[gremlin]

Hi,

I seem to have developed an almost permanent sore spot on the finger (on my right hand) that's in between the middle finger and "pinky" - I forget it's proper name. Anyway, it's rather odd in that the finger is fine until something presses on it. The best way to describe it is it feels like the actual bone itself is sore. The location of this pain is on the lower part of the finger (the fleshy bit just above the hand itself).

While it doesn't hinder my climbing, I'm conscious that any pain isn't good and worry that I'm causing permanent damage. I have been climbing quite a lot during this spell of nice weather, about 4 times a week and have been climbing for just over a year now.

Is this some kind of a pulley injury? Would taping help?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Oh, and I have done a site search btw but can't find anything that matches my symptoms.

[Eliasn]

I have no answer to your question, but what you describe is pretty much what i have as well, so i would love if somebody have any idea what it might be too.

[Ru]

The only things in your finger are bone, tendon and pulley. Therefore odds on you've hurt one of those.  Whichever it is, you basically have 2 choices. You can either stop climbing on it and hope it gets better, or you can climb on it and hope it gets better. Option 3 is to visit your GP who will try and remember what's in a finger (their thinking will probably run "bone, tendon, erm other stringy bits). They will then diagnose injury to one or all of those and will suggest you stop climbing and hope it goes away. Or you can pay a £100 to a physio who will rub it a bit, shine a light on it or do some other vague treatment of negligable effect then tell you to stop climbing on it and hope it goes away.

[slackline]

The only things in your finger are bone, tendon and pulley. Therefore odds on you've hurt one of those.  Whichever it is, you basically have 2 choices. You can either stop climbing on it and hope it gets better, or you can climb on it and hope it gets better. Option 3 is to visit your GP who will try and remember what's in a finger (their thinking will probably run "bone, tendon, erm other stringy bits). They will then diagnose injury to one or all of those and will suggest you stop climbing and hope it goes away. Or you can pay a £100 to a physio who will rub it a bit, shine a light on it or do some other vague treatment of negligable effect then tell you to stop climbing on it and hope it goes away.

Can this be stickied at the top of the sub-forum?

[Wipey Why]

The only things in your finger are bone, tendon and pulley. Therefore odds on you've hurt one of those.  Whichever it is, you basically have 2 choices. You can either stop climbing on it and hope it gets better, or you can climb on it and hope it gets better. Option 3 is to visit your GP who will try and remember what's in a finger (their thinking will probably run "bone, tendon, erm other stringy bits). They will then diagnose injury to one or all of those and will suggest you stop climbing and hope it goes away. Or you can pay a £100 to a physio who will rub it a bit, shine a light on it or do some other vague treatment of negligable effect then tell you to stop climbing on it and hope it goes away.

Can this be stickied at the top of the sub-forum?

[duncan]

The only things in your finger are bone, tendon and pulley. Therefore odds on you've hurt one of those.  Whichever it is, you basically have 2 choices. You can either stop climbing on it and hope it gets better, or you can climb on it and hope it gets better. Option 3 is to visit your GP who will try and remember what's in a finger (their thinking will probably run "bone, tendon, erm other stringy bits). They will then diagnose injury to one or all of those and will suggest you stop climbing and hope it goes away. Or you can pay a £100 to a physio who will rub it a bit, shine a light on it or do some other vague treatment of negligable effect then tell you to stop climbing on it and hope it goes away.

Partially true but, as any Lawyer will tell you, the parts that are not true can be very important.

Most minor finger tweaks will get better with a period of relative rest followed by controlled stressing and do not need to be seen by anyone medical.  Massaging the tender bit with an ice cube seems to help both during the acute (shortly after injury) stage and also as you are starting to stress the part again.  I have unlimited free access to ultrasound, laser and various other machines and don't bother using them on myself.

Controlled stressing of injuries as they recover usually results faster return to sport and better long-term outcome  than complete rest.  The amount and timing of the stress is the difficult bit to judge and medical professionals not used to dealing with sports people tend to err on the side of caution.  This is something that a physio. (or similar: many hand specialists are Occupational Therapists) who has expertise in the area that you've injured and some insight into the demands of climbing should be able to help with, if only for reassurance.  If you're an 8b hero, go tick some Extreme Rock routes; a 6b hero, some Classic Rock routes.

Strapping fingers is a personal choice but it seems to help some.  It seems unlikely that strapping  changes the mechanical load on, say, a pulley in any way.  It might act as local compression, so minimising tiny amounts of swelling.  It might just act as a (subconscious) reminder not to pull so hard with that finger.  Either way strapping should be used sparingly during return to full function then phased out.

If you have had a more severe injury, then an expert should be able to diagnose and advise on what you can and cannot do according to the diagnosis to help you return to some level of climbing more rapidly whilst minimising the risk of recurrence.  For example, fierce crimping should be avoided if you are recovering from pulley injuries but you can usually still pull quite hard on big slopers.  If you have strained a collateral ligament, pulling straight down open-handed will be possible but finger jams should be be avoided and side-pulls handled with care. 

An expert will also know when you really do have to stop completely and when you need to see a surgeon. 

[Ru]

Partially true but, as any Lawyer will tell you, the parts that are not true can be very important.

Most minor finger tweaks will get better with a period of relative rest.

I.e stop climbing and hope it goes away.

Controlled stressing of injuries as they recover usually results faster return to sport and better long-term outcome  than complete rest. 

i.e climb on it then hope it goes away.

The amount and timing of the stress is the difficult bit to judge and medical professionals not used to dealing with sports people tend to err on the side of caution.  This is something that a physio. (or similar: many hand specialists are Occupational Therapists) who has expertise in the area that you've injured and some insight into the demands of climbing should be able to help with, if only for reassurance.

I doubt even experts know. They just take an educated guess. Ultimately they don't know how much your finger hurts so any guess they make is probably less accurate than using common sense based on how much it hurts.

If you have had a more severe injury, then an expert should be able to diagnose and advise on what you can and cannot do according to the diagnosis to help you return to some level of climbing more rapidly whilst minimising the risk of recurrence.

I'm still of the opinion that this isn't rocket science. If a finger hurts so much that picking up a cup of coffee hurts it then it would be a good guess that boning down on small crimps is bad and a rest is probably in order. If a finger doesn't hurt when climbing on it, then climbing on it is probably ok..

An expert will also know when you really do have to stop completely and when you need to see a surgeon.

Pretty much the only point you need to see a surgeon, in my admittedly limited knowledge, is if something has snapped and needs stitching back together. You generally have a fairly good idea that this is the case as your finger doesn't work. I base this opinion only from talking to surgeons.

Maybe I was a bit brief in my first reply.  I could probably have usefully added that if it hurts doing something, don't do it until it stops hurting as it's probably not helping.

[Mark Lloyd]

Have you considered a career in medicine Ru

[chris_j_s]

As always with finger injuries - make sure you do regular ice treatment a la Dave MacLeod to increase blood flow.

http://onlineclimbingcoach.blogspot.com/2010/05/pulley-injuries-article.html

[dobbin]

Have you considered a career in medicine Ru

He doesnt need to - he married his personal physician

[SA Chris]

Have you considered a career in medicine Ru

Partially true but, as any Lawyer will tell you

Or maybe a career in Law?

[Stu Littlefair]

Rupert's my best buddy. And he's ALWAYS right. Except for today, when he's wrong.

As well as options 1) and 2) there's option 3) which is to climb on it and hope it gets better but with plenty of stretching and icing.

Option 3 has worked the best in my extensive experience of finger injuries. However, it might not be a good idea to take advice about what works from someone with an extensive experience of finger injuries, which leaves you with options 1 and 2.

Try 2.

Or 3.

[chris_j_s]

However, it might not be a good idea to take advice about what works from someone with an extensive experience of finger injuries, which leaves you with options 1 and 2.

I suppose it would be best not to take advice from you about finger injury prevention, but it sounds like you're a pretty handy resource for advice about recovering from them!

+1 here for option 3.

[slackline]

Why not put some holograms on the injured fingers?

[Ru]

Stu's option 3 is just option 2 with a bit of ice and stretching thrown in. Feel free to do either, or indeed both. They may, or may not, aid recovery... you will never know.

[Mark Lloyd]

Have you considered a career in medicine Ru

He doesnt need to - he married his personal physician

It was meant to be tongue in cheek

There is of course a fourth option which your GP probably won't reccommend and might result in even more pain that is to remove the offending digit, might not do much for your climbing either.