Sport Today

Greetings,

    I just started sculling this summer and already my hands are
    more or less "handburg".  I must be gripping the oars incorrectly.
    The blisters directly under my fingers don't bother me as much as
    those forming in the middle of my palms.  For those of you that
    have just eaten I must appologize; however, can someone give me
    some pointers or even an article showing proper oar gripping.
    I (and my hands) would greatly appreciate it.

    BTW I have already tried Tincture of Benzoin and bicycling gloves.

    Also could someone tell me what the "address list" is all about?

                                        Thanks in advance,

                                        Joe DiPietro

I have also had the same problem with my hands.  My coach told me that it
was the result of gripping the oar too hard, and that I needed to relax my
hands during the drive.  I was tightening up as I got more tired and was
in more discomfort (read pain).

Blisters are part of rowing.  My suggestion is to let them harden (do not
break them!) in between sessions if you can.  Otherwise, vitamin E is
supposed to be good for aiding healing.  And make sure you clean them out
well so they don't get infected!

Good luck!

Kate Uhry

You shouldn't be having them on your palms.  Relax your hands abit more and let
the handle go out towards your finger tips.  This takes a lot of
practice...some of which can/should be done outside the boat with just a cut
off oar handle or maybe a piece of a wooden handle from an old shovel or
something.  try to make your hand coordination such that you can hold/feather
the oar entirely just with the fingers.

Grin and bear it, never user gloves or any type of junk that will soften your
hand.  That's my thinking. You want to get through the blister to the calous
(sp?) phase.

-Jay

I agree with Jay here.  It is not enough to simply have a lighter grip on the
oars.  If you are getting blisters in your palms you are holding the sculls
incorrectly.  I would add to Jay's advice that you watch your wrist as you
practice this.  The wrist should stay flat at all times.  On the feather the
grip should be in your fingers.  Then simply (o.k. it's not simple) bring
the blade into your hand as you roll it up.  Even here on the pull through
the grip of the scull should only be in that first joint of your fingers:
between palm and lower knuckle.  Always the wrist flat.  Takes lots of
practice but is well worth it.  I can get through a marathon now without
blisters!

I agree here also.  Eventually you will get callouses along the very top
of your hand right under your wedding ring (if you wear one).  Then even
further down the line the callouses will be six layers thick so that instead
of getting a blister on an unusually long row you will only lose the two
top layers of the callous!

--

: I agree with Jay here.  It is not enough to simply have a lighter grip on the
: oars.  If you are getting blisters in your palms you are holding the sculls
: incorrectly.  I would add to Jay's advice that you watch your wrist as you
: practice this.  The wrist should stay flat at all times.  On the feather the
: grip should be in your fingers.  Then simply (o.k. it's not simple) bring
: the blade into your hand as you roll it up.  Even here on the pull through
: the grip of the scull should only be in that first joint of your fingers:
: between palm and lower knuckle.  Always the wrist flat.  Takes lots of

An old trick for correcting this one is to take a popsicle stick (a flat
stick about 4-5 inches long with soft edges) and tape it to the top of
your wrist.  I would suggest that you try it first when you are
practicing on land, as it can be *very* annoying and might not last very
long in the boat.  The working concept is that the stick will dig into
your wirst if you bend it too much, a more severe type of negative
reinforcement than it might sound.

Ed Hewitt

Actually, one thing you might try is a pair of the gloves gymnasts wear for
uneven bar work (women) or high bar (men). In fact, for pulling ergs, they
give you a sneaky advantage because they let you use almost no grip. Yopu'll
be amazed how much stronger you feel if your hands don't have to grip much.

    _/_/_/_/ _/_/_/_/ _/    _/    Evan Cooch
   _/       _/       _/    _/     Department of Biological Sciences
  _/_/_/_/ _/_/_/   _/    _/      Simon Fraser University
       _/ _/       _/    _/       Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6

Another (unfortunate) possibility is blisters UNDER your thick layer
of calluses. If this happens, you might try sanding your calluses
down from time to time (in private-- the callus dust really grosses
out bystanders!); I use a small piece of steel "sandpaper" that's
intended for use in electric sanders, but I imagine any medium-to-fine
open-coat paper would do the job. With time you'll find the midpoint
between too thick (=> blisters) and too thin (=> blisters).

--Ham Richards

PS I second the advice that blisters are a sign of poor technique. Since
modifying my technique (a la Frank Cunningham) I have left blisters and
gloves behind me. Again it's a happy-medium sort of thing: blisters on
the palm indicate too tight a grip, and blisters out on the fingers (my
problem) may be a sign of too loose a grip.

->>I agree here also.  Eventually you will get callouses along the very top
->>of your hand right under your wedding ring (if you wear one).  Then even
->>further down the line the callouses will be six layers thick so that
->instead
->>of getting a blister on an unusually long row you will only lose the two
->>top layers of the callous!
->
->Another (unfortunate) possibility is blisters UNDER your thick layer
->of calluses. If this happens, you might try sanding your calluses
->down from time to time (in private-- the callus dust really grosses
->out bystanders!); I use a small piece of steel "sandpaper" that's
->intended for use in electric sanders, but I imagine any medium-to-fine
->open-coat paper would do the job. With time you'll find the midpoint
->between too thick (=> blisters) and too thin (=> blisters).
->
->--Ham Richards
->
->PS I second the advice that blisters are a sign of poor technique. Since
->modifying my technique (a la Frank Cunningham) I have left blisters and
->gloves behind me. Again it's a happy-medium sort of thing: blisters on
->the palm indicate too tight a grip, and blisters out on the fingers (my
->problem) may be a sign of too loose a grip.

Please ignore the address, I'm posting from a friends machine (Yeh, it's not just Rachel who has friends ...)

When I get blisters, whether under calluses or not, I have a quite disgusting way of ensuring that:

1:  They don't become infected
2:  The whole callus doesn't come off next time you apply shear to the skin

Take some thick cotton (skin colour if you have squeemish friends, black if you're feeling gorey)

Thread a needle with a length of the cotton and soak in disinfectant for a few minutes

Tie a knot in the end of the cotton

Wash your hands thoroughly

Pass the needle and thread through the blister, in one side and out the other, until the knot is up against the blister

Snip off the piece of thread to leave a length in the blister

Leave for ten to fif*** minutes then remove the thread

The cotton allows fluid in the bilster to drain out over a period of time, and soaking it in disinfectant delivers this to the blister, so any infection which was there is nipped in the bud.  The only real drawback is that it really stings, but it does give you nice hard hands and means that you don't have to put up with the pain of infection.  It can be very difficult to do if you're not particularly ambidextrous so you might find an understanding/***ic friend is needed.

Nick

---

"Revenge is sweet and completely non-fattening"
                        --Spike Milligan

other, until the knot is up >against the blister....the cotton allows
fluid in the blister to drain out over a period of time and soaking >it in
disinfectant delivers this to the blister, so any infection which was
there is nipped in the bud...

Although I shuddered at this method, I too have used a similar method of
dealing with my blisters.  My theory was that if you leave the blisters
full of liquid, the following day when you go out they will rip right off,
bleed and will hurt more than any workout your coach can dream up.

My suggestion is to drain the fluid right away, either by using the needle
method or a pair of small (disinfected!) nail scissors to cut a hole in
the blister.  This will allow the covering of the blister to dry and get
hard, usually taking overnight.  These hardened blisters still rip off,
unfortunately, but the chances are not as great as if you had left the
fluid in them.

Only one other thing.  If you have open blisters, don't put your hand into
the water if you can help it (especially if it's the Charles River).  A
teammate of mine had graphic red stripes all up her arm from the pollution
getting into her hands.

It's all very gross, I know.  Hope this helps you get through the pain.

Kate Uhry
Tufts Crew '86-90