Looking for advice: glassy fingertips

I have what seems to be a pretty uncommon skin issue.

Whenever I climb outside for a nontrivial amount of time (i.e. a single day out), my fingertip skin becomes quite hard and glassy. The pros include never worrying about getting a flapper, being able to use holds other people consider too sharp, and generally tougher than average skin. The con is if, afterwards, I go climb somewhere where the rock is less textured or, as is more commonly case, climb on plastic in the gym, what should be decent holds feel incredibly slippery.

I've done a bit of research online, but most advice is for people whose skin is too soft. There are a few mentions of skin becoming too glassy, especially in the context of using Antihydral, but it seems to be something that goes away quickly for people. It usually takes close to two weeks before my skin feels like what it was before going outside.

I'm currently just taking this as a sign to just climb outside more and not worry about the gym, and I certainly don't mind climbing a few grades easier for a while. However, in extreme cases the glassiness can limit my sensitivity to the rock/hold, which is bad. Also, I will admit that I like being able to climb hard in the gym. So, if anyone knows of fast solutions for *softening* up skin, I'm interested.

One word answer: water.

Wash your hands or dip them in water often.
Get rid of chalk as much & as soon as possible if you are not climbing (don't touch Metolius super chalk; Friction labs chalk is awesome).
Wear full fingered gloves even if it's not cold.
File down thick dead skin.

If none of that works, pat your hands against a wet towel while climbing (Nick Duttle does this, but he has undeveloped sweat glands).

Failing that, move to a more humid/warmer place.

Also sanding down the hard outer layers a bit

I get the same issue. Sand your tips until they are pink and a little weepy before a gym session.

Are you using some sort of salve at night? I only have this problem when I've overdone intentional drying (Antihydral), but I highly recommend using Working Hands or something similar. Lather it on at night and wear a pair of cotton gloves to hold in the moisture. Use it throughout the day when you wash your hands. It's not greasy, so you won't have to walk around like a zombie. Sand your tips daily and keep a spray bottle of water when you climb. Or spit on your hands if you're not a spray bottle type.

It’s not all that uncommon, I think it’s a problem with dry skin. I get it whenever the weather gets cold (i.e. low humidity), my tips will get hard and glassy, and the back of my hand will look like alligator skin. If I go hiking above treeline in winter (where the air is even colder and drier), or if I don’t wash the chalk off my hands, I’ll even get small painful cracks right around the edge of my fingernails. This is why I’m hesitant to try antihydral or iontophoresis for the fear of drying out my skin further (even though I have a problem with sweating too much).

Most of the tips above are really useful.

Wash chalk off your hands as soon as you’re done climbing for the day, but avoid excessive hand washing throughout the day because that will dry out your skin even more. Use a salve (I’ve used both Climb On and Joshua Tree Climbing salve) whenever you can on non-climbing days. That greasy stuff works much better than any of my wife’s moisturizing lotions. Sand the hard skin on your hands. Apply salve before bed and wear gloves when sleeping. Wear full finger belay gloves when belaying, it keeps the wind from drying out your skin, and in my case, it keeps my skin a little moist due to sweat.

Basically pretty much everything everyone else said, except you don’t want to wash your hands too often.

I use kitchen gloves when I have to do any cleaning or the dishes, most soaps strip the oils off you then the water evaporates and is very drying.

I have this issue mainly in the winter months. Just tried out Rhino Spit and it seems to help a lot. Worth checking out.

I know a guy with that issue. He clips a wet rag to his harness and dampens his fingers at rests. No joke. He's one strong climber, and very entertaining to watch.

Gold Plated Rocket Pony wrote:

I have this issue mainly in the winter months. Just tried out Rhino Spit and it seems to help a lot. Worth checking out.

Spit is the shit for dry hands and/or cold glassy granite

Gold Plated Rocket Pony wrote:

I have this issue mainly in the winter months. Just tried out Rhino Spit and it seems to help a lot. Worth checking out.

I have also found it helpful. You can look up the ingredients and find more economical alternatives if that is a consideration. 

Brendan N wrote:

I have also found it helpful. You can look up the ingredients and find more economical alternatives if that is a consideration. 

Not sure you can find the ingredients for cheaper, but if you know some secret beta then post that ish!

Not Not MP Admin wrote:

Not sure you can find the ingredients for cheaper, but if you know some secret beta then post that ish!

No secret, just search aloe juice for skin online and find your preferred size at a significant discount. Then you just need a spray bottle. 

Aquaphor

I never thought of it as glassy but when climbing enough, smart phone scrolling/tapping doesn't work for me. It's not a issue for me but if you want to soften them I'd use Flexitol: https://flexitol.com/product/heel-balm

It says for heels but I use it wherever. The key ingredient is urea, it has to have that.

bro are you really rubbing piss ointment on your hands

1. Look at your diet and rest patterns.

2. Are you hydrating yourself enough?

Sanding + Rhino spit will get you where you need to be. SoIll makes a nice brush with a file on the backside and that’s usually my go to along with the rhino spit. 

I use an Edelrid product called "Stickit."  My skin is super glassy too; I never get palm sweat before a lead even.  Just a touch on your fingertips does the job.  Rhino spit didn't work for me.  It's made from resin and lemon oil.  Benzoin can work too if you don't get it everywhere and don't mind the smell.

Edit:  The product is from Edelweiss and spelled Stic-it

John Edwin wrote:

bro are you really rubbing piss ointment on your hands

Not quite bro. All piss is urea but not all urea is piss, naw what I'm sayin?