Finger hurts when lightly touched

all I have to do is brush my finger super lightly a bit to one side on the underside of it (the part that touches the rock), and it hurts. The pain is at the smallest knuckle. It doesn't hurt to crimp or use it. No noticeable swelling. Any ideas on what this might be? My first guess is I pinched a nerve. Also can I climb on it? My gut says yes.

Pontoon wrote:Also can I climb on it? My gut says yes.

I've found rock climbers often have better advice as they have first hand experience with these injuries. I tweak my fingers a little bit fairly often... If I took 2 weeks off every time I would never climb! But I have taken time off like months for my A2 pulley injury.

I bang up my fingers more than I'd like to, but lately I've been cautious enough to be in a position where I'm in pain but not injured. I've been out for months before too. I don't want that to happen again.

I find that bouldering (especially dramatic overhangs) is what aggravates my finger pains more than anything so I try to stick mostly to leading. I typically boulder in the gym once a week for power training. Most of my outside climbing is leading, too.

Tape your fingers, ice them at night, take advil, warm-up well, and identify the hold types or climbing styles that hurt it the most. Only you can really tell from feeling if it's pain or injury, and it sounds more like pain. You don't know what kind of cumulative damage you're doing to your tendons by still climbing through the pain, but if you're like me you do your best and you climb anyway.

Pay attention to that last sentence. It's quite telling about the advice you'd get coming to a climbing forum vs. talking to an actual doctor.

rooooock wrote: all I have to do is brush my finger super lightly a bit to one side on the underside of it (the part that touches the rock), and it hurts. The pain is at the smallest knuckle. It doesn't hurt to crimp or use it. No noticeable swelling. Any ideas on what this might be? My first guess is I pinched a nerve. Also can I climb on it? My gut says yes.