[Haroun S]

Hi everybody!

I have had two injuries that have been making my climbing life feel like hell for 2 years. I don't think that the two things are linked but better explain both problems in case someone finds the link.

2 years ago started to feel a little pain at the ring finger (exact place is #2 of picture). Mostly when crimping but not only. I though is was a common inflammation of the tendon and it would dissapear within 2 weeks but it did not. 2 month later i went to mallorca and hurt my back really bad so i could not climb for month... Still, the pain came back some times (even while typing on the keybooard). The winter that followed, i went to Font and had the pain again, but that time down to the middle of the forearm! accentuated by the cold. When i strenched my hand by exteding it and the fingers, it was a really strong pain from #2 down to the forearm. I have this pain at both ring fingers but much more at the left one. I am left handed.

After that i only climbed a few times for the following year, due to the back injury, the finger pain and also pinched nerves at the shoulders. At each time i would have a little discomfort at the ring finger, and it could lead to real pain while crimping.

Now that my back is healed, i stated training again but a few days ago i had a lot of pain at the ring finger, even on slopers. The next days, it was a little swolen and closing my hand made me feel pressure in the finger. Making the joint (#1 in picture) 'click' made me feel like there was less pressure.

Detailed explanation of picture:
#1 - joint that releaved pressure last days
#2 - place where i have been feeling discomfort/pain since the beginning. I feel like sometimes it's a little to the left of the finger, where the red line is.
#3 - i have a little pain when i put pressure on that point, in the left side of this joint
#4 - i have pain (more discomfort than pain) when there is pressure on the inside of the hand, on the tendon going to the ring finger)



I don't know if it's related but i have pinched nerves in shoulder that prevent me to do anything related to pull ups (it started 6 month after the ring finger things) it's also at both shoulders (more to the left). Even staying to long on my elbows (on a desk) can bring pain from my arm pits to the middle of my biceps (on the side facing my body), pain sometimes went up to my triceps base. I've seen a specialist but he saw nothing on the scan. I have seen a physio for one year now. He though that it's a pinched nerve and treats me for that. I see him once a month now and i have to stretch the inner rotator every day. It helps a little but i can still feel the pain everyday at some point (after working a lot on the computer).

I have been climbing for 6 years now. I don't understand why these injuries occurred as i used to climb much much more before. Now, even after 3 month with no climbing, pain is still there. I am doing my best not to be on my elbows while working, it helps a little but it's not enough. I have to tell that i am inflammation prone, i even have changed my diet a little to reduce the risk of inflammation.

Sorry for my english (come from belgium) and thanks in advance for taking the time to read this quite long message!

Cheers,
Haroun

[duncan]

Haroun, your English is fine, that's a very clear description.   You have a number of problems that might be related or might be completely independent of each other.  I understand your frustration, your diagnosis is unclear to you and your treatment seemingly not very successful.  So it is understandable to ask for help here.  However arm and hand pains like this are difficult (but not impossible) to deal with working with the actual person and I don't think it is possible to offer any real advice via an internet forum. 

It is common to feel pains when resuming training after an injury and this does not necessarily mean new damage.  It is also common to over-estimate the amount of training you can manage when you resume after a long lay-off.  Sometimes a much lower 'dose' of training is possible, then gradually build up.

As you are unhappy with how things are and you have seen the same physio. for a year, perhaps it is time to try someone else?  No guarantee that they will be any more help to you of course.

[c.j.d.]

Hey Haroun,

This sounds very much like an injury that I had some years ago which revolved around a back/muscular injury which spread down through mu shoulder, forearm and then fingers.

I tried physio, acupuncture, hot oil treatments, but nothing worked (over three months).  I then went to see a chiropractor, and after two session was climbing again , and after four I was training again, just like that.  It was so bad, I couldn't even climb V2, as I couldn't extend my arm as the elbow downwards was really painful to stretch.

It turned out to be a trapped radial nerve in my upper back, between my neck and shoulder.  Pretty hard to diagnose, but lead to the exact same issues you are having.  I think visiting someone similar and putting forward this potential theory may lead to a bit more climbing this year - good luck!

[Haroun S]

Thank you for your answers!

@duncan: you definitaly have a point saying it's hard to diagnose this kind of problem on the net. But even in perosn with a specialist they are struggling to give me an answer. I am pretty sure i am not overtraining as what i do is nothing compared to what i used to do. And even with no training at all, my injuries remain. And again you are right telling me i should see another physio, will contact another one soon!

@c.j.d: my physio thinks it is a nerve pinch between the rotators and a third mucle link to the triceps. These muscles form some kind of triangle with a nerve between. We strench it each time, it helps but it's not enough. He he also chiro so he works on my back also. Next session i'll talk to him about the place you described (between shoulder and neck). But i never had any problem stretching, like you had. But i am pretty sure that there is indeed something with the radial nerve.

But there is still this weird pain in ring finger that i think is not linked with the shoulder, even though i have had some strange sensations coming down the arm, down to the fingers. But never at the same time as the ring finger thing. When i get the pain by crimping, my shoulder can be perfectly fine. And on these ocasions the pain is really located at the 3rd knucle of the ring finger.

Thank to both of you!