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slcathena
Dec 17, 2002, 9:16 PM
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Hey,
I'm a newbie to this board, and have been scanning the old topics for a while, but haven't been able to find an answer to my question.
Basically, I have a stress fracture in my left leg (shin bone) from non-climbing related running and jumping activities. Do you think that I can still climb, as long as I only do boulder routes I can down climb and easier lead routes? I have a trip coming up and I want to be able to keep my endurance up for it.
Thanks--and I'm sure I'll see you around more.
~S
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rck_climber
Dec 17, 2002, 9:44 PM
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Personally, I would say go for it.
Start out tentatively and gauge how you feel as you progress to more difficult lines. When you feel pain to the point that you feel you're doing damage, stop and back off it a bit.
Furthermore, I would be more inclined to engage in roped climbing than bouldering with this type of injury. The last thing you need is to pop off and land hard on that leg ~ crashpad or no. Instead, with easy/moderate roped climbing you can work your way up the route slowly and judge the leg, knowing that you can simply let go if you tweak it.
These are just my suggestions on what "I" would do, so take them with a grain of salt and know that it's ultimately up to you how hard you push yourself. No one else can tell you for sure. Don't forget to give the doc's recommendations some heavy thought, sometimes they mean it .
Good luck.
Mick
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wv5ten
Dec 18, 2002, 12:07 AM
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mmm i can't tell you what to do, but if you do decide to climb...try the easiest climb you can, and work untill it gets to hard, then do maybe a rating lower than the hardest one you can do.
thats just an idea, ive been climbing with shin splints. usually doesn't bother me, but sometimes it kills.
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spoon
Dec 18, 2002, 4:28 AM
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Did the doctor who diagnosed the fracture have anything to say about it? All my fractures have been wrists, but they hurt like hell when i tried to do anything with them.
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slcathena
Dec 18, 2002, 4:34 PM
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Thanks for the replies. Sorry for the additional post, that was not supposed to happen...
My Doc was a little wary, but aggreed that roped climbing was probably okay, I added that I would abstain from lead routes that are at the cusp of my skill so I don't take a whipper into the wall on my leg.
To answer the question about pain, the fracture doesn't even hurt. I didn't know it was there. Basically, I went in for a case of tendinitis in my ankle that I had let get out of hand, and when the did the x-ray they found a fracture on the other side of my leg.
My doc doesn't climb however, and I have only been climbing for about 9 months, so I wanted to run this by some people who are familiar with the stresses climbing specifically can place on a shin...it seems like the people here and my Doc have come to the same conclusion.
Thanks again. This is a relief because I have a trip planned over New Years!
~S
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climbergirl15
Dec 19, 2002, 1:28 PM
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Since I am accident prone, I had a stress fracture in my left shin, and one in my foot, from running 10 miles a day, the doctor told me I could continue to run, but I could not run as much. Now since I did three years later my shin, and foot still bother me if I run, and when it rains. So my suggestion, wait for it to heal, and then start climbin again.
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krillen
Dec 19, 2002, 2:29 PM
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The best way to aggrevate/extend an injury is to continue exercising with it. Man a coupel weeks to let it heal properly is WAY more important in the long run than a few routes now. Climbing will always be there to doi at a later date.
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bumblesbounce
Dec 20, 2002, 4:11 PM
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Is he sure it's a fracture? I could be shin splints too? I know running causes that...
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seabee
Dec 20, 2002, 4:31 PM
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I, too, have suffered from a running-related stress fracture, earlier this year. In fact, that's what got me away from trail running and back into climbing. I climbed on it all summer, and never had any real problems with it. The only times it hurt were sometimes on the way back to the car, and when I was desperately kicking at the rock for a toehold. I thing climbing is generally pretty low-impact, and doesn't aggravate running injuries too badly.
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karma274
Dec 21, 2002, 11:20 PM
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Yo, coming from an injury prone runner:
I would not boulder on it for a while. Stress fractures, as you know, are caused by overtraining and possibly nutrient defficiencies, any sort of impact will only make it worse. I would highly suggest NOT BOULDERING as repeated groundfalls are exactly what your leg does not need right now. I would also abstain from running on it unless you have a national championship meet or something of the like.
Toproping should be fine. Leading... this is a grey area. Don't take any whippers that would smash it into the wall on a ledge. That would be very bad.
Best of luck with the injury.
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slcathena
Dec 22, 2002, 7:58 PM
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Thanks for all the feedback. I am going in to get it x-rayed again tomorrow. (Fingers crossed that it is getting better!!!) In the interim I have been top-roping, abstaining (painfully) from leading and only doing boulder problems below V2 that I KNOW I can downclimb (no funky overhangs or slopers--my weaknesses).
Wouldn't it be cool if I did have a national meet coming up or something?! Alas, the only reason I run is to keep in shape/increase my endurance for climbing.
~Sara
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