What can I do for a gymnastics rip?

I just got my very first rip on bars in gymnastics. Its feeling ok but what can I do to not infect it?

• I wore tape Friday night to bed and a little bit Saturday afternoon. Should I continue using tape or is it not needed?

• Answer:

  I've had many rips and thankfully none ever got infected. A few things that you can do are: Make sure the skin stays moist. My preferred lotion was a Vitamin E cream and then I put lanolin on top (seals in moisture), but you can use an antibiotic cream if you are truly concerned about infection. The biggest thing is to make sure it is clean. Also, you need to make sure that there is no flap or skin that can rip further. Either you or your parents may want to shave the flap/callous with a razor blade. That will prevent it from ripping longer. If you don't use grips or if they don't cover where the rip is, I would cover the rip with tape when working out. Good luck!