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Taping a collateral ligament injury (Read 7811 times)

SamT

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Taping a collateral ligament injury
June 14, 2014, 04:19:34 pm

Been nursing a collateral ligament injury for a while now. (sustained whilst slipping on a wet slippy boulder in the rain and sort of crunching my finger a bit as I put my hand out in the fall). 

Its not been too bad but comes and goes.  Seems a bit worse the last few days following a bit of crimping action.  Back on an icing regime (twice a day). 

Done a lot of digging on the forum, but cant find owt specific to taping.

So.... any specific advice/technique/pattern for taping?

PS - its my LH ring finger on the side nearest middle finger.

nic mullin

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I tape these in kind of a figure of 8 with the tape crossing at the sides of the knuckle. Read it in a leaflet that came with a roll of tape. Wrap horizontally around your finger below the knuckle, then take the tape diagonally around the side of the knuckle so you can make a horizonal wrap above the joint, then take the tape back down diagonally so it makes a cross with the other diagional wrap at the side of your knuckle. Finish with another horzontal wrap so it doesn't come loose. Sounds complicated but it isn't.  Tape has to be torn thin (tear 1/2" tape in half) or you can't bend your finger.

Hope it gets better soon. Icing and avoiding holds that load the finger sideways have helped mine.

Paul B

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I completely wrap the knuckle as I find it better than standard figure of eight taping or H taping.

God knows if it actually helps. Injuries suck.

lagerstarfish

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I taped like Nic - with the joint slightly bent to start with

sometimes wrapped extra tape around the knuckle when it was more swollen and painful to touch - padding

why did I think that warming up on Captain Crochet in minging conditions was a good idea?

Lund

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For this kind of shit, you need to think about it slightly differently than a pulley injury, and I've a word of caution for ya.

There's varying evidence for finger taping for pulley injuries.  Much of it crap, much of it done on out-of-the-freezer dead bodies.  But the idea is that you can support the tendons etc. by supporting and replacing the action of the injured pulley using tape.  To do this you tape hard in the right place.

For a collateral ligament injury, this is different: you've damaged the ligaments that hold the joint stable, not those that allow the tendon to pull effectively.  What you're trying to do with your tape here is to tape it such that it resists further injury with side to side and twisting injuries.  This is much much harder to do than the regular taping.

Crimping is a shit idea.  As the finger bends hard, when you then apply irregular force on it (such as one finger being a big longer, your body being slightly to the side, or whatnot) then you get a sideways shearing force on the finger.  This puts strain on that lateral ligament.

My recommendation is to avoid crimping, and buddy tape it to it's neighbour, tight.  Use the neighbour to support it from those shearing forces in other words.

Just taping in a figure eight will do next to fuck all unfortunately, IMO.

Oh, and that word of caution: if you don't listen to your body, nob it up, then you'll end up damaging the joint further, probably rupturing the capsule, and you'll end up with a ganglion on the side of your finger.




SamT

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cheers guys...

I've had various of these types of tweaks over the past 20 years of climbing so I'm sort of familiar with them.

I'm with Lund on the idea that a strip of tape down the side (either H or crossed) will do next to fuck all in terms of laterally supporting the joint. (whereas I can completely understand the mechanics of taping a pulley and how that will support the function of the pulley).  Kinda why I asked the question as I've had a few folks say that you can tape really effectively for colats, and I remain skeptical. Wondered if I was missing some amazing technique.
 
Its not really stopping me climbing much, its just nagging a bit.

Might try buddy taping it tonight and see how that feels.

Cheers again.

fatdoc

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Lund is near the money.

I'd climb on it, as long as doesn't hurt.

I'd side tape, then a fig 8.

Not just for immediate structural support, as yes the forces far out weigh the tolerances of the tape... But to install a different bio mechanical pattern in your unconscious movement pathways.

Evidence rating.... Low

Found it to be useful... Yes

Nocturnal icing ala Dave Macs blog / site always a favourite for me.

 

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