middle finger injury :(

Micah Holt

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While climbing at the gym about 5 weeks ago the base of my middle finger (proximal phalanx and metacarpophalangeal joint) began to get sore, probably due to overcrimping. Wanting to avoid any injury I went home for the night assuming that the pain would be gone in the morning. Unfortunately, the pain was worse. Bending my finger was possible but gripping things was painful. I restrained from climbing for 2 weeks and the pain got better but was still present. I have been climbing sparsely for the last three weeks and always climbing open hand. The pain is still very present on the metacarpophalangeal joint on the palm side of my hand when I squeeze. Even on jugs it is quite sore. What do you think is injured? Do I need to take more time completely off? How can I restrengthen my finger? General suggestions?

2 replies

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Idar Ose

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It sounds like a tear in a pulley , as it is the usual crimp injury. My tip: Tape can remove some pain, but not cure or reduce damage. Tape the finger more or less stiff so there can be no bending.. ;) Use cold treatment (bucket of ice-water start with 4 or 5 ice-cubes hold fingers in for 30 minutes. ) Dunno if it really decrease healingtime, but it shure feels like it. Atleast it feels less painfull. Climb easy on slopers with hand totally open. I can usually boulder at my max on slopers even with this type of injury. Gradually return to normal climbing , but avoid hard crimping for the next 6 months.

Bjoern Alber

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HiI agree it is most likely a pulley tear (partial) so tape usee the swiss method described earlier in the forum ) - only easy climbing- use a foamball to squezze as often as you can as this will increase cirkulation and thus downtime. If its not painful when not loaded don't overdo the icing as its main function is painkilling - the increased healing as speculated by McCloud is not in any way supported by scientific studies.look for more info in the article on hand injuries published on the forum. good luck Björn