UKC

Just after a bit of advice...

I hurt my ring finger and to a lesser degree my middle finger while bouldering last week. Initially the discomfort was in the fingers and in the forearm. I'm guessing I've done something to the tendon?
There's been no swelling or pain during normal day to day use, and I've been soaking my hand in cold water most days (something I read on Dave Macleod's blog).

My main question is when and how should I get back climbing again. Obviously I'll take it easy, but what have other peoples experiences been?

In reply to Rob Laird:

There is no set time, just let it heal in its own time. It is important not to rest it completely for too long though as it will start to feel stiff as it heals and may injure easily again. Light climbing, easy traverses, will help, also supportive tape.

In reply to EliC:

Cheers, that's what I thought. Next time I go I'll be sticking to easy routes with no small edges and see how it goes. Then gradually increase the difficulty over a month or 2 (I'm now paranoid about making it worse!)

In reply to Rob Laird:
I have climbed through a few finger injuries (after giving it a week or so rest to get a feel of how bad it was and to let it heal). I think the idea of not resting completely is right. Gentle climbing will keep the finger moving and increase the local blood flow and ultimately strengthen the healing tendon etc. the main thing is to be very aware of any pain, if it feels sore on a move don't push through it, just let go (if it's safe!). It would be very easy to make the injury worse if you push it too hard too soon. I focused on easy open handed stuff on low traverses to just build up endurance. If you tell yourself you are just training endurance it's easier to avoid getting drawn back to hard problems/routes. When I got back to trying the odd crimp (after several weeks) I hadn't lost too much strength.