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milesenoell
Feb 11, 2009, 11:40 PM
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I am curious about whether I need to wait until a stiff knuckle has full range of motion to climb or if I can climb while it heals.
I was an outdoor-only climber in an area that offered lots of cracks for jamming for about two years until recently becoming an indoor-only climber (woody) and have recently noticed that my middle finger's PIP knuckle was stiff. I didn't notice any injury and it's only very mildly sore when I prod it, so it seems pretty minor, but it is staying stiff even between taking 3-4 days at a time off. The joint capsule is a very mildly swollen and I've got 95-ish percent range of motion (full extension, but if I try to make 'karate knuckles' with fingers closed and hand open I can't quite touch the finger-tip to my palm) and full strength but I don't want to aggravate it into becoming a real injury if I can avoid it.
Is this ignorable?
(edited 'cause I can't use tab to indent and my spaces didn't show up)
(This post was edited by milesenoell on Feb 11, 2009, 11:43 PM)
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johnwesely
Feb 11, 2009, 11:56 PM
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I would stay off for two weeks and see if it gets better. If not go see a doctor.
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ryanb
Feb 12, 2009, 12:04 AM
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I think lots of climbers climb on stiff knuckles. I have them (I can't touch any of my fingers to my palms when i make what you call "karate knuckles") and i climb on them. I would stay hydrated (to keep joints lubed) and pay special attention to warming up...if it starts to get worse stop.
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milesenoell
Feb 12, 2009, 2:36 AM
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any advice on good ways to warm up that knuckle? easy routes for the first 15 minutes or something more specific?
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johnwesely
Feb 12, 2009, 2:46 AM
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I am a pretty firm believer in theraputty.
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milesenoell
Feb 12, 2009, 2:58 AM
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so work with some putty for a while (15 minutes?) before jumping on the wall?
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angry
Feb 12, 2009, 3:02 AM
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Did someone say mooseknuckle?
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milesenoell
Feb 12, 2009, 3:07 AM
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mooseknuckle and camel toe got moved to another forum. damn mods.
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johnwesely
Feb 12, 2009, 3:11 AM
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work with it whenever you can. especially before jumping on the wall.
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angry
Feb 12, 2009, 3:18 AM
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I actually have something like this. It's a stiff big toe. It's hurt for about 2 months. Never enough to affect my climbing, I actually feel it when I'm walking around more. It does hurt to grab an take it through ROM, so I avoid that usually.
Probably arthritis from shoes and cracks. I think it'll go away if I ignore it.
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milesenoell
Feb 12, 2009, 3:46 AM
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yeah, but you're about to spend six weeks not doing anything to bother it. I'm hoping to still climb.
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angry
Feb 12, 2009, 3:58 AM
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I got 7 pitches in yesterday.
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milesenoell
Feb 12, 2009, 4:01 AM
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give me some cracks and I'd be a happy man, but over here in Fiji I'm stuck climbing a stupid woody that doesn't give my finger much of a break.
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angry
Feb 12, 2009, 4:09 AM
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put the rungs really close together and turn it sideways.
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nnowinowski
Feb 12, 2009, 5:03 AM
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the big toe can be a nasty one. Sometimes a collapsing arch will make it worse and aftermarket insole will do wonders, that and tape it like a finger, or with a toe seperator. |
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nnowinowski
Feb 12, 2009, 5:50 AM
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word. i hear you are on a sport climbing hiatus. I'm still psyched to learn the dark arts.
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nnowinowski
Feb 12, 2009, 5:58 AM
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and the only thing that i've found effective for pulley injury healing is contrast baths - two double shot glasses one with ice water the other with hot water. Ice till numb then hot water and pain - by the third time there should be so much circulation that it doesn't really hurt. Twice a day maybe. That shi+ works.
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milesenoell
Feb 12, 2009, 8:27 PM
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Is a stiff knuckle but only very little pain or swelling consistent with a pulley injury? I've never had a finger injury from anything other than twisting and hanging from fingertip jams so I'm not all that up on my injury diagnosis. And actually now that I think about it, I never knew what was injured then either.
(edited cuz eye cant spel)
(This post was edited by milesenoell on Feb 12, 2009, 8:29 PM)
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onceahardman
Feb 12, 2009, 8:49 PM
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Hi miles...how's life in the Third World? Any ill effects from the ankle injury we worked on a while back?
Above, you said:
In reply to: The joint capsule is a very mildly swollen
By definition, this part of your injury is capsulitis, aka synovitis.
When an injured, inflamed synovium heals, it shrinks, and sometimes gets a little sticky, limiting motion. This condition (most famous in the shoulder as "frozen shoulder") is called "adhesive capsulitis."
ROM, very gentle stretching (making sure you are not increasing the inflammation), and of course, not continuing to put the same forces on the same structures is indicated.
* the italicised portion above is sometimes, horrifyingly, called "rest".
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milesenoell
Feb 13, 2009, 12:07 AM
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Hey there Hardman. Things here are going well, the ankle has lost some ROM but is getting strong enough to jog down the street to catch the buses that leave early. I'm planning on having the big screw taken out sometime soon, but just haven't worked it in yet, so hopefully that will get me back some mobility in the up/down plane. I'm still doing one legged stands (occasionally) and now I can do blind stands on the injured ankle for about a minute and a half, and with eyes open over 10 minutes. Thanks again for all your help getting me back up and about.
As for the finger and my synovitis, how much rest are we talking about here? I've taken off about a week as of now, and 3-4 days between the last couple of (short) climbing days, and I can see that I'm getting more flex out of the joint, but it isn't quite fully back to normal.
Is climbing with the finger extended an option?
(This post was edited by milesenoell on Feb 14, 2009, 10:32 PM)
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