Using Hydrating Cream to Improve Repeated Hand Skin Injury Among Tug-of-war Players: a Single Arm, Open-label, Split-hand Crossover Design Clinical Study

Skin damage is a common issue for athletes. Whether during training or competition, athletes often face various skin injuries such as abrasions, cuts, bruises, burns, sunburns, etc. These injuries can have negative impacts on their body and performance, making the importance of protecting the skin self-evident. Firstly, skin damage may affect an athlete's sports performance. In an athlete's competition, any injury may affect their performance and result. Abrasions and bruises may limit muscle contractions, thereby affecting their ability and speed. Cuts and burns may also restrict their range of motion, especially in sports that require high flexibility, such as dance and gymnastics. Even minor injuries, such as blisters and abrasions, may cause discomfort and reduce their performance. Secondly, skin damage may also have negative impacts on an athlete's physical health. Abrasions and cuts may lead to bacterial infections, especially when using public facilities during competitions, such as showers and changing rooms. These infections may cause symptoms such as redness, fever, inflammation, and pus, and may require medication for treatment in severe cases. Sunburns and burns may lead to skin aging, skin cancer, and other skin problems, which may affect an athlete's long-term health and performance. Athletes have limited treatment options, as steroids are one of the important banned substances in sports. Even topical steroid creams may enter the bloodstream after long-term and widespread use, which can be detected in urine tests. Therefore, athletes should avoid using them as much as possible. In addition, topical steroids can cause side effects such as pigment deposition, skin thinning, bleeding, and even infection. Therefore, finding suitable topical medications for skin care in tug-of-war athletes is still necessary to avoid skin complications and potential impacts on performance. The purpose of this study is to clinically verify the effectiveness of the topical cream "Hydrating cream" for skin care in tug-of-war athletes and to evaluate its applicability and feasibility.