Crack climbing and A2 pulley injury prevention

The A2 pulley in my left index finger has been getting pretty sore in the last couple of weeks, so I need to take it easy on that finger for a while. It’s not injured yet, but on its way if I keep pulling on it. The problem is I’m not even climbing that much: I don’t climb in the gym at the moment due to the long daylight and nice weather. I only climb twice a week outside (once after work during the weekdays, and once on weekends). But a lot of the routes I’ve been doing outside are crimpy, which obviously don’t help. So to give my fingers a rest, I’m actually thinking of climbing inside (crazy, I know) instead of outside after work. The idea is to work on my very weak crack climbing technique while letting my fingers take a break. Of course my question is how likely is this strategy to work? I’m not good with cracks, especially when it comes to finger cracks, so I don’t know if finger cracks are stressful to finger pulleys. Do I need to limit myself to hand and fist cracks, or will I be ok to try finger cracks as well?

I tore a pulley on a finger crack.

That being said, be careful precisely diagnosing what ails your hand - it's pretty easy to think it's one thing when it's another. If your finger is sore, perhaps hand cracks/OW should be your game for a bit.

Finger and especially tips cracks are the hardest to climb with finger injuries. I'd stay away from tips because you are essentially crimping the edge of the crack.

You can climb finger cracks if you are disciplined enough to go thumbs up only. I understand this is not the easiest thing to do when the climbing gets hard, but it will pay dividends in the long run for your technique and your fingers. I sprained collateral ligaments in my left index finger from too much thumbs down cranking earlier this year. I didn't stop climbing. I taped it straight as a board so that I couldn't bend it. I climbed with three fingers for about a month. I avoided all crimping and thumbs down locks for another month.

Sticking to hand cracks would be your safest bet. Tape it straight so you can't crimp with it and try using face holds with three fingers for a bit. Good luck.

Thank you both. Based on your advices, I'm staying away from finger cracks and just focusing on hand/fist/OW. The off-fist/stacked-hand size is already kicking my butt and will probably keep me entertained for a while.

aikibujin wrote:Thank you both. Based on your advices, I'm staying away from finger cracks and just focusing on hand/fist/OW. The off-fist/stacked-hand size is already kicking my butt and will probably keep me entertained for a while.