[mikejones]

Apologies for another thread on finger injuries but I've recently had my first proper finger injury. I think I've slightly fucked the pulley on right hand ring finger but only a minor tear I think (judging by how quickly the inflamation disappeared).
I was wondering if anyone has had similar pulley injuries and how long they take to fully heal? Inflammation seems to have all but disappeared and atm I'm just staying away from climbing and doing what I can to increase blood flow to the finger.

At the moment even applying light pressure on a crimp causes pain but open handing doesn't seem to cause any pain at all. Bit of a specific question but does anyone know if its safe to climb open handed now and just stick clear of the crimps? Or is this likely to cause more damage and throw the recovery process back a few weeks?
Cheers!

[biscuit]

I have had a few ( a mixture of poor technique and pish weak finger tendons ) so feel experienced enough to speak on the matter.

I have always carried on climbing. The day after i did my last bad one ( A2 noisy tear on right middle finger ) i climbed a 7A slopey traverse as i was getting no pain on open handing.

I have found taping to be less than useful and actually causes me more pain.

I did mine on March 9th and it has been back up to full power for a few weeks now but it's still not fully fixed.

Dave Mac recommends the ice water treatment. I found it a faff and didn't seem to do much. A sponge ball however has worked well this time. You can take it anywhere and squeeze away. You can squeeze it in different grip types and get the blood flowing. Really good for warming up. Decathlon sell them and needlesports have started doing them mail order for a few quid. They are a good size and have the right amount of squeezability.

It's good to figure out what happened. Mine used to be poor technique causing shockloading etc. now it seems to happen if i have too many finger intense sessions close together. An accumulation of micro traumas i guess.

Best of luck. Take it easy and be sensible but keep climbing is my 2p's worth.

[chris05]

Some info on the site wiki: http://ukbouldering.com/wiki/index.php/Pulley_Injuries_:_The_Science

Also worth trawling through some of the other threads, where this has been discussed. I tend to rest it until it doesn't hurt doing the usual, non-climbing daily stuff and then start back climbing carefully (open handed), apparently its better to start using it carefully than continued rest. Dave Mac has also written some good stuff on this: http://onlineclimbingcoach.blogspot.com/2010/05/pulley-injuries-article.html

[mikejones]

Cheers Biscuit and Chris for the replies, looks like I should have started climbing again a while ago! According to Dave Mac's article aswell I get the impression as long as it doesn't hurt you can crank open handed as hard as you like.. Bit worried of a sudden loading from foot slip or accidently throwing in a crimp so might stick to the easier climbing and crank on the open hands on the finger board.

Thanks again for the advice,
Mike.

[Pebblespanker]

Hi Mike

I've had a few in the last couple of years and had a similar experience though mine was a different type of finger injury. I continued climbing/training but steered well clear of anything that hurt - no brainer really but it worked for me and it meant the hard won gains from the winter didn't dissapear. One thing I did do though was to avoid doing maximal type exercises just in case ... concentrated on lock-offs on big holds for example as they didn't cause any pain but provided benefits

Cheers