[ouch]

Last November I tore the collateral ligament in the middle finger of my right hand.  I've been to see a physio and he gave it ultrasound treatment for approx 3 times a week for 6 weeks.  Trouble is it still hurts 

I'm thinking of going back climbing again, easy stuff and easing back into it.  Anybody else had this injury?  How long does it take to heal?

[corniceman]

Yes. Unfortunately and mine sounds similar to yours. I hyper extended my middle finger joint on right hand slapping for the top of Seans Reachy roof in October last. problem is my and stayed in the break. I too have rested, tried to come back but failed due to recurrent pain.
I have just started a come back again and it still hurts. My policy is to try either easy stuff or things that dont hurt it too much. I find that anything that involves catching a hold, however big involves pain on contact, so am trying to avoid. Ironically any thing easy(ish) that involves many moves begins to hurt as I get tired.
The only consolation I have is that I have been climbing for many years and have had repetitive collateral ligament problms and eventually I have found they do improve, especially climbing outside. So as the weather improves and outside comes around more I figure the injury will improve.

from a treatment perspective I havent been to physio as Im not convinced they can offer alot for this kind of injury, others might offer different advice. A friend of mine who is a physio has said that some activity is better than doing nothing and should help the rehab.

good luck

[Terrace Ghost]

i've damaged coll ligaments on outside of both middlefingers.  I went to see John Ostrovskis in Sheffield and he sorted them both times, deep masage to breakdown scar tissue seem to work well.  Rub the finger in small circules with your thumb for around 5mins a day.  i also took glucosamine & chondroitin tablets and they seemed to speed things along, but not the cheap shit.  i read a paper on the net few years back.  cant remember exactly what it said but i think  the cheap brands skimp on chondroitin which is crucial for the bonding process(or something)

hope this helps in some way

[ouch]

So far I havent climbed outside and have only climbed stuff which is very juggy.  I think I'll keep trying easy stuff and hopefully the pain will get less over time.

I'll try massage thing and also think I'll try that ice therapy I read about on here a while ago, where you ice the whole hand for half an hour or so in a bowl of water and ice-cubes, anyone got the details?

[The Sausage]

hey there. i'm a physio but don't really know much about fingers. also, it's impossible to give any specific advice without a thorough assessment etc.
however, the general consensus is that ultra sound is a waste of time and money. whenever you injure something, you will get pain during the rehabilitation process. when tissue heals, scar tissue forms, which is basically a chaotic reforming of non-elastic fibres. when you stretch the area, the fibres which aren't aligned with the direction of the stretch will tear. so yiu feel it. that's why regular gentle stretching/loading is important to prevent excessive build up of fibres not facing the right way. you need to be able to differentiate between hurt and harm. it's not easy. from one session/week to the next the pain should improve for the same load. the pain should ease off after the training session. you should avoid any positions/loads/activities which produce a sharp, intense pain that's similar to the original injury pain.
ice is good, but do 10 minutes max. how long ago did you do it? if it was a while, then deep massage (frictions) can help to break up the scar tissue. stretch gently into any pain. build up load gradually from one week to the next, monitoring symptom response.

[ouch]

Thanks for the info, I did the injury last November.  I am going to try an _easy_ session tonight at the wall and see how it bears up.  I'll start off mega easy and take it from there.  I will also massage the finger, I'm guessing form your post that I should massage the site of the injury and also the surrounding area.  I've never done any massage before so is it best to start off lightly and gradually increase the pressure? 

[whispering nic]

I've had collateral, A2 pulley, hand elbow, wrist and shoulder issues wit tendons on a number of occasions. Fundamental point is take some time off after injury, when you start back stay hydrated, warm up slowly, build up your level over weeks rather than days - tendons need six weeks to catch up on muscle development. Ibuprofen is good for reducing swelling to minimalise swelling and scar tissue post injury, but climbing & using it to mask the pain is a no-no.