antihydral is supposed to help with? Not tried it myself other than the similar Rhino Skin products.
Antihydral does the same thing as Rhino but with a more intense effect due to a higher quantity of the active ingredient Methanamine. It does help quite a bit as it hardens up the outer layers of skin - for me the difference is so significant that I can currently only hang the BM 6mm if I've been using antihydral for several days - hence why I'm trying to improve the general state of things!
As mentioned by ducko though, it's apparently possible to condition the fleshy bit of the fingertip to be more dense so this is what I'm trying with the 15s hangs. Headed to Siurana in a few weeks so hoping to feel a little less crap on the small crimps by then!
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When you say bruising, do you mean just pain, or actual visible bruises under the skin?
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I cannot speak for ducko but I get actual visible haematomata on my fingertips sometimes.
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I cannot speak for ducko but I get actual visible haematomata on my fingertips sometimes.
Same, like the outer skin is stronger than the flesh underneath!
I saw some Euros applying some sort of topical pain killer (maybe lidocaine?) to their tips in Switzerland, seemed like a bad idea on a few levels!
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I cannot speak for ducko but I get actual visible haematomata on my fingertips sometimes.
Same, like the outer skin is stronger than the flesh underneath!
I saw some Euros applying some sort of topical pain killer (maybe lidocaine?) to their tips in Switzerland, seemed like a bad idea on a few levels!
Might as well just try the more common Saturday night blend of lidocaine and cocaine for a few extra horsepower
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I cannot speak for ducko but I get actual visible haematomata on my fingertips sometimes.
Same, like the outer skin is stronger than the flesh underneath!
I saw some Euros applying some sort of topical pain killer (maybe lidocaine?) to their tips in Switzerland, seemed like a bad idea on a few levels!
Seem to remember a video of Steph Davies where she talks about taking painkillers before going crack climbing to reduce the discomfort :blink:
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I cannot speak for ducko but I get actual visible haematomata on my fingertips sometimes.
Yeah, me too, hence the question. slapping for sharp crimps seems to do it for me.
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I cannot speak for ducko but I get actual visible haematomata on my fingertips sometimes.
Same, like the outer skin is stronger than the flesh underneath!
I saw some Euros applying some sort of topical pain killer (maybe lidocaine?) to their tips in Switzerland, seemed like a bad idea on a few levels!
Seem to remember a video of Steph Davies where she talks about taking painkillers before going crack climbing to reduce the discomfort :blink:
On very painful finger sized splitters the trick is apparently to climb up a bit, lower down, take a paracetamol, wait for the double whammy of painkillers and adrenaline to kick in and then send the crack. Another trick is to avoid doing early repeats of fingersplitters in Indian Creek and wait until they have gotten more rounded edges. Or getting strong enough to climb in total control.
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I suffer with this too, the thing that makes the biggest difference for me is warming up thoroughly on comfy holds of varying sizes.
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i.e. indoors :)
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When you say bruising, do you mean just pain, or actual visible bruises under the skin?
Visible damage - I don’t know the exact technical name but it shows as a line across the tip almost like loads of little bloody vessels have popped.
Living in Wales (CrimpsVille) it’s a pain in the hoop!
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I think haematoma is the correct word,
unless when jwi says
visible haematomata
he means his fingers look like squashed tomatas :)
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Ola Gringos,
I’ve got quiet chunky fingers and when clinbing on edges I get bruised pulp under my fingertips regular, it’s a pain in the hoop as my skin is fine but to climb is painful
I was wondering if anyone has the same issue and has found any work around for this issue?
Cheers fellas
One way I got over this is by toughening and trying to desensitise the affected area.
I found simply just massaging and pushing my thumb nail into the tip was a good starting point, gradually building up pain tolerance. This was a tip I was given when I started playing the guitar but it seems to apply to crimpers as well.
Another thing I used was heat. After making my morning coffee in the moka pot I would put my tips on the hot base for a few seconds. This worked really well over time, just don't do it on serious climbing days if you are not used to it.
You may already do these things but I thought it worth mentioning..
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Ola Gringos,
I’ve got quiet chunky fingers and when clinbing on edges I get bruised pulp under my fingertips regular, it’s a pain in the hoop as my skin is fine but to climb is painful
I was wondering if anyone has the same issue and has found any work around for this issue?
Cheers fellas
One way I got over this is by toughening and trying to desensitise the affected area.
I found simply just massaging and pushing my thumb nail into the tip was a good starting point, gradually building up pain tolerance. This was a tip I was given when I started playing the guitar but it seems to apply to crimpers as well.
Another thing I used was heat. After making my morning coffee in the moka pot I would put my tips on the hot base for a few seconds. This worked really well over time, just don't do it on serious climbing days if you are not used to it.
You may already do these things but I thought it worth mentioning..
Nice one I’ll give them a try
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I think haematoma is the correct word,
unless when jwi says
visible haematomata
he means his fingers look like squashed tomatas :)
potato–potata, tomato–tomata
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Let's call the whole thing off.
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Something that has surprised me since deliberately trying to improve is how long the finger pulp seems to take to recover after the skin feels well healed.
Yesterday went to do another micros session but felt really weak on the 8mm compared to last session. Almost called it a day but decided to just get on the 45 and see how bouldering went; actually ended up having one of the best sessions for weeks getting loads done and ticking a new hard boulder. Recruitment and power was way up compared to last session.
Whilst being a bit confusing I actually view this as a good thing as it suggests that pulp condition does have a really big influence on what is possible with the small edges. My fingertips still felt noticeably softer/malleable where I'd been hanging on the small crimps on Saturday. Funnily I didn't notice these differences when doing shorter (5-7s) hangs on micros before so presumably more time hanging is more effective?
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Hopefully still on topic, but does anyone notice a massive and seemingly disproportionate drop off in performance when a particular edge size is used?
I find my performance drops off a cliff on the 6mm micros in comparison to the 8mm. E.g. I can add quite a bit of weight on the 8's and hang for over 10 seconds, but can barely complete a 5 second bodyweight hang on the 6's! Likewise the skin damage goes from none at all at 8mm (even weighted), to cutting into the skin on every tip at 6mm!
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Hopefully still on topic, but does anyone notice a massive and seemingly disproportionate drop off in performance when a particular edge size is used?
I find my performance drops off a cliff on the 6mm micros in comparison to the 8mm. E.g. I can add quite a bit of weight on the 8's and hang for over 10 seconds, but can barely complete a 5 second bodyweight hang on the 6's! Likewise the skin damage goes from none at all at 8mm (even weighted), to cutting into the skin on every tip at 6mm!
Think of it this way, going down from 8mm to 6mm you lose 25% of the starting hold, so it would seem reasonable if the 6mm were 25% harder...
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Hopefully still on topic, but does anyone notice a massive and seemingly disproportionate drop off in performance when a particular edge size is used?
I find my performance drops off a cliff on the 6mm micros in comparison to the 8mm. E.g. I can add quite a bit of weight on the 8's and hang for over 10 seconds, but can barely complete a 5 second bodyweight hang on the 6's! Likewise the skin damage goes from none at all at 8mm (even weighted), to cutting into the skin on every tip at 6mm!
Yes, I find the 6mm totally next level compared to 8mm. That being said I know a guy who weighs similar to me who can do 16 pull ups on the BM 6mm so I clearly have a weakness to address!
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Yes, I find the 6mm totally next level compared to 8mm. That being said I know a guy who weighs similar to me who can do 16 pull ups on the BM 6mm so I clearly have a weakness to address!
That kind of thing blows my mind.
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Ah yes, as an engineer I should have picked up on the bigger percentage drop from 8mm to 6mm in comparison to a 2mm difference between larger edges! Makes sense.
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Well, a bit of specificity seems to be paying off for me. Managed a 15s hang on the 6mm today which is 200% better than any previous effort! This with totally fresh finger pads - next go felt vastly harder and I reverted back to the 8mm for the rest of the session - but very encouraging.
I've also been very consequential with the antihydral the last week and have carefully sanded the skin smooth etc which presumably doesn't do any harm. Now actually really psyched to see how far I can go with it, although I don't think I'll be approaching the 16 pull ups mark any time soon ;D
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Yes, I find the 6mm totally next level compared to 8mm. That being said I know a guy who weighs similar to me who can do 16 pull ups on the BM 6mm so I clearly have a weakness to address!
That kind of thing blows my mind.
To be fair he lives in Frankenjura and climbs 8c+ but even so I find it disgustingly strong.