Climber’s are known to have rough skin, filled with sharp calluses. But whenever I shake people’s hands who know I’m a climber, they comment how (relatively) soft they are. This is partly because I take my hand skin care very seriously. But also due to chemotherapy. It slowed down my skin’s ability to replicate, making it more difficult to make calluses but also more difficult to grow my skin back after climbing. But my soft skin is still tough skin. I can climb outside 5 days a week without skin pain and no flappers!! I can even manage three days in a row at Hueco Tanks, some of the sharpest rock out there!

Here are some tips I’ve picked up over the years to maintain my tough skin:

Carry a hand balm with you everywhere!
There are a bunch brands out there targeted at climbers…climbon, rhinoskin, climbskin, joshua tree, and others. I ssuggest you try the different brands to see which ones absorb best into your skin. For a while, I used climbon as my first layer and joshua tree as a second layer. I keep a hand balm in my car, my climbing bag, my office, my home, and extras in a drawer so I am never without my balm!
Mositurize hands after everytime they get wet.
After everytime I wash my hands or get my hands wet, I mositurize. I apply the balm with my hands slightly wet, so that my skin can absorb all the water!! No exceptions.
Avoid getting hands wet as much as possible
If it’s possible to use hand sanitizer instead of washing my hands, then I choose hand sanitizer every time. An important note though- after you go #2, always choose soap and water! When I wash dishes, I wear gloves. If I’m going use cleaning supplies, I wear gloves. When cooking, I don’t touch the meat, but pick it up with a fork so I can avoid having to wash my hands.
Use facial tissue to dry skin
When in public bathrooms, I never use a hand dryer. Those dry out my hands so much that even a hand balm can’t fix. If facial tissues (Kleenex) are available, I will use those to dry hands before I apply my hand balm.
Keep the calluses to a minimum
Keep a skin file and nail clippers in your climbing bag, so that you can keep the calluses as small as possible. If they grow too big, they can catch on holds- leaving you with a huge, painful flapper.
Moisturize before you climb
I had a friend who tried all of the above tips and his hands still were cracking. He found that if he moisturized slightly before applying chalk, his skin was much healthier!

The downfall to constantly moisuturizing my hands is that it’s extremely difficult to open doors and lift weights. Make sure you have completed your exercises and have all the doors with a round knob open before you moisturize.

Do you have any special

Six Tips For Healthier Hand Skin!