Swolen PIP Joints
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so anyone had this same problem? |
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How any joints are swollen. How many days/week did you climb before the injury. Was there a traumatic event? |
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middle and ring fingers on both hand. i was climbing 4-5 days a week and atleast 2-4 hours a day. Plus during the cold season which multiply the injury. Im not sure if it was a traumatic event, i just remember setting a couple route that involve dynoing to small crimps and i didnt understand the concept of open crimp back then. |
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It sounds like an unusual overuse injury. If it were me I'd take a lot of time off and consider not going back to plastic. |
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im down to one session a week and cannot allow my self any less climbing than that unfortunately :( |
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namburger wrote:however joints are swolen and i cant straighten out my fingers or make a fist.Mine too for about 20 years. |
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Darren Mabe wrote: Mine too for about 20 years.20 years??? how is your climbing progressing? did the injury gets worse? what do you do to cope? |
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Ugh... above has been the bane of my climbing life. |
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namburger wrote:im down to one session a week and cannot allow my self any less climbing than that unfortunately :( also unfortunately live in louisiana so only thing to climb is plastic can i die now?If you are really that serious about climbing then you should follow Mo's advice and take some decent time off. Climbing injured is not only way less fun but the royal road to chronic injury and ultimately to a vastly diminished climbing career. Even the pros take months off with injuries. It's the nature of the beast. Especially on plastic. You will not get better without rest. Jim |
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Morgan Patterson wrote:4. NEVER accept a cortisone shot in your finger... find another Dr..why not? and thanks all for the helps. |
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namburger wrote: why not? and thanks all for the helps.Coritzone is a temporary solution.It works by breaking down your tissues. It will weaken your tendons and then you build them back up. In the long run though it has seriously harmed my middle digits. They are the only ones I got the shots in and the only ones i have cronic long term issues with. The other digits kinda orbit around okay, my middle fingers will put me out months at a time and wont even be able to make a fist if they are acting up. And I followed all the Sports Dr. recommendations still didn't help. Also have found a lot of other similar stories thus... just don't do... find another dr. |
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Morgan Patterson wrote: Coritzone is a temporary solution.It works by breaking down your tissues. It will weaken your tendons and then you build them back up. In the long run though it has seriously harmed my middle digits. They are the only ones I got the shots in and the only ones i have cronic long term issues with. The other digits kinda orbit around okay, my middle fingers will put me out months at a time and wont even be able to make a fist if they are acting up. And I followed all the Sports Dr. recommendations still didn't help. Also have found a lot of other similar stories thus... just don't do... find another dr.sounds like doctors are of no good, even PT couldnt help being down the swolen joints as im experiencing. Guess its all up to us. thanks |
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I think you are right about me and you haveing the same thing... |
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Oh.. ya forgot to add that... |
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This problem has derailed two climbing summers in a row for me. With both fingers involved, I'd been climbing daily at my limit, then did some crimping deadpoints on overhanging projects. |
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The best advice is to stop climbing for months. The injury takes about four to six months to heal depending on the severity. There is not much you can physical do speed up recovery. I had a similar injury back at the end of February. It is just in the last two weeks that I can climbing without any pain. There is still swelling but it goes away by the next day. I think you could start climbing at two months but resist pulling to hard to quickly. A general rule of thumb is your muscle gains strength about 40% quicker than your tendons. Sometimes you have to back off in intensity to allow you tendons to catch up. |
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Morgan Patterson wrote:Oh.. ya forgot to add that... Taping above and below the middle knuckle seemed to work fairly well for me for trying harder stuff. I also used to climb with one of those metal finger splints taped on my middle digits. While the climbing is difficult with the splint it still gets you out and ensures you're not going to flog that knuckle... I also found that climbing outdoors was significantly less stressful for my injury then indoors and as a result (and high cost of gym membership) I have mostly given up climbing indoors. As for PT - I wouldn't give up on them... maybe try some other providers. Unfort without an MRI (and you likely won't find a doc to prescribe one) you really won't know exactly whats going on and thus are left guessing about the whole problem.my doctor actually told me that if it doesnt get better through PT he'll do an MRI on it to see for sure, maybe i should come back to see my doctor? |
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I got the same thing. It's been on the right hand middle finger pip joint for the past 6 years. Just started up in my left middle finger this past year. |
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If you have a really good insurance plan, you can keep going to the docs, but you are probably wasting your time & money. If you've already isolated that you have soft tissue damage, then the course of treatment is the same. |
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Couldn't agree with Reboot more... |
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This thread has made me a little nervous as I have the same swelling in one of my middle fingers. It was originally caused by a non-climbing related fall where the finger got jammed upwards, but climbing definitely irritates the finger. Taping it up before climbing is the only way I've been able to climb without lots of pain. |