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Request: Tips for Blisters
Hello,
I feel like there is always a lot of talk about bruising and skin sensitivity in the pole community, but not as much on blisters.
I frequently get blisters on my hands after a hard pole workout and I was wondering if there are any tips for preventing and caring for them.
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5 Replies
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I agree! I actually wanted to add blister care tips into some of my program descriptions but got stuck on which ones to add it into. I’m glad you brought this to my attention again. I will provide the tips I have here, but I’ll be adding it into the curriculum descriptions as well once I figure out which programs to place it in! I’m open to suggestions.
Rip/tear treatment:
- Clean: Rinse the rip, gently remove any loose flap, using a small scissors or nail clipper.
- Protect: Apply a skin balm. I’ve recently seen that gymnasts and weight lifters use this product RIPT Quick Fix. I bet Dr Bronners magic balm might work too?
- Keep it supple: Reapply balm regularly (about hourly day 1–2) so the new skin doesn’t crack.
Prevention:
- Prevent daily: When you shower, bathe, wash dishes, or you can soak your hands 5-10 minutes in warm water – use a pumice stone and finish with balm, like Dr Bronners after. Bonus you can add Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) to help with joint and muscle pain.
- Check training schedule: Avoid doing too many static rotations (spins) with the hands in one session. Learn your what your limits are and stick to it. This means if you’re following REPS in a program and you’re limit is under/less than, my suggested REPS abide by your limit! If you know you’re prone to blisters, split up your training so you have at least a day or two without any static rotations
- Balance moisture: Some grip aids will strip your hands of moisture causing better grip, but leaving you more prone to blisters!
- Try gloves: I believe there are several pole specific gloves available here are a few I know about: Mighty grip, Mipole, some sticky legging companies like Superflyhoney also offer gloves.
- Change your finish: The most blister inducing finish for me (I have cold, dry hands) is Brass. Powder coated can be bad, depending on the type, they’re not all the same, I had one power coated pole (it was a lil mynx custom made to sell here ages ago) that never caused calluses!!! Silicone and the rubber wraps can really take a toll on the hands. But any finish can be problematic for some.
I hope this was helpful, let me know if you have questions or if there’s something you would like more info on.
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Thank you! That is all really good info. I do personally use a grip just to dry out my hands so that could be contributing. My blisters this specific time were following static holds, but it is possible I may be over gripping or sliding down causing the friction.
You mentioned wanting to add this info into a program somewhere. One suggestion that I don’t know how hard it would be to implement, would maybe be like an “articles” section. I feel like sometimes your advice and posts can get buried in the discussion tab, and sometimes hard to find in the programs. For example, I remember you conglomerating a bunch of your elbow stand resources all in one discussion post. I am able to find this through the search tool since I know it is there. But if I were new to the website, I don’t think I would know that wonderful resource existed. If you had a self care article or collection of articles, you could always link them at the start of any program(As a beginner pole dancer, I did not really start getting blisters until late 30 day take off and they really started up in beginner level 1). Again, I know this would require coding and a lot of work, but I thought I would mention it. (I think it would be particularly helpful if the articles were sortable or had an organized landing page, like “Self care articles”, “Trick specific resources” “Challenges” (like the ab one))
Thank you again!
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Hey @witchypole I’ve been rolling the idea of an article section around in my head and I don’t think it’s the right solution to add more sections. I truly appreciate the suggestion and I understand your reasoning and I hope I’ve come up with a good solution for you and everyone else.
I will add any of the discussion links and info to the end of any program descriptions where it’s applicable.
For example, I’ve already added the Invert resources to the last day of my Invert program and day 7 of the Invert class. This will be an easy way for anyone to add these lists to their favorites. That way there’s no need to search through a list of articles or discussions, just add the video to your favorites!
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Also you’ll see I’m working on pinning all of the “resource” discussions you’d be looking for! They will always be listed first from now on.
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I think that would be great too!
Thanks again for the tips and all your help.
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