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rebn
Sep 23, 2006, 10:28 PM
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Registered: Feb 16, 2006
Posts: 6
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At the beggining of Nov. 2005 I woke up one morning in my tent at the RRG and noticed that my wrist didn't feel right. The pain got worse, and I didn't climb the remainder of the trip. As the weeks went buy I tried ice, heat, ibuprofen, rest, everything I could think of.
My trip to El Potrero Chico was spent watching my friends tackle the rock as I was in too much pain to even try. (OK, I drink a bunch of cerveza and enjoyed a break from work too!)
Around the new year I visited my family doctor who told me to do what I've been doing & continue resting. A month later I was at the hand-specialist who told me the same thing. A month after that, I began the diagnostic testing: MRI, X-ray, etc. The results pointed to a possible TFCC tear, but that could only be determined though surgery. I decided to wait & wait & wait & finally at the end of June 2006 I had the procedure (TFCC debridement) I was told everything went well, and within 2 weeks my range of motion was awesome. Although I was still in pain, a month after surgery I was told that I was ready for strength excercises. Even after the surgery the pain continued, and the excercises didn't help (or make it worse) After another month of rehab, the doctors said I could continue on my own at home.
So here we are, & I'm still in pain! Almost all the time. Resting doesn't help & I have days when it's better & others when it's worse. Climbing is not even an option yet. I'm just trying to live each day without intense pain. I was told that these injuries take time to heal but...am I just being impatient? I'm hoping there are other climbers who might share their experiences with this injury. Of course I'd love to hear that..."after 1 year I was climbing better then ever"...but maybe I need a dose of realism. (good or bad) Thanks for reading.
-Ari-
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antigravity
Sep 23, 2006, 11:48 PM
Post #2 of 6
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Registered: Aug 7, 2003
Posts: 25
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Wow. I have no experience with that particular injury. But, Good Luck!
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jsh
Sep 25, 2006, 2:58 AM
Post #3 of 6
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Registered: Oct 24, 2003
Posts: 118
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Hi,
I tore my TFCC in a rollerblading fall (I fell backwards, hyperextending my wrist, so the wristguards did nothing) .... oh, 10 years ago?
Anyway. It took a while for the docs to figure out exactly what the issue was. All I knew was, I couldn't open doors or shake hands, and playing violin was painful and weird as well. NSAIDS didn't do much.
The first doc wanted to go in with a microarthroscope and ... it wasn't clear what he wanted to do after that. So I went for a second opinion.
The second doc (a hand specialist) took my hand in his, pushed down hard on the process on the end of the ulna (the "bump" on your wrist), and I flew across the room screaming. He said, "well it's pretty clear, you've torn your TFCC, we'll go in and re-anchor it". So they did - they opened up the wrist, drilled a hole in the ulna, and reattached the ligament.
8 (long!) weeks in a full-elbow cast, had to write my qualifiying exams with my left hand, but it's been bombproof (stood up to lots of mountain biking and climbing) ever since. I broke my other wrist years later, and it's more sensitive (I can't do a lot of downward dog or other on-your-hands poses) than my reconstructed wrist.
That's about all I remember. Feel free to PM me if you'd like.
JSH
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vernjen
Sep 26, 2006, 1:50 AM
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Registered: Sep 30, 2005
Posts: 2
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I tore my TFCC last year. I took a 15 ft. fall bouldering, missed the pad, and fell backwards on my extended arm. The pain was immediate. I thought I broke my wrist. After several weeks of falling of every hold in pain, I went to the first hand specialist. I had Xrays and an MRI. I was immediately diagnosed with a torn TFCC. First specialist wanted to do surgery immediately. I got a second opinion from the hand specialist at UVA that worked on collegiate and professional athletes. He thought that I should try immobilization for 6 weeks. He gave me a brace up to the elbow. I wore it for 3 weeks, took it off, and began to climb. At first it was sore, but I climbed through it. That was last year. No surgery and climbing 5.12. Good luck!
Vern
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wendyhoward
Jul 11, 2008, 10:23 AM
Post #5 of 6
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Registered: Jul 11, 2008
Posts: 4
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curious if 2 years later you still have this pain?
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rebn
Jul 13, 2008, 1:41 PM
Post #6 of 6
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Registered: Feb 16, 2006
Posts: 6
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Well, the good news is that I'm climbing again. About a year ago I started slowly and now climb once or twice a week. The pain is still there, but it is not debilitating. The pain comes and goes through various tasks of my daily life and I guess I've just learned how to manage it. When my body yells at me and tells me that something isn't right, I'm more inclined to listen to it now! In some ways I'm actually climbing better, as my technique has adapted to accommodate my inability to hold certain lock-off positions. I haven't tried any additional treatments and mainly stretch before and after activities and ice the TFCC if it's really sore. When I was injured all I wanted to do was to be able to climb something, anything. And now I'm climbing almost as hard as I did before the injury.
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