UKC

Apologies in advance - I realise this may be 'how long is a piece of string' type question.

2 nights ago I strained something while working an indoor boulder problem that required hanging from a series of two finger pockets. I was using my index and ring fingers when I felt a sharpish pain through my forearm, so I let go. I gave it a few minutes and gave it another tentative go with the same result (I regret than now). I left that climb alone and carefully worked a few other climbs. All felt good until yesterday morning...

Current situation is that if I press on my desk (at work) with my ring finger, I can feel the strain through the finger, through the wrist and half way up the underside of my forearm. It's not a super sharp pain but it turns from a dull ache to more painful the harder I press. It's definitely slightly better today than yesterday.

Any ideas on how quickly this will be good enough to climb on again?

I'm off to Font in 9 days!

In reply to afx22:

I'd just rest until I went to Font to be honest! Probably ice it at least every evening and avoid doing anything that aggravates it. Then when in Font take it steady, tape up and avoid holds that make it hurt (where possible); perhaps massage it with ibuprofen gel in the evening.

Were you really using index and ring finger in a two-finger pocket? That seems crazy and surely it loads the tendons in a weird way?

In reply to afx22:

You're correct in 'how long is a piece of string' comparison but, it can be as quick as a few weeks. It really does depend on what you've done, and that would require you to probably go and see a specialist.

I had a minor strain on my A2 pulley 3 weeks ago. Rested 1st week, 2 week iced (as per Dave Macleods book and the article on his online blog - search dave macleod blog ice finger, 1st google result) and deep tissue massage twice a day, 3rd week and I'm back climbing/training but staying away from anything that could aggravate it, or that feels tweaky.
(I'm not sure what effect the above protocol has on other injury types).

I think it will be several more weeks before I'm back to full strength!

In terms of long term recovery / injury avoidance, you might want to consider what caused the injury. Again, not really my recommendation but that picked up from a a few finger injuries and Macloeds book!

Hope that helps a little, and your finger improves in time for your trip! But I wouldn't hold out hope to be crushing at 100%. At least it's not all crazy crimping in font, so that should help in you being able to climb on i.e. stick to open handed stuff!

Disclaimer - I'm not a medical professional or expert on this, just my personal experience.

In reply to afx22:
Sounds like a flexor unit strain to me, involving the lumbricals in the hand and the FDP in the forearm. Someone else posted about that recently, and I'm pasting my earlier reply below;

In reply to Jack McKechnie:

Sounds like the correct assessment, and it is indeed a bitch to get better. I injured both that lumbrical and the FDP (the deep muscle in the belly of the forearm to which the ring and little finger tendons attach) 18 months ago, pulling hard on a 3 finger pocket with the little finger dropped. Dropping the little finger is actually a stronger position (hence why we tend to do it automatically in a 3 finger situation), but it means that while the ring tendon is extended the little one is contracted. This subjects both FDP and lumbrical to shearing forces, and they can tear. (MacLeod refers to this injury as the Achilles heel of the otherwise very safe open-handed approach.)

The good news is that buddy-taping little and ring fingers together prevents the tendons pulling in different directions, and so precludes the shearing action which causes the injury and any ongoing pain. After a couple of weeks I was climbing pretty freely with my fingers buddy-taped, though I did avoid pockets for a while! It was inconvenient - certain small holds and the handling of gear can be a little awkward - but it didn't have too severe an impact on my climbing. Obviously keep a keen eye on it, and be willing to let go (where possible) if it might be loaded dangerously.

The FDP takes forever to heal fully (something MacLeod and others note). After taping for 8 or 9 months I began to climb gently without, finally climbing completely without tape a year later - only to re-injure it. I'm still buddy-taping, 18 months after the original injury, although I've long since reduced the tape to a thin strip at the base of the fingers, to prevent only the most extreme tendon separation. The lumbrical can feel tweaky after a hard session (it warns me by becoming 'hot' in my hand), but the tape has successfully prevented any significant re-injury.

Julian Saunders wrote about such injuries, 'Buddy-tape, and climb as normal'. Which if you have to have an injury, is a pretty happy state of affairs - if only all injuries could be accommodated so easily..

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In the 9 days before your trip; rest, and ice for the next 3/4. It's not really long enough, and unfortunately you may well find that climbing open-handed/on slopers feels tweaky even buddy-taped. Crimps may well feel fine. Use your discretion, and I hope you still have a worthwhile trip.

In reply to afx22:
(I'm assuming you meant ring and middle in the pocket..)

In reply to tim.fairhall:

Tim's response is more helpful to you I think, as my experience has been with pulley strains.

In reply to tim.fairhall:

Flexor unit strain, as per Tim's eloquent response. Takes a while to heal sadly, I did mine exactly as you describe and was off climbing near my limit for a year.

Heat and deep tissue massage helped the most, I used a broom pole as a mini foam roller for my forearm.

BW
Alx

In reply to tim.fairhall:
Yep, you're right. I should have said middle and ring fingers

In reply to afx22:

I'm in nearly the same boat, heading to Font in 10 days and did the A2 pulley on my ring finger about 3 weeks ago, then proceeded to climb on it a week later and it hurt again. I then actually rested it for two weeks. I was told a 6 week recovery cycle for just the pulley of 2 weeks off, 2 weeks jugs, then 2 weeks of buildup should be adequate.

I tried various hot and cold baths to varying effect, however I struggled to keep the water at the right temperature, and an ice bath just hurt.

I did find deeply massaging the pulley morning, evening, and at random other times throughout the day seemed to help the most, alongside hanging on the jugs on my Beastmaker 1000 and doing pullups to maintain some strength. I also got an accupressure ring on the advice of a friend, which at £1 delivered from the Bay seemed a worthwhile experiment but I'm not sure how much it achieved.

I can now climb most things without pain, but haven't tried any very fingery routes yet and am still taking it easy, and trying harder to focus on warming up gently rather than jumping straight on the hard stuff.

Good luck with your recovery, from my experience I'd recommend no climbing till Font, and then maybe focus on getting round a bunch of easy circuits rather than pushing your grades. Or chill out in the sun, whinge and enjoy the cheap wine.

In reply to afx22:

I've done this a few times over the years. I've found that climbing around it seems better than out and out rest. I. E. Don't do anything that aggravates it. One thing I learned was DO NOT STRETCH it might seem counterintuitive, but I found that firearm stretching generally made it worse. In fact, since I gave up forearm stretching I've not had another strain (quite possibly just a coincidence).

In reply to afx22:

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I think the advice on buddy taping the ring finger to the little finger will really help - I can feel plenty of strength when I push the pair of fingers down on my desk.

Those of you who are still carrying injuries - I hope you heal quickly

In reply to afx22:
You'll be struggling in Font.

Sounds like a flexor unit strain.

Whwn I did mine badly, I rested completely for about a week, during which time there wasn't much change in it, then I started doing really easy traversing on jugs a couple of times a week, and this accelerated the healing massively. After about a month I could hang small holds if I did it in control on a Fingerboard and after probably two months I could climb hard again as long as i avoided middle-2 pockets. It was probably 6 months before I was fully confident again on those.
Crimp strength came back much faster than open hand.

So in Font, I'd say just use it as an opportunity to do loads of easy stuff and get it healing well.