Blisters are inevitable, gloves don’t help
First and foremost, blisters are inevitable in rowing and nothing, even gloves, will prevent them. In fact, gloves more often than not make things much worse because your hands sweat and the gloves rub more. We do get questions about the rowing gloves that are available. Those do tend to work better than other types, however, they really just delay the inevitable. Our stance is that you are doing yourself a disservice and possibly making things much worse if you wear gloves, so when it comes to gloves, we say, just DON’T do it.
Proper Grip
That having been said, the best way to minimize (note that I did not say “prevent”) blisters is to row with a proper grip. New rowers typically "death grip" the oar which is what speeds the blisters along. It takes some time to relax enough in the boat to “get it”. Even with a proper rowing grip, blisters WILL happen. Hands need to be conditioned which will eventually dramatically minimize blisters. We try to encourage the kids to identify “hot spots” early and get them taped up with (my favorite) Nexcare tape
Conditioning your hands
What does “conditioning your hands” involve? Sadly, to condition your hands, you have to get blisters. Then, you then need to let the blisters dry out (pop them or don’t pop them, it doesn’t really matter), trimming away dead skin, and making sure hands ALWAYS stay clean, so the skin can harden and turn in to calluses. There are lots of different methods people suggest for doing this, and I have included an article that will give you some ideas.
What to do once you have blisters
OK, so now you have the blisters, what do you do between blister and callus? The MOST IMPORTANT thing is to keep your hands CLEAN! I can not stress that enough. Infections can happen, so good hygiene is vital. Also, know when it’s time to go to the doctor. We have dealt with lots of rowers and haven’t had anyone with an infection yet, but it’s important to mention this.
As the articles you read will show you, everyone has different methods of dealing with blisters. Some say pop them, others say leave them alone, etc. Some say peroxide, some say betadine. The bottom line is do whatever you are comfortable with, but KEEP THEM CLEAN! Here is that we recommend from our experience (please keep in mind we are not doctors or nurses, but rowers and coaches)…
KEEP THEM CLEAN (have I said this enough yet?) - We tend to recommend soap and water, and antibiotic ointment.
It’s not a bad idea to keep antibiotic ointment on them and keep them covered during the day (band aids that let them breathe a little bit are a good idea) if they are in the raw and weepy stage so help prevent them from getting dirty and gross.
Keep them uncovered at night or whenever you are able to do so safely (hanging out at home, etc.). That allows everything to dry out and start to harden. Some of the articles recommend tea bags. I have no idea if that works or not.
Once things start to harden, you will undoubtedly have some loose, jagged skin. Once it hardens, trim that away and take care of any newly exposed skin by washing it and using antibiotic ointments until it hardens.
Repeat as necessary.
How to keep rowing with blisters
The problem is that we have to keep rowing with our blisters. That is where the Nexcare tape comes in. If your blister or sore is still soft, you can cover it with a bandaid, then cover it with the Nexcare tape. The nice thing about Nexcare tape is that even if you put it right over the wound, I typically don't have a problem with it sticking. The tape will not stay put for the entire row, however, your goal is for it to stay put for long enough not to make things worse and rub it more raw. We do have some Nexcare tape in our first aid boxes, however, I recommend that you buy your own and tape up any hot spots (places where you can feel the rubbing but they have not turned into blisters yet) before rowing. You can even tape up at home before you come to practice.
The tape will most likely fall off during practice, but it should buy you enough cushion not to make things worse and let the blister or sore spot continue to heal and harden into a callus.
The following article is nice because it’s sort of a catch-all with links to several other good articles: http://www.worldrowing.com/news/the-blister-dilemma-and-how-care-for-them