[mrjonathanr]

Slaclkline that graph is amazing.

I had no idea climbing injuries caused time to flow backwards. Who needs a Black Hole, eh?

[Sasquatch]

That graph should be used for training effects, dieting, and pretty much everything on the forum

[SEDur]

So, I am not sure, but I might have given myself a similar injury to yours today.

I loaded a pocket at an odd angle at the works, and my ring finger made two very distinct crunching sounds.
There appears to be pain and mild swelling around the joint, more so then the pully positions currently.
Strangely the pain is when I straiten the finger.

Have you gotten any further in figuring out exactly what your injury is?
Everyone seems to talk about a pop, but mine was definitely a crunch, so not sure of diagnosis.

My game plan is the Dave Macleod thing from yester-year; rest and slow recovery with plenty of stretching/ice.
Will avoid NSAIDS, on the basis that the swelling provides a function, and I don't want to inhibit that.

[i_a_coops]

Alex, I think I did something very similar (twisty collateral damage to index finger, then aggravated on a crimp) about 4 years ago. For about 6 months I just taped it and avoided crimps, then another 6 months of taping it but otherwise ignoring it. After all that it was still swollen. Then I broke my foot and had 4 months total layoff. This seemed to make it considerably worse and it audibly creaked when I flexed it. After that I tried to rehab it properly for a year or so, after which I gave up and just went climbing as it seemed to be totally fine apart from being swollen. Sadly it's still a weakness and it complained really badly when I tried Baboo Baboo last year. At no point in the last four years has the swelling gone down completely. I just had a month of just doing core, pullups and non tweaky deadhanging and it feels fine and stronger than ever but is STILL swollen.

Moral: monos and crimps suck? Oh and obviously don't break your foot and have 4 months off, so be careful on the grit!

[mrjonathanr]

I used to climb a bit with a talented lad (French Junior Indoor Champion) who had knackered his middle finger PIP joint...as in....could not resist force. You could forcibly open the finger without effort.

He took monos with his ring finger and still climbed 7c+ onsight/8b+ rp. It was amazing how the other fingers compensated.

[Paul B]

It was amazing how the other fingers compensated.

Look at Caldwell!

[abarro81]

Have you gotten any further in figuring out exactly what your injury is?

It's to do with the collateral ligaments (/joint capsule). Got some advice from the physio but the main parts are unlikely to be useful to you since yours is a much newer injury than mine.

[TobyD]

so not sure of diagnosis.

My game plan is the Dave Macleod thing from yester-year; rest and slow recovery with plenty of stretching/ice.
Will avoid NSAIDS, on the basis that the swelling provides a function, and I don't want to inhibit that.

diagnosis of finger injury is overrated, in my opinion. If you are sensible and treat it symptomatically, exact pathology isn't that important... (though someone may well prove me wrong shortly...) if it hurts or swells you shouldn't be climbing on it really. climb as much as you can, pain free. Which essentially is what Duncan was saying (i think) sorry if it wasn't D!

[petejh]

Have been meaning to post this but had to wait ages for it to download to my dropbox:

www.dropbox.com/s/ussortph9ccg4iw/Inflammation%20paper.pdf


The take away is DHA/EPA help the body produce it's own powerful anti-inflammatory's, via a different mechanism than NSAID's. Low-dosage aspirin amplifies the effect of DHA/EPA further.