Monday, January 24, 2011

Skin Infections and the CrossFit Athlete

Ripped hands and bloody shins give bacteria a way into your body. Dr. Mike Ray explains what’s going on and offers his tips on how you can avoid nasty infections.

The pull-up bar was a larger diameter than she was used to, but she wasn’t going to slow down for that—especially not visiting a new gym. During the last round of pull-ups, she was vaguely aware that she had injured her hands, but she didn’t really look at them until the workout was over. Even then, she didn’t think much of it; she’d torn much worse plenty of times before, and now she just had blisters on both palms, though the one on the right did open up and drain a little. She squeezed out a little clear fluid and left it at that. Besides, her doctor had just convinced her to update her tetanus immunization—something she had been reluctant to do.

For the first day, she wasn’t too worried. The blister on her left hand never did drain, though the one on the right looked worse within a few hours. Then, her right hand started to hurt more. She had, of course, continued to work out, so she figured she had overdone it on an already-vulnerable area. But was the skin near the blister on her right hand becoming a little red? It was getting so she couldn’t hold onto a bar.

That night, her right hand was really hurting. The burning made it hard to sleep, and she woke up every few hours. Checking her palm under the bathroom light, she could see it was definitely redder. Even though the blister had drained, there still seemed to be some fluid, maybe under another layer. It was getting really tender to the touch. Something was not right. In the morning, she would have to get it looked at.

Genelle Frenoy Shania Twain Gwen Stefani Sunny Mabrey Karolína Kurková

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