Numb Hand from Crack

[downfall]

Pulling up on a solid hand jam yesterday my left hand went numb. It still is't totally recovered with the numbness centered on the back of my hand between the pointer and index fingers. Has anyone had this happened to them before? Is it likely to be a long term reoccuring problem with jamming; is there a way to prevent it?

 

This is the second time its happened to me. The first time was when I was pulling through a roof on a single hand jam and close to 100% of my body weight was on the 1 jam. That time the numbness went away after about 20-30 minutes. This time was a releatively straightforward jam. I'm worried that I may be setting myself up for a long term recurring problem. The first time I was taped but yesterday I wasn't taped so I'm not sure that makes a difference or not. Any pointers on how to fix this would be appreciated.

[whirlwind]

i don't know, ive had it happen to a mild degree, usally ice helps, but i have to say almost 100% of ur body weight on one hand jam is pretty impresive.

[Redoubt]

I've encountered numbness like you describe a few times. It has lasted as long as a couple weeks and has always eventually completely disappeared. The occurences have been years apart so I wouldn't call it recurring. I've always just assumed I bruised a nerve or something, and it did make me start taping at the first sign of a crack. In any case, I doubt you're hurting anything by just using ice and waiting to see what happens. Maybe tape it heavily the next few times you climb. I wouldn't be overly concerned at this point.

[Ed_Hobbick]

I'd think that you could injure your hand using the brute force jam method. My hand is still sore 48 hours after climbing Pices in Index. I figure it's my technique, next time I'm going to try to get a little more weight on my feet. This is probably obvious to you. The numbness though... hmm, I'd be careful. I'd imagine that it is really hard to say whether there is any lasting damage or risk of some kind of repetitive stress injury.