Wearing a wrist brace while climbing

Does anybody do it? I've been getting wrist sprains pretty easily lately (not from climbing, mainly from other sports but it affects my climbing), and I want to take any preventative measures I can. Does it get in the way? Any recommendations for a low profile but still solid brace?

PS-"Other Sports"=Being the white guy in a basketball pick up game who tries to dunk over somebody. No I didn't make it, and yes it was very embarrassing.

i've worn both a stiff brace with a steel insert = shity to climb with and just a compression brace like an ace type wrist brace that worked great.

I should add that the compression brace was just around the wrist and not over the thumb type. Tape would work too if you need support through the hand

You could get away with a brace on easier lower angle routes.Face routes would be fine. If it allows you to climb w/o pain, then go for it.

What I do is tape about two inches of my wrist; but not too tight.
This is for long sportclimbing days. My wrist can pop out when I do reaching crimpers.The tape
keeps things tight.

ditch the brace and utilize climbing as a rehabilitation exercise until you're fixed. braces cause atrophy of other important areas and stress their reciprocals. the longer you wear a brace, the longer the true recovery period will be once you remove it. climbing is especially helpful as it will elongate your wrist hand forearm connections and introduce increased blood flow to your injuries.

that's my two cents. i was a scholarship div. I football player and i started in every game of my career from frosh-senior year and dealing with injuries effectively played a big role in that accomplishment

good luck!

jon

Velcro Ace with climbers tape to support the wrist when needed, but then again I'm old and frail now.

I agree with Jon, brace bad unless its so painful and then you probably shouldnt be climbing anyways but doing PT

Jon O'Brien wrote:ditch the brace and utilize climbing as a rehabilitation exercise until you're fixed. braces cause atrophy of other important areas and stress their reciprocals. the longer you wear a brace, the longer the true recovery period will be once you remove it. climbing is especially helpful as it will elongate your wrist hand forearm connections and introduce increased blood flow to your injuries. that's my two cents. i was a scholarship div. I football player and i started in every game of my career from frosh-senior year and dealing with injuries effectively played a big role in that accomplishment good luck! jon

Where did you play and what position? I punted for UT for a couple years until i decided I wanted to travel. Had scholarship offers to Air Force Academy, Brown University and Pitt, turned them all down because I wanted to be a Vol. Best decision i ever made.

Nick Mardirosian wrote:I agree with Jon, brace bad unless its so painful and then you probably shouldnt be climbing anyways but doing PT

It's more of a recurring non-serious injury, not really anything worth PT. I don't need a brace for just pulling straight down, but doing sidepulls and gastons can get pretty painful.

Jon OBrien wrote: ditch the brace and utilize climbing as a rehabilitation exercise until you're fixed. braces cause atrophy of other important areas and stress their reciprocals. the longer you wear a brace, the longer the true recovery period will be once you remove it. climbing is especially helpful as it will elongate your wrist hand forearm connections and introduce increased blood flow to your injuries. that's my two cents. i was a scholarship div. I football player and i started in every game of my career from frosh-senior year and dealing with injuries effectively played a big role in that accomplishment good luck! jon

This not necessarily true. It may be that overuse and excess twisting is what's causing the injury. In that case you need rest, or if necessary, something like a brace to minimize the stress until you can fully heal. You're thoughts are not wrong for some types of injuries, you just can apply them to all injuries.

Dirk

I have chronic issues with both my wrists and routinely use a compression brace ( wrist only), which I tighten for certain lives that I know puts particular stress on them. Probably not the medically ideal approach, but works for me.

Dirk DiGiorgio-Haag wrote:

This not necessarily true. It may be that overuse and excess twisting is what's causing the injury. In that case you need rest, or if necessary, something like a brace to minimize the stress until you can fully heal. You're thoughts are not wrong for some types of injuries, you just can apply them to all injuries.

Dirk

Geez, how did you even stumble into this ancient a thread, and what does it matter? OP was last on MP almost a decade ago, lol!

And Alan, multiple lives is definitely aid. Sorry. Dab, for sure, don't count.

H.

Old lady H wrote:

Geez, how did you even stumble into this ancient a thread, and what does it matter? OP was last on MP almost a decade ago, lol!

And Alan, multiple lives is definitely aid. Sorry. Dab, for sure, don't count.

H.

I often find old threads with information I'm looking for and I appreciate that there are people willing to update them when they see fit. 

And both of you, there is no reason to sign at the bottom of a forum post. 

-Adam 

Adam R wrote:

I often find old threads with information I'm looking for and I appreciate that there are people willing to update them when they see fit. 

And both of you, there is no reason to sign at the bottom of a forum post. 

-Adam 

Get off me lawn!

Best, H.

I Ice climbed with a wrist brace for a season. Wrist healed up just fine

I sent one trip to josh tree with a broken foot in boot and still recovered ahead of prediction from doctor. Just no arm bars

Thanks for the replies everyone! I've tried it now for one indoor session and it definitely helped alleviate pain. I'm not sure if this is the best strategy for fastest healing, but I enjoyed the climbing much more, and again, it was relatively pain free. We'll see how it goes from here.

The brace I used didn't interfere with small holds, but it did cause problems on a wide (say 4" or more) pinch.

Evan Sanders wrote: Does anybody do it? I've been getting wrist sprains pretty easily lately (not from climbing, mainly from other sports but it affects my climbing), and I want to take any preventative measures I can. Does it get in the way? Any recommendations for a low profile but still solid brace? PS-"Other Sports"=Being the white guy in a basketball pick up game who tries to dunk over somebody. No I didn't make it, and yes it was very embarrassing.

I tore both TFCC's in a ground fall, Ive been climbing with Wrist Widgets ever since. Not sure if they would help you, but they definitely help me.

Evan Sanders wrote: Does anybody do it? I've been getting wrist sprains pretty easily lately (not from climbing, mainly from other sports but it affects my climbing), and I want to take any preventative measures I can. Does it get in the way? Any recommendations for a low profile but still solid brace? PS-"Other Sports"=Being the white guy in a basketball pick up game who tries to dunk over somebody. No I didn't make it, and yes it was very embarrassing.

I used to do a lot of mantles, and got carpal tunnel syndrome, which is when the tendons that connect your hands and fingers to the muscles in your forearms get inflamed and cant pass through the tunnels in the wrist bones freely. I also got it in my fingers. Very painfull  and my wrist required support to keep my hand from over flexing. A wrist brace is way too bulky so I learned to tape my wrists to get the support I needed. Gymnasts tape their wrists for the same reason. The key is to get support without impeding circulation. Put the first wrap just under the  knob of your wrist. It should be snug but allow full circulation. Successive wraps should go above and below that wrap, and be as tight as possible while allowing circulation. Once its wrapped, flex it both ways to see if its giving you the support you need. If not add more tape or redo it. It takes practice, but it allowed me to keep climbing while my tendons healed. I taped preemptively after that. The fingers have grooves that keep the tendons aligned over your finger joints. A wrap of tape above and below each sore finger joint keeps the tendon running straight.

 

I had a wrist injury for a few months and it wouldn't go away.  Finally decided to see a doctor and the MRI showed "it is angry in there" and that is it.  He told me to wear a wrist brace for six to eight weeks.  It was during the winter so most of my climbing was in the gym.  It worked just fine and my wrist was better after only four weeks.  I continued to wear the brace for six weeks though.  The brace had a metal piece in it so it was definitely stiff.  No problems on crimpers but it did cause some small problems with larger slopers.  Mantels were a problem because I couldn't bend my wrist in the right direction.  It made a huge difference and I had a fast recovery when I started wearing it.

My wrist has a nasty habit of popping out of place while climbing and because of this, I leaned heavily on support like taping my wrist or a brace. It didn't help much with climbing though, especially on overhang. I started to gravitate towards slab and away from slopers and my wrist strengthened naturally over time. Now my wrist almost never pops out and I'm a pretty decent new climber. I would say use the wrist brace as needed, but I believe you're going to be a lot better off sticking to climbs that won't strain your wrist. Good luck with the recovery! 

Russell Springer wrote:

My wrist has a nasty habit of popping out of place while climbing and because of this, I leaned heavily on support like taping my wrist or a brace. It didn't help much with climbing though, especially on overhang. I started to gravitate towards slab and away from slopers and my wrist strengthened naturally over time. Now my wrist almost never pops out and I'm a pretty decent new climber. I would say use the wrist brace as needed, but I believe you're going to be a lot better off sticking to climbs that won't strain your wrist. Good luck with the recovery! 

That's really helpful information. Thanks for the good advice.