UKC

I have completely ripped my FDS tendon off my middle finger. Am told that surgery is not likely as too many problems and may weaken fingers further and so am having to climb on without quite an important part of my hand.

With heavy strapping and really careful weighting I have bouldered out V5 but wondered if anyone else has had an injury like this and what they do to support it and anything they found that helped it recover.

In reply to Fringe:

Coke bottle full of water in the freezer to ice it. Stays cold for ages and a bit more discreet than peas. Also double bagging and freezing washing up liquid makes for a cheap mouldable ice pack.

In reply to Fringe:


In reply to Fringe:

I don't have personal experience of this injury, nor do I know what surgical outcomes are like these days, but I used to be a physio so - to the best of my knowledge - here are the implications. I'm also not sure what you already know so apologies if I'm teaching you to suck eggs.

If it's completely ruptured (i.e. torn into two separate bits), then it won't re-knit without being sewn back together, since the FDS muscle will pull the tendon-half that's still attached to into your wrist away from the tendon-half that's still attached to your finger.

Bodies are jaw-droppingly good at adapting to these sorts of things, but without FDS you're unlikely to regain full strength of the specific movement of bending the middle knuckle of the middle finger (as you do in crimping, for instance).
Your other finger tendon, FDP, can do this movement too, but, since its purpose is really to do other things, it isn't as effective at producing this particular movement. You'll have to develop a super-strong FDP.

In terms of supporting it: of course - you don't need to protect FDS as it's gone, but you probably should go to great pains to protect both FDP and your other finger FDS tendons.
Everything open-handed, and I'd be inclined to do some controlled OH work over the next year on a fingerboard, to encourage FDP tendon strength.
You can always tape the middle knuckle of say, your ring finger, straight to protect its FDS if you feel it's getting a bit tweaky.

Hope this helps.

In reply to Fringe:
A lad I used to climb with a bit years ago damaged the same finger, probably by tearing the tendon, certainly by rupturing pulley structures around the PIP joint. It looked a mess and didn't straighten. Was weak also so ring finger had to compensate, take monos etc. Alain was young and didn't bother getting it dealt with medically, just kept climbing.
Last time we climbed together I was belaying him on The Minimum. So I'd say it didn't hold him back much.

Thanks very much for all the replies, think open hand climbing is going to be the way forward! Its still very swollen at the mo so more being careful for a bit methinks.