Dreaded "pop" of A2 Pulley but NO swelling
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I understand A2 Pulley injuries have been covered numerous times on MP, but couldn't find information regarding my "unorthodox" situation. |
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Well - for one... without a proper Dr. looking at your finger, you can't know for sure how bad your damage is. I'd suggest an Ortho if you want to heal quickly. |
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i never had swelling with either of my pulley injuries. It was painful to pressure and to a closed crimping motion, but no swelling. IME, one week off would have not been nearly enough. Mine required more like a month off and even then I had to be very careful to avoid crimping and only do easy climbing for the next ~8 weeks, all while doing things like ice therapy/massage. It was very easy to set myself back since I often would think it was getting better and then climb only to find out the next day I had made it worse. I'm not sure if recovery methods are useful in the first week in the acute phase of the injury, but I'd definitely not exercise the finger at all for a while. |
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I fully ruptured my A2 on my ring finger. |
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The internet is no substitute for a good doctor who knows something about climbing. That said, I've found that a few days to a few weeks off, and careful use for a period after is what facilitates recovery best for me, and as was mentioned, provides a good time to get strong in the core and improve technique. YMMV, drink lots of water. |
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I have had multiple tendon injuries and have come up with a really good recovery program. My mom is a physical therapist and from the long conversations we have had about rehab on any tendon it is clear that time off is not entirely that useful. That being said, I usually take one full week off then start very gently doing massage. I have heard icing can actually delay healing (but reduce immediate pain and symptoms) so I don't ice. Then when I feel like I can put it in a half crimp position I go back to the hangboard. It is invaluable to have a good hangboard for rehab. You can set up a pulley system to take weight off and start very slowly. Follow mike and mark Anderson's general hangboard routine (5 sec on, 3 sec off). Push it to a point where you have just a slight amount of not pain but, "yeah, I can feel something in my finger". I was back to full strength in a few short months. Best of luck! |
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Thanks for the info. I agree that I should get a diagnosis from a doctor. My family physician definitely doesn't understand climbing specific injuries but she can at least hook me up with an MRI or an ultrasound and go from there. |
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frankstoneline wrote:The internet is no substitute for a good doctor who knows something about climbing.Much easier said than done. If you live someplace like Boulder, it might be easier to find a doctor that is knowledgeable about climbing injuries, but the ones I have seen about finger injuries were not especially helpful. They certainly did not tell me anything that I was not able to easily determine or research for myself, and they weren't cheap either. YMMMV. |
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csproul wrote: Much easier said than done. If you live someplace like Boulder, it might be easier to find a doctor that is knowledgeable about climbing injuries, but the ones I have seen about finger injuries were not especially helpful. They certainly did not tell me anything that I was not able to easily determine or research for myself, and they weren't cheap either. YMMMV.This is true, though I suspect somewhere within 35 minutes of Davis there must be a doctor who climbs/can offer some insight. You might also check out the book Make or Break which (as much of it as I've read) seems to offer a volume of insight into handling injuries (full disclosure: I've just started reading it) |
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For me, I heard the pop, then stopped climbing. No pain or swelling, ever, but after a couple months the tendon constricted since it was a full rupture and now I can't straighten my finger. |
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My insurance situation was/is such that I didn't see a doctor for either of my partial pulley ruptures. Both happened outside from yanking on tiny crimps. I didn't have much swelling either, nor too much pain. I took two months off for my ring finger (at first I couldn't even hang on a bar without feeling like I was doing damage). I took a couple weeks off for my index finger, but would splint/immobilize it when I started climbing again. I kept it immobilized for about 6 weeks (while climbing). I could still climb pretty hard without my index, but the ring finger was a deal-breaker. Both of these happened when I was climbing 5.12/v6. |
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anna.gutwin wrote:I have had multiple tendon injuries and have come up with a really good recovery program. My mom is a physical therapist and from the long conversations we have had about rehab on any tendon it is clear that time off is not entirely that useful. That being said, I usually take one full week off then start very gently doing massage. I have heard icing can actually delay healing (but reduce immediate pain and symptoms) so I don't ice. Then when I feel like I can put it in a half crimp position I go back to the hangboard. It is invaluable to have a good hangboard for rehab. You can set up a pulley system to take weight off and start very slowly. Follow mike and mark Anderson's general hangboard routine (5 sec on, 3 sec off). Push it to a point where you have just a slight amount of not pain but, "yeah, I can feel something in my finger". I was back to full strength in a few short months. Best of luck!Since your Mom is a PT, she should have informed you that finger pulleys are ligaments, not tendons. |
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Thanks for the great advice and anecdotes everyone. Not sure if I feel reassured or more scared ;) I did follow "go see your doctor advice" and went to see my family doc this afternoon. As I predicted, she had no clue but will refer me to a hand surgeon. Mark Paulson wrote: I'm not sure what articles are recommending 1-2 weeks off, but everything I read said two months minimum.This great article says 1-3 weeks : onlineclimbingcoach.blogspo… This one says 1-3 weeks : thomasbondphysio.blogspot.c… This one says 2-3 weeks : 919clinic.co.uk/Downloads/p… This one says move right away as soon as pain subsides : cruxcrush.com/2013/10/24/cl… Again, this is from the internet... |
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From the Nicros site: |