Anyone know how to "toughen" up scar tissue from repeated gobies? My last trip to indian creek was rough on them and whenever i jam hard these days they seem to break open and bleed if i slip at all. Like, drip blood everywhere after one pitch kind of bleed. Does a pumice stone help to keep the scars from being so elevated? Any quality salves i should know about?

Do you use tape gloves to protect your hands?

The bad thing about scar tissue is that it is fairly inflexible...unlike healthy skin. This makes it fairly prone to tear / bleed / abrade. It doesn't toughen much. If it is elevated, you are probably a cheloid former. That doesn't help. More inflexible tissue. Protect your skin with tape, mitts, or technique.

Frank, I very rarely use tape. Don't like it. It is a necessary evil sometimes though (for me at least), especially on wide stuff or steep hands. In the past I didn't tape at all and never had problems but my climbing days have reduced significantly in the last year so when I get on harder routes I find myself thrutching more which breaks them open. Leo, am I bound to bleed for good? Anyway to make the scars tougher that you know of?

Unfortunately, Leo is right. When skin is damaged and scars, the scar tissue is not as flexible or resilient as the original skin. It will be weaker and more prone to tearing than the surrounding tissue.

Protecting the scars is probably the best way to deal w/ the situation.