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ladyjay
Mar 13, 2007, 4:23 PM
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Okay, I'm posting in this forum because, well, I'm a lady and I need a little support. "Tweaked" a tendon in my forearm (flexor tendon, ring finger) three weeks ago on a stupid, stupid pocket in the gym. Tried to be tough and climb with it for a week and a half, realized that was pointless and am on day 10 of being "off" (except for one easy 5.8 trad climb sunday with no pain). I'm beyond frustrated because it feels like it hasn't really gotten any better at all. I can't "pull" on my ring finger (in a downward pressure manner, as if I were pulling on a some dreaded one finger mono) without the pain coming down my wrist and forearm. It honestly feels like it's not getting better. I JUST lead my first 5.11c three weeks ago (clean), right before I did this and I'm incredibly bummed out....bordering on tears sometimes. I feel like I'm not making any progress with this injury.
Have any of you been through this? I've read healing time is 2 months or so...I have a big trip planned for may to go to indian creek for a month and I'm flipping out because I'm afraid of all the strength I'm gonna lose while waiting on this injury to heal. I'm also getting very doubtful that it will ever feel better.
I'm trying to be smart about this injury and lay off but at the same time my sanity is slipping! I've done long runs, mountain/distanced biked my little heart out and have taken the mountain board out on steeper hills just to get a good rush...but nothing feels as good as climbing. It's hard to think of anything else that I do that I love more...(man, I sound pathetic!)
I like to think I'm tough , but this ONE LITTLE TENDON is kicking my butt.
Oh, and, been buddy taping ring finger to pinky, started taking Glucosamine/MSM three days ago, icing twice a day (started that a little too late but better late than never) and taking ibuprofin somewhat regularly. Tendon is not ruptured, just sprained the crap out of it.
Okay, support, advice, anything is welcome.
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granite_grrl
Mar 13, 2007, 4:34 PM
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Indian Creek, eh? You think it may be possible to jam without stressing your finger? I'm sure you could with the right cracks.
I was hurt last summer, 6 months later I started climbing again. I've been to the gym twice and I'm doing my best not to look at the grades.....its amazing how much harder 5.9s are now. I am terribly frustrated, but I am starting to seek to get support from my friends and trying to look at the climbs I'm struggling on as a learning experiance.
But you've got a good idea, keeping youself busy. If you're hurt you're hurt and the fastest way to screw up your healing is to hurt it worse.
I know its frustrating esp after climbing so well before hand (hell, I did my first couple of 5.10a gear leads before I got hurt....what a blow to the ego now). But I'm just trying to do what I can do right now and work on getter stronger again.
Good luck, don't make yourself too crazy.
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ladyjay
Mar 13, 2007, 4:43 PM
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Thus far, jamming doesn't stress it...so, part of the plan is to jam my little heart out. It's very hard to find sweet cracks here in the southeast that will suck in a hand jam...but I'm getting a keener eye for them since this whole tendon thing.
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jsh
Mar 13, 2007, 5:02 PM
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I tweaked a ring-finger pulley tendon in mid/early-December. Like you, I gave it a week or two, then tried to climb on it. The pain made it obvious that I shouldn't (duh). The base of the finger was also ~doubled in size.
Thing is - anything you do to strain it now, only prolongs your recovery time. Believe me, I know the itch - in December, I was just then coming back from having broken my ankle in October!
I took January off*, then started to climb gradually in Feb. I'm as strong as ever now, have been for a few weeks already.
*except for some offwidth "training", where my partner kindly pointed out that I could have a finger missing and it shouldn't matter ;-). You may be fine at Indian Creek, but if I were you, I'd stop climbing between now & then, and only do strength training in the gym IF IT DOESN"T HURT. In a few months, you'll be glad you took the time to fully recover.
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acacongua
Mar 14, 2007, 12:11 AM
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What I'm about to say will definitely make you cry. A couple of weeks isn't enough. Tendons can take months to heal and I learned this from merely spraining my ring finger. I was popping off 12s and on a 5.10, said good-bye to climbing for two months. It would've been shorter, but I continued to climb.
The good news is, I came back and didn't really lose much. My finger hurt a little, but 6 months after the injury, I'm pain free. I also discovered life outside of climbing ... another story.
Tip: Ice the shit of out of it. My hand PT friend told me to take an ice cube and directly rub the injury until it hurt. To bring feeling back, I used some warming massage gel (okay, it was KY) and massaged it. Immobilize it for awhile as well.
Also, buddy taping didn't work for me. You start by wrapping tape around the base and then cross the back of the knuckle to wrap tape around the top. It immobilizes it better.
(This post was edited by acacongua on Mar 14, 2007, 12:15 AM)
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clee03m
Mar 14, 2007, 4:53 PM
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I hurt my tendon in the forefinger doing super crimpy route. Took me actually 4 months to get better. What I did was to put the finger in the metal finger brace whenever I climbed, so that I was forced to use only other figners. I don't know if it's feasible for other fingers. Anyways, good luck, and I hope you will get better soon.
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chadnsc
Mar 14, 2007, 7:56 PM
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Ok, I'm not a woman but I have had an injury very similar to yours. Heck I even did it at the gym, on a mono pocket. For the record I had a partial rupture of the flexor tendon of my left ring finger and a strain of the A1 and A2 pulleys.
The bad news is that tendons take a very long time to heal because they don't have a dedicated blood source. I wasn't able to climb for two months. During that time I received physical therapy (ultrasound, light treatment, and hot / cold baths). After two months I had to tape the finger and climb well below my limit for another two moths. Overall it was six months before I was able to climb hard.
Of course if you keep ‘testing’ your injured finger you will set yourself back weeks or months if you re-injure it. If you push the tendon too far it will break (rupture) and then you will need surgery to repair it, followed by a year or more of therapy to regain normal use (not climbing use). I know it sucks but you need to stay off it. It’s better to be out for a season than be out for the rest of your life.
The good news is that the tendon and pulleys don't bother me at all anymore.
Keep your spirits up, your tendon will heal and you’ll be a better climber for it.
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iamthewallress
Mar 14, 2007, 8:53 PM
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I tore my collatoral ligament (tendon?) on my forefinger a few year ago. (Result was a finger that bent side to side in addition to front to back.)
Similar to JSH's approach...I took the opportunity to learn to climb chimneys and ows, a skill I'd never focused on enough to get dialed and get over my claustrophbia issues. Now I love the wide and climb the it decently...so it had its benefits.
I doubt a climb a grade weaker at my top end because of that time off. As mama says...it all comes out in the wash.
EDIT....When I'm hurt and climbing anyway, I only climb on TR so I can bail off of any move that seems like a bad idea.
(This post was edited by iamthewallress on Mar 14, 2007, 8:54 PM)
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ladyjay
Mar 27, 2007, 8:44 PM
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Registered: Mar 7, 2007
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Okay, here's the dealio: took bascally one month off, taped, iced, babied, vitamin I'd, glucosamine/MSM added to vitamins, massaged my tendon. Did easy trad last week (5.9 was as hard as it got)...now the tendon is feeling 99% back. So, the plan is to start back very, very, very lightly. I am being over protective of this tendon because it has been entirely too hard to not pull down on the regular basis that I was used to before the tendon tweak and I don't want to have to do this again. Right now, I have no pain so I'm taking that as the go ahead to start easing back into crimpers, pockets, etc. And I stress that I am going to EASE into this...
The one thing that I have learned from this whole (minor) injury is this: there is no hold, route or boulder problem at the gym that is so important to me that I would fork over a tendon for it. The gym we have here is basically to get a fix until you can get outside and I think I can handle getting my fix without bouldering out of an indoor cave on two finger plastic pockets!
Thanks for all the info. Y'all have been great.
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