Wrist Tendon Injury...Help

[TimL]

Last week I was clipping some bolts when I grabbed a huge 3 finger pocket and felt a pull in my right side ring finger/pinky tendon from the base of the finger all the way down past my wrist to the middle of my forearm. It hurts the wrist around the wrist area. Now the weird thing is that the tendon only hurts when pressure is applied on the two fingers while they are in an extended position, like grabbing a pocket. Now when I am crimping, nothing hurts. Has anyone had this problem? Anybody know what has happened and what I should do to heal this fucker. Any info will help. Thanks.

[sweatinoutliquor]

How long ago did this happen? Something similar happened to me about a year ago. Didn't seem too bad, and only bothered me on certian holds (like pockets). I stayed off it for a week and iced my hand every now and then. Take some ibuprofin. When I got back on it, I just took it way easy. If anything hurt I stopped. Took about a month to go away. Sounds like you are going to have to use your best judgement as to when you are ready to get back at it. Obviously don't push it, and no lunging for pockets! Good luck!

[Knottygirl]

Hey, I hurt my wrist (the inside...thumb side) at work about 1 1/2 months ago. It used to hurt badly and I would get pins and needles in my hand (swolen tendon pushing on nerves). Now it hurts if any pressure is applied. I don't have insurance so I've read alot and self medicated.

I haven't climbed since

I wear a wrist brace at work

I ice 3x a day and have now done alternating hot and cold

I lift light weights, but I don't push it (I have a big trip to city of rocks planned)

I take B6, Turmeric and Bromelain (helps joints), and Glucosamine.

Good luck! I hope some of this is helpful.

Oh, I read taking Ibrofin actually slows the healing process, so I rub Arnica gel on it 3x a day

[TimL]

I hurt it about a week ago pulling on limestone pockets. I've been trying to be chill with it but its kinda hard. I'm just not pulling on pockets for a while and climbing more cracks, a kinda rare thing here, and slabs. The thing is that it doesn't hurt when I apply pressure, only when I pull down when my two fingers are almost at full extension. This is the first time I've every had a problem like this.

[Alex]

I got this same type of injury when pulling too hard on two-finger pockets in the gym 2 years ago; I typically used my middle and ring fingers in these pockets. The tendon-muscle injury was in my right forearm, to where I couldn't really "pull" with either my ring or pinky fingers, but any other motion was ok. I was deluded as to how long it would take to heal completely, and promptly re-injured it after 3-4 weeks again in the gym, after "taking it easy".

 

I got better by 1) not pulling down hard with the fingers at all for about 4 months, and just bouldering easier, more tendon friendly stuff 2) learning to use my index and middle fingers in pockets, rather than middle and ring. Also 3) taping the ring and other fingers religously helped in making me realize better when I was approaching the "pulling too hard" limit on the injured hand.

 

I think tendon injuries (unlike muscle or even bone injuries) take a long long time to heal, and are particularly susceptible to re-injury especially if you are very strong (like you are) and can easily over-crank. But re-injury only makes it worse in the long run, so despite how frustrating it is to take it easy for 3 months or so, its better than being out for real for 6.

[plexus]

Tim, check my post a couple posts down. That's exactly what I did. My middle finger is fine now. My ring finger isn't. I was explained to by my doctor friend Friday night that your ring and pinky fingers are the two weakest fingers.

 

My problem is I screwed up the tendon down deep as opposed to closer to the wrist. On my home wall I can boulder with big jugs with my right no problem.

 

It also didn't help that I jumped on a 10c for my first climb of the season (I swear I thought it was a 5.9). Good luck and use lots of range of motion exercizes, your finger donught and ice, ice, ice.

[layton]

sounds like a mild sprain of the wrist extensors or retinaculum, or a sprain of the tendon sheaths. Hard to say from here. If it only hurts with isotonic resistance, you probably strained a muscle. If it hurts besides that, probably tendon/retinaculum/volar plate...???

Here's a non too specific sample plan.

(go see some sort of doc you trust and get a diagnosis and get treated ASAP)

ACUTE:

PRICE

bromelain

A-ROM

Post Acute:

**Massage, U/S, cold laser**

proctive taping

gradual resistance training

Time 4-8 weeks return if sprain, less if strain.

[Knottygirl]

Any advice for my wrist...I wrote about it above. I can't afford to go see a doc.

[sexual_chocolate]

When you say the tendon hurts when the fingers are extended, where does the tendon hurt? At the base of the ring finger?

Was the move dynamic when the injury occurred? (You say you were clipping bolts, so you were stationary?)

 

I don't know if there is any perfect time-line for your return to hard climbing; it's all so subjective.

 

I've had what I thought were little things that, because I didn't pay attention to them, turn into 3 month ordeals, and I've also had painful pulls and tweaks that I swore would take weeks to heal be fine in just a few days (this seems to be happening more lately, simply because I think I've gotten smarter about really listening to my body and taking care of it, and not getting panicky or bummed when injured).

 

Something that i've learned also is how to climb with an injury. it's actually a big learning experience, because it takes me a lot of awareness to be able to use an injured finger in such a way as to not hurt it further. slow has been the key for me, as in setting the hand/finger in just the perfect position that NO pain is felt. this obviously necessitates perfect control in my climbing, and having done tons of static climbing has given me the control to be able to do this on "harder" climbs when injured (when injured, i tend to avoid any moves i can't do completely statically). bottom line though is really listening and figuring out for yourself when you can climb.

 

there are other somewhat esoteric approaches i also engage in when injured that i won't go into here, but ice, rest, gentle stretching, easy and very slow climbing with NO pain, and heat can all help, as can relaxation exercises such as meditation. boo yah.

[TimL]

SC -

 

Thats the best advice I've heard. Thank gawd, the injury is not as bad as I thought. I've bouldered for the last two days with next to no pain. It still hurts around my wrist to forearm area, but I am able to climb with it if I climb smart. Really good advice. I'm not a dynamic climber by nature. I prefer static, technical routes. I'm learning to climb with an injury, and it is a big learning process, but its working. Whenever I feel a hint of pain, I let.

 

I doubt I'll be climbing hard sport on a regular basis untill I get back to Spain in October. Lucky enough, i already put down one project this spring so I can at least lay off in peace.

 

If you have any more tips on climbing with an injury, I'm all ears.

 

Thanks.

[layton]

Hey, I hurt my wrist (the inside...thumb side) at work about 1 1/2 months ago. It used to hurt badly and I would get pins and needles in my hand (swolen tendon pushing on nerves). Now it hurts if any pressure is applied. I don't have insurance so I've read alot and self medicated.

I haven't climbed since

I wear a wrist brace at work

I ice 3x a day and have now done alternating hot and cold

I lift light weights, but I don't push it (I have a big trip to city of rocks planned)

I take B6, Turmeric and Bromelain (helps joints), and Glucosamine.

Good luck! I hope some of this is helpful.

Oh, I read taking Ibrofin actually slows the healing process, so I rub Arnica gel on it 3x a day

 

Unfortuately, it sounds like you need to see someone about this. That's a weird place to get that type of injury. How did it happen?

[Knottygirl]

Actually I hurt it at work...alot of repeatitive wrist motion, pulling, lifting, twisting. (I do custom picture framing).

I can't afford to see anyone is the problem.

It is improving, but I'm still working which slows the progress.

[layton]

Go to western states chiropractic college and see if you can get treated for free. no, they're not going to fix your wrist by cracking your back. at least give them a call (the outpatient clinic) too see what they may charge (tell em you are very poor).

It definately sounds like something that needs more than self-treatment.

[sexual_chocolate]

SC -

 

Thats the best advice I've heard. Thank gawd, the injury is not as bad as I thought. I've bouldered for the last two days with next to no pain. It still hurts around my wrist to forearm area, but I am able to climb with it if I climb smart. Really good advice. I'm not a dynamic climber by nature. I prefer static, technical routes. I'm learning to climb with an injury, and it is a big learning process, but its working. Whenever I feel a hint of pain, I let.

 

I doubt I'll be climbing hard sport on a regular basis untill I get back to Spain in October. Lucky enough, i already put down one project this spring so I can at least lay off in peace.

 

If you have any more tips on climbing with an injury, I'm all ears.

 

Thanks.

 

that's rad that your doing well already. also sounds like you're figuring out stuff for yourself too about being super sensitive to movement and positioning and such while climbing. cool. i think this awareness makes climbing really interesting, so it's not just an injury related activity for me.... you ever do any static climbing on harder steep boulder problems? man that's one of my fave things figuring out how to lock, position, twist etc to make every move FULLY static. i do it in the gym all the time, and not only do i love doing it, it's probably improved my big muscle strength in a climbing specific way more than anything i've ever done.

 

but with the injury thing: i just read something by thich naht hanh which really clicked. he talked about how if there is pain or injury, often our reaction is to tighten up around it. so then we have a "physical" injury, and we layer on to it our emotional reaction, which creates a secondary layer of injury, which makes the healing of the initial injury harder. he talks about really relaxing and noticing this reaction, and then really feeling the injury fully without the secondary reactivity. in my own experience i feel like i then have a much deeper connection to what's really going on, sans the baggage, and as a result, the injury feels like it's healing literally right on the spot as i relax into it. it's kinda hard for me to explain it in words cuz it feels pretty subtle, but i can't ignore the connection between this process and what feels like quick healing.

 

congrats on getting your spring project. i got one of my own recently, and feels pretty good to send!

[Knottygirl]

Thanks so much for the info. I think I'll give it a try.

[layton]

good luck, hope you get well

[TimL]

SC -

 

When I first hurt my wrist I got kinda upset, but I figured that without the additional baggage of being pissed off, the injury would heal quicker. I think thats totally right on. As far as static climbing goes, and RuMr knows this about me, I have to work on my form because I have the strengh to pull most moves. I've found that I'm concentrating more on holding body tension longer to do long static moves on overhangs than just hucking for it.

 

Thanks

[MountaingirlBC]

This is a useful site for sports injuries: http://www.clinicalsportsmedicine.com/chapters/16.htm

[Knottygirl]

 

Awesome! so I went to the clinic and they treat you so nice! I hate going to doctors and haven't been in along time! They determined it was tendonitis, gave me the cold laser treatment and cracked my neck. I go in for a few more treatments.....it helped that the intern was pretty cute....

Thanks for the advice Layton!

[layton]

who was your intern?

[Knottygirl]

Umm, NAthan Edmonds...he was a young kid.

[Knottygirl]

Know him?

[layton]

not by name, but he was probably in my class and didn't take any summers off. I don't associate with folks who don't take summers off.

[Knottygirl]

Proballydoesn't take summers off...I talked climbing he mentioned it hurt his forearms....he's a girly boy, cute....not my type...but one of the only people who can touch my neck (weird thing I have)....never had the neck cracked before, I started craCKING up after, damn I laughed hard! The lady in the next room was screaming orgasmiclly...LOL<

[layton]

I really wish I could comment and also give more advice, but since I go to the same school, and will be soon working in that clinic, I just can't.

I can say, come see me in the fall, and tell your friends to hold off until the fall. I'm just saying that being a climber as well, I think I can help a bit more.