How annoying is it? Just off the plane, awesome wind forecast for the next few days and your hands and feet are covered in open blisters from that first 3 hour session! It is a nightmare for anyone who has been left stoked from a first session on the water but left the hands covered in blisters because they haven´t had the time to adapt to the extreme sport. And the forecast looks like the wind will die down in a few days … What are we to do?
We can choose to do one of three things:
Suck it up
The first is to fight through the pain and just keep going with the mindset that “it will have time to heal in the lull after the storm”. While this is a valid option for a masochist or anyone seeing the pain as a reasonable price to pay for a session (guilty!), it doesn’t solve the problem. If anything it makes it worse and takes away from enjoying the session.
Return of the Mummy
The second option is to tape our hands covering the blisters. This is by far the most preferred option as it covers the wound to a certain extent, protecting it from direct contact with the boom. Without the constant friction on the boom, the lack of contact with the sand and salt water, the wounds have a chance at getting better. They probably won’t heal, but they also won’t get much worse. Sure it’s not the most stylish option to reenact the Return of the Mummy, but to a certain extent it works. It can be a hassle to apply and depending on the affected area and our gripping style, the tape might not last too long. Usually it is difficult to apply the tape in a way that it doesn’t roll up or peel off with little more than making a fist a couple of times. I might make a post in the future dedicated to the technique that works the best.
Let it Heal
The last alternative is to actually take a break from windsurfing and letting the wounds heal. Naturally we are not talking about just waiting passively. We want to get back into the water as fast as possible!
Aloe Vera
By far my favorite approach. This plant works wonders. Depending on the severity of the wounds, the healing process will take maybe a day or two, and when they are cured it will be with tougher skin, ready for hardcore action. It is also good for scrapes and scratches.
Applying this will most likely allow you to hit the water after a break of one day, maybe even less if you leave it overnight and apply it again in the morning. The biggest downside is that it’s basically goo, and it stains the clothes easily (and maybe permanently …) so you have to make sure the area is covered. It also smells funny…
Either way, if we stick at it, it will be like curing the aching body after a workout session at the gym and we will get used to the friction of the boom and end up with callouses. But that is something you must put into alignment with your level of femininity or metro-sexuality.
If you know any other ways to deal with callouses let me know in the comments.
I used to get blisters on my hands, until I was forced to change my diet for other reasons. Now, hardly a blister or a callous. I sometimes wear gloves to avoid friction sores.
You get blisters, because you have thick skin which rubs off easily. You have thick skin because of by-products from your digestion which are not processed by your liver and kidneys. It does not have to be this way. Not everyone suffers like this. It is caused by diet and genetics.
The cure is to take more alkali – a small amount of sodium bicarbonate daily. Sorry this sounds like quack medicine. It works for me.
Hi Stephen! Thanks for the great advice! Might sound like quack but if it works for you it might very well work for others. Definitely worth trying if it saves from having to skip a few days on the water. You also remind me to include avoiding the problem altogether by wearing gloves. Thank you!
Not everyone can wear gloves. Most people complain they make their arms ache. I buy dish-washing gloves and cut off the fingers and sleeves for Tenerife.
Hi i live in curacao and the onwner of the windsurf shop here told us that you should put crazy gleu on them
I apply Lansinoh on my blisters. It’s an ointment for quick healing of breastfeeding blisters.
Prevention is the key.
1. Wipe any sand of the boom when you get in the water
2. Don’t grip to hard. You only need to hold on not squeeze the boom tight.
3. Move your hands about and use different parts of your hands, sometimes the tips of the fingers only.
4. Sunscreen: Makes you hands soft and more likely to blister. Use it but wash it off your hands before windsurfing or better still get summertime else to put it on you😏
Thanks BJ! Those are some really good points 🙂
Wear gloves on the first session after a long pause, it lets your hands get used to it again and after one or 2 sessions you can sail without gloves again.
Duct tape is a good solution for blisters, but prevention is even better. I suggest focusing hard on learning how to use your harness more efficiently so your hands don’t take all the friction. A good sailor should be able to “play the piano” along the boom with his/her hands and fingers while fully powered up using a harness correctly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate