UKC

I dislocated a middle finger last week when I fell over running. This morning the hospital said I was good to go but should wait 6-8 weeks until climbing. Any advice from people who've had a similar injury? I've a very very small fracture but Doc said that was no problem - it's more the ligaments that have taken a beating. I'm going to be full-steam-ahead with the Dave Macleod cold water treatment. Any other ideas? Having had a thumb in plaster for about 3 months last year I'm used to a lay-off but I think it'll be some time until I'm tradding properly again and ages until bouldering at my best.

In reply to Mr Fuller:

I dislocated a finger a few years ago when putting my bra on after swimming (don't ask). The physio I saw said the main thing was to keep it moving so it didn't seize up (clenching my fist, etc) - I don't think mine was a particularly bad dislocation so I don't think I was told to lay off climbing for much more than a couple of weeks.

In reply to Tall Clare:

Okay, at least I shouldn't have that problem to deal with. Mine looked pretty hideous until it was reduced so I suppose mine must have been fairly bad.

In reply to Mr Fuller:

Wait for the break to heal (3 weeks at a guess), then tape your middle finger into a claw shape. Make sure you tape along the sides of the joint to take the load off the ligaments, and then tape the bent finger to the adjacent ring finger (some people prefer the index finger, or all three together).

Using such a tape job I competed in a national judo comp one day after such an injury, but for general training I would certainly have waited a bit longer. The finger stress is absolutely comparable to climbing.

Of course, you should pick your routes with care for a while. Tone down a bit on the mono finger hole pulling....

CB

In reply to cb294:

Okay, I'll wait another year before trying Action Directe then...