UKC

Hi,

i’ve had an inflamed index finger for about 4 or 5 months now. Rested it for a few months and it went down a bit but after two bouldering sessions it inflamed again. Saw a physio, she gave me some exercises and said give it a month. After a month of no improvement I went back to her and she said it was likely tendonitis and referred me to a hand specialist. 
 

Anyone ever had tendinitis in their index fingers before? If so, how long did it take to heal and anyone have any tips on what to do to help healing process?

Thanks!

ps inflammation is around the a3 pulley. Can still crank hard statically but not do any shock loading type climbing moves.

Hey!!! Have you got an appointment? 

Im not a Doctor but this is my experience.

I was diagnosed with tendonitis in the ring finger. I didn't go to a climbing physio and the NHS physio did some massage and ultrasound.  Both not effective. I took a very long break off climbing due to work and when I started again the pain came right back. During the break the tenderness was still in the base of the finger and never really went away. I adopted to climb with more 3 finger drag and this helped a little but never fully. 

Recently I've had it in other fingers and found better ways for me to treat it.  The best ways are

1. Climbing non crimpy/open handed routes at an intensity that can get you pumped if you did it 3 times in a row. 

2. No hang finger boarding feet on the floor (very low intensity) which involves gently rocking back and forth and then curling fingers in and out till you get pumped or feel the burn. Repeat through out the day 

3. No hang device and band attached to solid object to do low intensity finger curls and or pulls till you feel the burn from around 20 curls. Repeat through out the day

The theory is that tendons need loading for them to heal and they also need blood supply which they only get after subjected to a load. Therefore pumping them up will load them and supply them with blood and not aggravate the injury further as long as your intensity is correct.  This has to be found with trial and error and you will know the next day if you've made it worse.  During exercise some discomfort is good, again trail and error to find out what is beneficial and what is detrimental. Sometimes they just need warming up and the ache will go away.

Also research suggests that if you work the inquired appendage in isolation then this speeds healing. I am testing this at the moment by only doing single finger rehab work to the injured finger.  

in terms of time frame can be anywhere up to 6 months but you should be making progress month by month.  

Tendon pathologies will never fully heal so you will always have to manage this with good warm ups. Usually I will do protocols 2 or 3 mentioned above. 

I also think minor pully sprains can feel like tendonitis as well (and therefore difficult to diagnose with out proper imaging)  but i think they respond to the above treatment in the same way. 

Sounds more like a pulley rather than tendinitis. See a climbing physio. If not in person, some do Skype appointments.

Probably will heal fine with correct rehab 

Belated nope - on the nhs waiting list! Finger still hurts but can crank hard on it with tape. 
 

thanks for the replies mrjon and inham. Climbing on the injured finger has helped somewhat. Just need to not fo beyond my limit till it heals properly. Good shout on the climbing physio. Thanks!