[Dave Mayes]

Hi,
I've picked up an A3 tweak, and been looking all over the web at the thousand and one articles which all link back to Dave Mcleods page. They all seem to mention resting until the inflammation is gone - but what exactly does this mean? Somewhere between '1-3 weeks' layoff seems a massive grey area - you could be wasting 2 weeks of rehab by waiting 3, or doing more damage by getting stuck in after 1 when it wasn't ready.
I've had my fair share of partial tears, and never had my digits go red or swell up or anything. What I'm after is a consensus that says, once the inflammation is gone you'll be able to do x, or you'll have noticed a change in y. Do these signals exist, or is it just a case of 'you'll feel ready', which is easy to confuse with 'the weather is perfect, get outside'?
Cheers!

[mctrials23]

To an extent you can feel it but having only had a single A2 injury I am by no means an expert and I get the impression that it takes a few to understand what the feedback your body is giving you means.

My A2 still isn't 100% and its been nearly a year since I did it. In the initial stages there was a barely noticeable swelling but it was tender at the same time which helped. I also used a piece of string to compare the circumference of the healthy finger to the injured one and found that there was a few mm difference when it was swollen.

I think the more important thing is making sure you don't go too hard too soon and if it starts complaining, stop.

[Dave Mayes]

For all the one's I've had, there wasn't any swelling at all - the tenderness tends to creep up a day or two after pulling on something too hard, and even the first day you couldn't tell which finger was knackered by looking at it. The inflammation must have signs other than swelling?