sore finger. suggestions?

my left ring finger has been sore for the past couple months and is slowly becoming sorer. when i grip something hard i feel a pain in the first digit right above where my finger meets my hand. if i gently squeeze this part of my finger i feel a slight pain like the kind you get when you apply pressure to a bruise.

does anyone have any suggestions for how to deal with this? i've tried taping it and that seems to slightly dissipate the pain, but gripping very hard is still difficult. when i get sufficiently warmed up the pain is dissipated to a point where i can pretty much ignore it, but getting to that point seems to be taking longer as time goes by (i assume this is because it is getting worse).

the obvious answer to my problem is "don't climb for a few weeks" but like any other climber i don't want to do that unless my finger is in danger of popping off the next time i toss to a crappy hold. i haven't found a discussion on this site relating to this type of injury but if there has been one already please direct me to it.

Jon,
I have been experiancing somthing similar. Mine is actually the sheath that covers the tendon there. When it is really cold and tight I can actually feel it moving over my knuckle. Its gross. I try to really warm it up well and lube it up before starting to pull down. Its hard cause there is not much that is helping it. It is slowly getting better. I just do "finger pushups" I am not sure if this is the same issue your having though.

Does it sometimes feel as if somthing may even be stuck under your skin pushing on your bone?

What you are describing sounds exactly like a finger pulley injury. I had the same issues and that is what a doctor said.

I hate to be the one to say this but the ONLY way for it to get better is to take 4 to 8 weeks with NO climbing. And that means NO climbing at all.

I have had the same injury four different times and tried everything (taping, finger push-ups, ice, and so on) and nothing helped in the long run except time off. Sorry, I understand the pain (in the finger and at having to take time off).

I have the same thing on my ring fingers on both hands. My discomfort is between the second and third knuckles and makes climbing harder crimpy routes quite difficult (and I have enough problem getting up those on my own). I went to a finger specialist (who is also a climber with many impressive ascents under his belt) at the Orthopedic Center of the Rockies and he told me it is most definitely a pulley.

The worst part:

He told me at least 6-8 months with no climbing whatsoever!!

So this spring I have begun looking into long trad moderates that are easier on my fingers...

I know it's hard to face but even the easy trad routes will keep the finger from recovering. When I have had pulley injuries, I've tried only easy climbing and it still kept the pulley from healing.

One thing that greatly increased the recovery time (and I mean by a month or more) on my last two pulley injuries was keeping the finger taped or splinted all the time. It was kind of a pain in the ass but it really did help it recover faster. If you can't stand have the splint or tape on during the day, at the very least, have it on at night. It really will make a big difference.

adam brink wrote:I know it's hard to face but even the easy trad routes will keep the finger from recovering.

You are completely correct, I went to the doc last Oct. and continued to climb moderates relatively frequently (couple times a month) throughout the winter/spring. My fingers feel exactly the same as they did in October. This injury really sucks...

SAL wrote:Does it sometimes feel as if somthing may even be stuck under your skin pushing on your bone?

i think mine is a bit different. i don't feel like anything is moving or out of place, it just feels sore, as if bruised.

in response to other suggestions: i was afraid that taking time off might be the only solution but i'm not at the point where i can't climb on it so i'm not about to take weeks or months off to let it heal just yet. let's imagine a different scenario for now: let's say your fingers are fine but you want to prevent future finger injuries. actually, let's say that in addition to preventing injuries you also want to prevent an existing injury from getting worse. how does the old saying go? "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"? what's a good method for preventing injuries? i would assume most climbers have some sort of stretching/warmup routine?

I just partially torn a pulley in my right index finger recently. I am just like every other climbing that thinks your life as you know it is over if you don't get to climb for a while but it is better to take the time off to let it heal rather that risking permanent or chronic injury. I hate to say it but take time off from climbing it is the only thing that is going to help. I keep my finger immobilized in a splint for 15 days and would take it out once daily to maintain some flexibility. I also would ice it in the morning and evening to help with swelling. Hopefully I will be back climbing soon.

Jon-

One thing to consider, if you keep climbing on it, it will never get better. It will just get worse and worse. I can say that from personal experience and that is also what several doctors have said to me.

With that said, if you are going to still climb you should cosider wearing a split or taping the finger whenever you are not climbing (especially at night as fingers tend to get bent into non-healing positions during sleep). Also, you should do an ice bath on the finger at least twice a day.

Warming up and stretching are great and all but they are not going to do much for helping the finger heal. I have actually heard (and my own experience reinforced this) that stretching an injured finger only increases the injury. Streching is something to do after recovery is complete.

thanks adam.

i know that continuing to climb on the finger is not going to help it heal but like i said it's not to that point where it really affects my climbing (given that i have properly warmed up). i have not been to a doctor yet so i cannot say what the injury is, so i'm not going to stop climbing for months unless i absolutely need to.

also, i know that warming up and stretching are not going to heal the finger but what i was asking for are suggestions to keep my other fingers (or other parts of the body) from being likewise injured, and hopefully preventing this injury from getting worse.

thanks for your suggestions on taping, splinting, and icing though. it sounds like a good idea to do these things when i am not climbing.

Jon, I have had finger injuries in the past as well. They do seem to get worse if you keep climbing on them (and the recovery time increases - something to be aware of if you decide to keep squeezin' rock).

The good news is that finger injuries don't affect your ability to drink beer. So, got to the crag with your friends, politely excuse yourself from any belay duty (don't want to stress that finger!) and crack a beer. watch the fun increase as you slowly (or quickly) inebriate yourself...the cold beer serves as an ice pack on your finger, too!

Deaun Schovajsa wrote:Jon, I have had finger injuries in the past as well. They do seem to get worse if you keep climbing on them (and the recovery time increases - something to be aware of if you decide to keep squeezin' rock). The good news is that finger injuries don't affect your ability to drink beer. So, got to the crag with your friends, politely excuse yourself from any belay duty (don't want to stress that finger!) and crack a beer. watch the fun increase as you slowly (or quickly) inebriate yourself...the cold beer serves as an ice pack on your finger, too!

Deaun Schovajsa wrote:The good news is that finger injuries don't affect your ability to drink beer.

Truer words have never been spoken...

Here's what I understand: you didn't hear what you wanted to hear about how to deal with your injury. So now you are just thinking about how to prevent this from happening in other fingers and keep the injured finger from getting worse. Although the second part of that latter statement has already been answered by multiple people here (see answer to question 1).

First of all, my guess is that you have an A2 pulley injury. The only difference between your injury and the other people on here is that yours is probably not ruptured as completely as theirs. Yet. It sounds like you sustained some microtrauma that has been building over time into a problem.

Multiple people stated only time off will prevent it from getting worse. Nothing will change this fact. The amount of time off (for you specifically) is unknown, but 1 or 2 weeks is basically not going to be sufficient. The 4-8 weeks is a reasonable assumption.

Think about it this way: if you are not willing to take 4-8 weeks off now, continued climbing may mean you will have to take far, far longer off in the future (but it ain't gonna get better in any way, shape or form if you don't rest, so think of the 4-8 week time frame as an outcome that will not 'go away' if you ignore it hard enough). Decide if 8 weeks or 28 weeks sounds better.

Another drawback to continuing to climb on your pulley injury is that the compensating forces you will induce in your other hand/fingers can mean you will experience new pulley injuries. I see people report this a lot, actually.

Taping your pulley only reduces the forces by so much (one study says 12%). Better than not taping at all, but you have an 87% deficit in the structural integrity holding your tendon in place and it will NOT protect you from further damage due to climbing on it. Warming up won't prevent further trauma from occuring in an established injury, either. If it did, athletes wouldn't get sidelined due to minor injuries.

Crimping will be especially destructive for an injury like this, but ANY form of climbing will continue to stress an already damaged tissue and make it worse.

Lastly, I would advise to AVOID STRETCHING YOUR FINGER. Stretching injured and poorly vascularized connective tissue is a really bad idea.

There are tons of threads on pulley injuries on rockclimbing.com you can search. MP doesn't seem to get as much posting about it, for some reason. Many threads are repetitious, but I would look for advice posted by a user named 'onceahardman.' He is a climber and a PT. Also, just go back through time on the Injuries and Accidents page and read anything on finger problems to get a lot of other people's experiences.

rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/fo…;guest=32101756#1825906

rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/fo…;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;guest=32101756

The only other advice to avoid pulley injuries is to build up your grades gradually. Pulling down too hard too soon is a perfect recipe for pulley injury, as is pulling down too often w/out adequate rest. Oh--and make sure to crimp all the time to keep em comin' as well!

Hope that helps.

P.S. Read lithiummetalman's post at the end of this thread for his experience with not resting finger injuries: rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/fo…;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;guest=32101756

EDITED

eyes of green,

sorry, i misread part of your post. currently i do not know what is wrong with my finger and it is not yet painful enough to prevent me from climbing, so i am not yet ready to commit to a months-long break. i am going to see a doctor tomorrow so hopefully he can tell me what is wrong or refer me to someone who can. most likely he will confirm what is in your post.

thanks for your post, it is very helpful. i hear you are in the medical profession yourself.

Stop climbing immediately!

I have had a few pulley injuries. My experience is that 2 weeks no climbing and 2 more weeks of light climbing is usually enough for non-serious injuries. If you have an "actual" tear or rupture of some degree, it might be good to get some physical therapy. I liked ultrasound and cortisone patch. If you stop climbing in time and get on it, you can be back full strength in 2-6 weeks. If you let it go it may take years. I had a pretty serious rupture a few years ago. Stopped lcimbing immediately and got physical therapy right away. I was back climbing easy within 2-4 weeks, and back almost full strength after 4-6 weeks. It really takes 6months+ to actually start to really feel "normal" though. Then later on I had another pulley injury(in my pinky none the less!) and it wasn't as serious, so I ignored it and climbed. I eventually got some therapy after several misdiagnoses and it is better now, but too a few months to heal. It still has significant scar tissue and I have to be carefull with it, but hasn't hurt recently.

I find massage really helps too. get some sports creme and rub it in with moderate pressure, going from the palm to fingertip.

the best advice for anyone is to pay attention to your body and when any "funny" pain develops, try to figure out what it is and stop the irritating activity right away, hard to do, but after a few injuries it starts to sink in...

Jon,

Taking time off is really hard. I am now personally facing possible surgery for an injury for which I have already taken off an accumulated 2+ months to rest. To no avail. And my outcome either through surgery or therapy alone is not necessarily one with really, really successful statistics behind it... So hopefully this puts 4 weeks in some perspective. (I know, the first time you face it is hard, though.)

Anyway, I'm just stressing the need to think clearly and long-sightedly about it all if need be. I see a lot of climbers, both online and those I know in person, who doggedly refuse to "do the right thing" for clear cut problems even when all signs are lighting up in neon to do so. (I'm not saying this is what is going on with you, however, just that it could be.) Many later report, "Well, I was a dumbass and I kept climbing even though my finger/elbow/shoulder kept hurting worse and worse and I knew I shouldn't, but I just couldn't stop climbing because I can't function w/out climbing in my life BUT NOW I can't climb at all, and I am sitting on the couch drinking Mad Dog 20/20 depressed outta my mind, and I am goin crazy here...." Well, anyway, you get the drift. :) But at the same time it seems tragic to me.

Ultimately, working through pain does not a great athlete make.

Oh, also, you are right, I do have sports medicine training and education, and now I am moving toward possibly orthopaedic bioengineering with emphasis in biomechanics (my specialty)....so maybe one day I can manufacture you a synthetic pulley replacement if need be! Good luck until then.

not sure what your dr. said, but I had an injury with similar symptoms last July-September and again from March-May this year. Additionally, I got a severe case of tendinitis in my elbows.

At first I thought it was a pulley, but I continued to climb. In August/September I iced my finger after each workout an it didn't seem to help much. I then took two weeks off, to no avail. So, I went back to the gym in October and started, massaging my elbows with ice after each workout - (I froze a dixie cup of water and then pealed the side off and rubbed the ice on my elbows and forearms). Unknowingly, my fingers stopped hurting and everything was good again.

Then in March I over-trained on a campus board and screwed everything up again. It wasn't as bad this time, but both ring fingers were injured. I continued to climb as it didn't get any worse, but it didn't get better either. In early April my elbow tendinitis started hurting again. About mid-April I started taking glucosamine chondroitin for a bad back and noticed a couple things - my elbows hurt less, and my fingers were slowly getting better. During that time I continued to climb, and started climbing harder than I was before the injury.

I learned a lot about my body, which made the second occurrence much more manageable with a faster recovery - 1) I started taping the knuckle, or taping as close to the knuckle as possible - this drastically limited my range of motion and the stress I placed on my finger; 2) I warmed up my hands in hot water for 30 seconds, prior to climbing; 3) I stopped taking ibuprofen all together, with few exceptions - studies show that prolonged use of ibuprofen prevents injuries from healing; 4) both times I noticed that when I fixed my elbow tendinitis, my fingers followed. I'm not sure what my injury was, but I thought it was a pulley, as did everyone I spoke to. I now believe that my elbow tendinitis caused or contributed to my finger injury, and the elbow tendinitis prevented the finger from healing. I'm sure your doctor had much better recommendations, but this is what worked for me.

Good luck, recover fast.

Brad

So what did the doc say about your hand?