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xclimber47
Dec 19, 2010, 10:12 PM
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Registered: Apr 13, 2004
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So this starts with an A2 pulley injury on my left ring finger (I know its common), but I'll go ahead and toss out my question up front and if you want to read the back story it will follow...
My question is-- Its been over eight months since the injury. I gave it a couple months off and then was able to climb all summer without pain, even on difficult terrain (for me- 12a's) . However, it hurts immediately when I try to do a moderately difficult route in a gym. A hand surgeon has taken x-rays and deemed it healed. Am I doomed to never be able to train in the winter or is it possible that the original injury could still be lingering for almost a year despite not hurting all summer? Anyone been living with this sort of thing for a while?
I first hurt it pulling on some 2-finger pockets on an overhang. Not knowing I had done anything serious I re-aggravated it a couple times by coming back to climbing too soon when I thought it was better. There was (and still is) a small lump in my finger where the A2 pulley is. When I first spoke with a doctor back in March I was told that it was likely I would need surgery but that it would be okay to wait until the winter. It eventually stopped hurting though, so I climbed all summer (outdoors) and never had any trouble, crimps, pockets, whatever.
Just to see what they would say I went to a hand surgeon last month and he said if I was climbing without pain I should be fine and he highly recommended against any surgery even though you can feel a little lump in my finger. Took xrays and saw no problems. Since I hadn't felt any pain in a while, I was happy about that and went to a gym to test it out. The first difficult route I hopped on though, the pain came back. It wasn't as quite as bad as before, but I stopped climbing right then and the pain went away that evening. I want to be able to train, but not at the expense of injuring my finger and losing a season of outdoor climbing.
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wrbill
Dec 19, 2010, 10:22 PM
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I'm no doc, but I had some pain in two of my fingers and it was only in the gym as well. I taped the fingers that hurt and just climbed at a level that i did not feel any pain. When my fingers started to hurt on any route I would stop for the day and give it two or three days rest. After the rest I would go back go the gym and start again. It took about 4 to 6 months of doing that to have no pain. Hope this helps. Again I'm no doc, but that is what I did and it helped.
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gregofthemountain
Dec 20, 2010, 1:22 AM
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Ive delt with four injuries similar to this over the years, with all of them leaving behind a permanent "bump" on the injury site. For me, the pain was mostly gone in three to four months, shorter for the last three because I was smarter about taking care of the injury. I have never tried surgury (which seems like a bad idea to me) and didnt even go to the doctor for the last three. Im kinda surprised your still having pain at 8+ months, but like the doctor said there isnt any more healing going on so long after the initial injury. That is unless you have injured it again. My guess is that the pain will eventually go away as the finger gets stronger. Get some Theraputty or something to squeeze if you havnt already. Does the finger hurt when open handing holds? This is the least stressful grip position for your A2, and one that I use almost exclusively when recovering from tendon injuries. Hope this helps some.
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xclimber47
Dec 20, 2010, 3:09 AM
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Registered: Apr 13, 2004
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yeah, I suppose that was my main question is whether anyone else had had a pulley injury give them pain this long after first doing it. I'll try some of that theraputty stuff, but I'm guessing what it'll come down to is just being more responsible in the gym. I almost never use a 'crimp' grip, even on tiny holds, open hand has always just been more natural to me. I think its just something about the holds in a gym making you crank harder on your fingers to latch onto plastic. Maybe thin, rounded off plastic makes me pull up into a crimp position without thinking about it. I can only hope that its still healing to some degree and will eventually disappear, because it came back fast, but it went away just as fast so I assume I didn't re-injure anything.
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erisspirit
Dec 21, 2010, 1:35 AM
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Registered: Dec 15, 2004
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Yes It took me a long time to get to a 100% pain free place.
I did the same thing... same finger etc.
I took the couple months off and was "healed" but still had pain when I would attempt more difficult routes (especially crimpy ones). I ended up taping that finger, and starting on easier/ larger holds to slowly get strength back into that finger.
First I got to the point where I could climb harder grades without pain for a couple climbs. Then it would get painful and I would back off to some easier climbs.
Then I got to the point where I could always climb pain free IF i was taped up.
only after about 1.5 years could I climb without taping pain free. If that finger is still weaker, you could just be stressing it out.
The main thing I had to do was just listen to it and not force it.
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