I’ve had this on and off for over a year now. I know others who’ve had it for many years longer than that.
The stiffness and swelling varies but I don’t feel particularly tweaky or weak on it, so after an initial rest period like you, I’m quite happy to train and climb as close to normal as possible. If the choice is resting for 5 months every time it flairs up, or constantly climbing and managing it, I know which I’ll choose. Also I feel way less tweaky when I’m doing lots of steady loading eg good form on a fingerboard. I think mine stems from a tightness in back of hand/wrist/arm which forces a bad angle on my finger joints on my right arm, over loading the middle finger PIP. So im trying exercises to address this. Mainly range of movement, tendon flossing, stretching and massaging, as well as various dumbbell curls.
not sure about the jugs thing, small edge max hangs seem the aggravating factor for me. I’d say start building it up. The only thing I’ve really stopped is hard crimpy bouldering , and instead focussing more on route climbing.
