In reply to lyndon alcock:
When I did that (two loud pops, definitely grade 3), the advice I got is surgery is only worthwhile if done very soon after (a few days) from the guy who looks after the TeamGB climbers. NHS was useless, so I DIY'd a splint using a Frog finger splint along the back of my finger, with the wings cut off and tape to put pressure on the pulley areas, leaving sides of the finger open for bloodflow. I eventually got a pulley ring moulded by the NHS but by the time that happened it wasn't particularly useful anymore.
Mine took ages to heal and regain strength, probably 3-6 months with a few instances of twinging it doing day to day things and attempting to climb on it too soon. Then it was a few months of light stuff (I mainly boulder so struggle with that). I was using Leukotape rigid strapping tape for over a year, it blows climbing tape out the water but is £££ and hard to remove. Sounds like you're at this stage. I made a conscious effort to open and close my fist throughout the day and built up slowly. Warming up slowly became very important too, or it'd ache in the future. Use it as an opportunity to do pull-ups on rounded jugs, and practice open hand crimping and climbing statically.
My finger is now back to as strong as before, but doesn't straighten up fully. Not sure why this is, it's probably scar tissue. I've got a sprung Rolyan PIP splint which seems to help temporarily when used, as does massage but I am not good at sticking to using it!
Post edited at 14:56
