Physical therapist in Fort Collins

I hurt my left hand around ~2 1/2 months ago at while climbing at the gym. I'm pretty sure its a pulley injury in my left ring finger. i waited around 3 weeks to see if it felt better, but it started to hurt after 2 easy bouldering problems, so i left it alone for another 7 weeks. When i went to go climb again today, i started feeling some pain immediately when i started out on my third easy problem.

i think i need to see a physical therapist to help me figure out whats wrong with my hand and how to fix it. Does anyone know where i can find a good one in fort collins? Any helpful tips to fix a pulley injury? i really don't want to give up on the sport, but its impossible to climb right now...

thanks

Edit: saw brenda and she confirmed that i had injured my A1 and A2 pulleys and possibly hurt the tendon too. she has given me some physical therapy exercises to do to help my hand heal up faster. Thanks guys!

I don't a think a physical therapist is going to provide you with much insight. Check out Dave Mac's training site for the current food of thought on pulley injuries. While some would claim that a completely ruptured pulley might require surgery, I know several good V10/V11 boulders who just climb through them... What I do when mine act up is rest for a week /2 and then tape the thing (more of a mental reminder) and avoid crimping down hard on it for another couple of months. It's well worth training the open hand grip on a hang board...

Kevin Landolt wrote:I don't a think a physical therapist is going to provide you with much insight. Check out Dave Mac's training site for the current food of thought on pulley injuries. While some would claim that a completely ruptured pulley might require surgery, I know several good V10/V11 boulders who just climb through them... What I do when mine act up is rest for a week /2 and then tape the thing (more of a mental reminder) and avoid crimping down hard on it for another couple of months. It's well worth training the open hand grip on a hang board...

i agree pulleys take forever to heal maybe rope up and tape two digits together for support and climb easier routes for a while till the pain is gone then build the strength back up, use antiinflammatories and ice after climbing sessions, i would say no to hangboard because it stresses the ligaments so directly and isolates the impact , try variety of moves on routes, crack, chimney friction slab, off width, no overhangs or dyno moves to minimize impact, the key is not to lose strength in the rest of your hand while the digit heals. best of luck!

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Also, I did not mean to imply you should be training the open hand grip on a hang board now, but once you're past this injury it's a worthwhile endeavor for those of us who seem to be partial to finger injuries.

Mitch made a great point about climbing different styles of rock - now is a great time to get outside and climb cracks, slab, off widths, etc... Avoid clipping bolts or bouldering for a couple of weeks but go climbing and stimulate that tissue to get some blood flowing to the injury.

mountain-nut wrote:I hurt my left hand around ~2 1/2 months ago at while climbing at the gym. I'm pretty sure its a pulley injury in my left ring finger. i waited around 3 weeks to see if it felt better, but it started to hurt after 2 easy bouldering problems, so i left it alone for another 7 weeks. When i went to go climb again today, i started feeling some pain immediately when i started out on my third easy problem. i think i need to see a physical therapist to help me figure out whats wrong with my hand and how to fix it. Does anyone know where i can find a good one in fort collins? Any helpful tips to fix a pulley injury? i really don't want to give up on the sport, but its impossible to climb right now... thanks, Ted

If you would like to see a therapist, try Harmony hand clinic (Edit: see Brenda on your first visit). Several very well known climbers have been clients in the past.

Don't get discouraged, as they take a long time to heal. Bouldering isn't the best thing to do after your rest period. You need to start using it lightly and slooooowly add resistane. Most easy v problems are too much IMHO.

Copperhead wrote: If you would like to see a therapist, try Harmony hand clinic (Edit: see Brenda on your first visit). Several very well known climbers have been clients in the past. Don't get discouraged, as they take a long time to heal. Bouldering isn't the best thing to do after your rest period. You need to start using it lightly and slooooowly add resistane. Most easy v problems are too much IMHO.

Thank you for the recommendation. i'll call them on monday.

yeah, im not going to do any climbing for awhile now, as it was hurting very badly doing V0-V1's