[Moo]

I think you've got a better chance of winning the lottery than you have of getting a molecule of what your trying to dilute into one of those little white tablets homeopathy uses.

[Oldmanmatt]

I think you've got a better chance of winning the lottery than you have of getting a molecule of what your trying to dilute into one of those little white tablets homeopathy uses.

Only by three or four orders of magnitude...

[mrjonathanr]

Not if you put the ticket through a shredder then throw a bit in the sea, it'd be much more effective then.

[lukeh]

Thankfully I've not had experience of acupuncture on my fingers, but I have had acupuncture on a knee injury, which along with some deep massage and some weird movements done by a chiropractor left my knee fine in no time.

While not directly applicable I felt it worth mentioning that the acupuncture was nothing to do with pressure points or dodgy pills. The chiropractor explained it as a bit like micro surgery; using the needle to lightly lacerate stubborn tendon/scar tissue (by wiggling the needle), which promoted regrowth in a tendon injury which was borderline between chronic and acute and so needed a kick start to get healing again...  (problem was where the hamstring tendon inserted by the head of the fibula/me not doing anything about it for months!)

[Dexter]

not got a huge amount of experience in this area but a few years ago a popped something really badly and couldnt touch pockets at all but could still crimp without pain so spent a couple of months forcing myself just to crimp everything even the slopiest of slopers. Not ideal but it meant I could still climb. Not sure how applicable this is though

[andyd]

I say try anything once, but try not to get caught.
In the absence of Tim Minchin, I'll steal his line...

"You know what they call “alternative medicine” that’s been proved to work?
Medicine.”

Get amongst the diclofenac. Tell your doctor it happens a lot and ask for a big box. I think they can give you 82 tablets at the most.

[rodma]

Firstly I think i met your mate in albarracin yesterday, but i think you are already en-route to catalunya.

I had a full rupture two years ago, a couple of weeks before heading to Hueco, which was my first ever visit there, so was more than a little disappointed. Icould birds-beak ok, since this completely took my ring finger out of the equation and found one problem that I could do if i stacked my ring finger on top of my middle finger, since this kept it elongated and allowed me to use my pinky for increased strength.

I couldn't tape it at all, since any pressure was very painfull, but five months later I could form a full tape pulley as tight as you like with no discomfort at all, but If i don't tape, the tendon bowstrings out like a bicep.

I don't believe that there is any miracle cure and surgery sounds v. bad, a friend had considered it until they told him that it would give him the strength to "hold a pencil", which was not what he was exactly looking for.

Anyway, I can one arm a small campus rung half-crimped with no discomfort at all (well, in that finger anyway) if that's any consolation. It took a while to build back up to this, but that is where I was at prior to the rupture.

[Ru]

A different view.

Surgery: I know both a climbing injury specialist orthopaedic surgeon who reckons that surgical repair of pulleys is fine, and someone that's had it done and reports no loss of strength afterwards (climbs 8b in the frankenjura).

Not surgery: the aforementioned surgeon also points out that a ruptured pulley with bowstringing gives about a 4% immediate strength increase in that finger due to the mechanical advantage of having the tendon run in a straighter line.

[boulderingbacon]

diclofenac is ok but ask the doc for tramadol way more powerful but they dont like giving them out because they can be addictive.  i got given them off a bloke at work who had them for sciatica so i told the doc i had been given them an they worked so he prescribed me some.

[fatdoc]

mad thread... woooo on the *mate gvin me tramadol*


get it legit...

acupuncture... well good in certain scenarios... this one... not ckear or evidence based, from my understanding anyways...

[mrjonathanr]

Mmm, bacon, fatdoc is better than averagely positioned to dispense advice, amongst other things. tramadol's an analgesic, but not anti-inflammatory like diclofenac which would be more appropriate I expect. I'm sure Robsons can live with the pain, it's the frustration which is harder to bear.

[boulderingbacon]

yeah sorry did sound a bit mad there but i was prescribed it, was just saying i first tried it from a friend which i should of stated that you shouldnt do. i didnt realise robsons wanted an anti inflammatory as i wouldnt of suggested it, i thought he wanted a way to climb through the pain which that would probably help.

[petarar]

I have used acupuncture on both myself and others for finger injuries. Unfortunately made no difference whatsoever. The key to a quick recovery is early controlled loading of the structure.

In the first week you want to protect the pulley, increase blood flow to help healing and maintain range of movement
H-taping  throughout the day.
Cold therapy -bowl of cold water (no ice) keep in for 20 minutes. moving fingers through full range throughout. repeat x2 daily
Move hand and fingers through a full range of movement regularly through out the day.
General exercise such as running or swimming will also increase blood flow
Eat well, keep hydrated and get plenty of sleep

In week 2 you need to begin to progressively load the tissue to encourage correct alignment of the repairing tissue.
You can do this in various ways but i recommend this method.
Stand on some bathroom scales in front of your fingerboard, gentle apply pressure to a hold without increasing  pain. Start with open hand sloping holds. The scales are so you can measure progress and see how much of body weight you can take. There must be no increase in pain before or after the exercise.

In actual fact there are 3 phases to taking a hold and i would recommend re-training all 3.
contact 
hand stretches out and then pulls into position
Hold is held for 5-10 seconds
 
I would do sets of 10 to mimic an average length boulder problem.
rest 2 minutes between sets and do between 5 and 10 sets depending on fatigue and pain.(Remember gentle enough to not increase pain. This maybe 1% effort initially)

Follow this with the movement in cold water described above.

I would also recommend hand strengthening exercises as these muscles are often weakened following a pulley injury and help provide active stability to the finger.

When you can take 50% of your body weight without pain you are probably ready to begin climbing.
It is also worth massaging and stretching the forearm muscles as these often become tight following a finger injury.

[GCW]

Why are you H taping in the rest phase?

[petarar]

h-taping in rest week to protect injured structure and minimize bow stringing. Gives it a chance to knit together a bit before you begin loading but maybe better than splinting as doesn't fully immobilise finger. I have no evidence to back this up

[Robsons]

Right, firstly I would like to say thank you to everyone who has responded so far - hugely appreciated!
I am now back from Catalunya and at times it was torture, but mostly used it to increase the psyche for another trip!
So the finger is still painful upon compression (mainly to the sides), but improving daily. I have been doing a lot of water bathing and I think that has really helped...I have taped to immobilise during the days (at 30% bent)...mainly to stop using it whilst getting to crags etc...been going through full range of movement and doing light massaging.
Next step is the MRI on Weds...I think I will then start to do some very light climbing with a completely immobilised finger...and start on the pull-ups, core, flexibility etc...
I am getting bowstringing, but it is not really noticeable unless I pinch the finger and feel for it...not very visible?

I'll basically keep updating this as I go, purely for future injuries and a point of reference...any further info will of course be very welcome.
I have to say a thanks to Rick from the clinic in Sheffield too as he took some time out of his day to speak to me and then sent me a very informative email...apparently Vera On the Dutch team has recently gone through the same...Essentially what has been said on here: 2 weeks out (icing/water treatment)' 2 weeks light rehab, then back into climbing...progressively fo course.

Rodma, yep, you met my mate Adam in Albaraccin - he was looking strong after the bouldering sessions!
Thanks again.

[Robsons]

So, got my MRI results back and the "hand specialist" was rather useless to be honest!
The radiologist report said full A2 rupture, but we didn't have the imagery to go through together. He said he trusted his radiologist, but I wanted to see them to ensure that A1/A3 were intact etc...I have been getting a fair amount of pain in my palm (catching feeling (scar tissue?))? He went off and came back saying he thinks/is pretty sure it is just my A2 that is ruptured.
Pain, he said, is my guidance. I can start exercising as long as it doesn't hurt.
It is still inflamed - hurts to press side of fingers and in A1/palm. I have gained more power back (but we are talking from scratch - it went and I had nothing!)
Not that happy with the appointment I went to X-Ray and asked for my MRI results...they gave them to me on disc.
I have exported them to my comp and chosen the most relevant ( I think?) - I am no expert and need advice - anyone have any clue as to the health of A1/3?
I think some show the bowstringing of A2 fairly blatantly - not sure about the rest??

Cheers,

Robinhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/olearyrobin/

[Fultonius]

i thought he wanted a way to climb through the pain which that would probably help.

Hmmm....taking military strength painkillers to allow you to climb through fairly serious pulley injury doesn't sound much like a sensible route to recovery...

[fatdoc]

Keep off that tramadol dude.... Yr finger is speaking to u...

Christ... By the law of averages u must be 20 yrs younger than me...

Let's not get into steroid injections from abuse of of tissues not given time to heal then injured again... That was a bad time for me... In fact it ended my serious progression in the sport.

Rest...

Crikey... Do something else for a few months... Bike, canoe, run... Playstation.. Whatever..


Easy for me to say..

Give it time mate!

[Robsons]

Not taking ANY anti-inflams...don't intend to either...