UKC

Tonight whilst I was making a hard move my middle finger emitted a loud bang and a grinding noise and now hurts.

I've pulled a couple of pulley tendons in the past, but the area that hurts is at the base of the finger (is that the MCP joint?) rather than the higher up, and neither time did I also hear a grinding noise. Anyone else had this? Could this also be a pulley injury, or might it be some other structure? And either way, is the treatment any different than normal?

Thank you.

In reply to David Coley (SDMC):

Dave

Meant to mention last night Mr MacLeod has some good articles on this:

http://www.davemacleod.com/articles/climbinginjuries.html
http://www.davemacleod.com/articles/coldtreatment.html
http://onlineclimbingcoach.blogspot.com/2007/06/finger-injury-treatment-vid...

Best wishes for a speedy recovery - does sound unfortunately like you've ruptured a pulley.

In reply to quadmyre:
Thanks for that.

The strange thing is that it is not A2 as is often a case. Looking at a picture of the inside of a finger, there also seems to be ligaments (?) that stop the finger falling off. So it might be one of those I guess

In reply to David Coley (SDMC):

Mmmm... doesn't sound that great either way. I suppose if it's a ligament rupture at least there's probably no point resting it (since it's presumably never going to rejoin anyway without surgery)...

There was one more site I forgot about which looks like it's been updated since I last looked:

http://climbinginjuries.com/

In reply to quadmyre:

"Distortion or rupture of the collateral ligaments of the finger joints occurs when a climber slips or falls while a finger is fixed on a tight 1-finger hold (Figure 3 ) and high shear forces affect the finger. Clinical examination after such accidents discloses instability of the finger joint. Radiographs may show a bony extraction. Strained or torn collateral ligaments rarely heal well enough to provide the stability that existed before the injury. This instability can cause joint effusions and cartilage damage. Therapy depends on the severity of the injury. The PIP joint should be splinted at 30° of flexion for an initial period of 1 to 4 weeks. An additional rest period of 1 to 4 weeks should follow. Climbing activity can be resumed after 3 to 6 weeks, but only open-hand grips should be used, and the finger should be taped to stabilize the joint. Chronic joint instability may force the climber to continue taping this finger. Surgical intervention may be necessary to correct severe instability.5,25,37,47"

http://www.wemjournal.org/wmsonline/?request=get-document&issn=1080-603...

In reply to David Coley (SDMC):

sounds a lot like a pulley injury. check out this article in gripped magazine:

http://www.zinio.com/pages/GrippedTheClimbingMagazine/Dec-08-Jan-09/3236693...

good luck.