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Anyone Else Find Fingers Growing Bigger from Climbing?

Original Post
Andrew Rice · · Los Angeles, CA · Joined Jan 2016 · Points: 11

I've really stepped up my climbing game the last couple years and put some effort into developing hand and finger strength. Suddenly I find that my wedding ring won't even slide onto my ring finger. It was actually quite loose for years. Either my knuckle is swelling (but doesn't feel that way) or else my finger muscles have developed to the point that they actually got a lot bigger. It's not a huge problem but I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this?

Jon Frisby · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 280

There aren't muscles in your fingers. Your tendons are bigger and your joints are swollen/contain more scar tissue than before. 

wendy weiss · · boulder, co · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 10
Andrew Rice · · Los Angeles, CA · Joined Jan 2016 · Points: 11
wendy weiss wrote:

Arthritis?

Hope not. My joints feel fine. 

Tee Kay · · Seattle, WA · Joined Mar 2015 · Points: 110
Laine Christman · · Reno, NV · Joined Dec 2008 · Points: 1,305

Yep, had the same issue with my wedding ring getting really tight after a long climbing trip.  Though I think it is directly related to trad climbing. Over the last year I barely climb crack but pull plastic several times a week and the ring practically falls off.

Andrew Rice · · Los Angeles, CA · Joined Jan 2016 · Points: 11
Downtownt Kay wrote:

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/112897546/ring-sizing

Thanks, Kay. I remembered that thread, given that I posted in it, but couldn't find it because it had been in "training." Weird to read back in May that my fingers were same as always then. Hello hangboard and tons of overhanging lead climbs...

frank minunni · · Las Vegas, NV · Joined May 2011 · Points: 95

I don't know about my fingers but my sack grows and shrinks noticeably depending on how dicey the climb is.

Martin le Roux · · Superior, CO · Joined Jul 2003 · Points: 416
Jon Frisby wrote:

There aren't muscles in your fingers. Your tendons are bigger and your joints are swollen/contain more scar tissue than before. 

I think you're correct that it isn't muscle growth, but if I'm reading the following correctly it's usually bone growth and thicker ligaments (annular pulleys and palmar plates), not thicker tendons or scar tissue.

"Factors influencing osteological changes in the hands and fingers of rock climbers" :https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2100343
"Connective tissue adaptations in the fingers of performance sport climbers": https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26267120

To answer the OP's question, yes, it's very common.

Jon Frisby · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 280
Martin le Roux wrote:

I think you're correct that it isn't muscle growth, but if I'm reading the following correctly it's usually bone growth and thicker ligaments (annular pulleys and palmar plates), not thicker tendons or scar tissue.

"Factors influencing osteological changes in the hands and fingers of rock climbers" :https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2100343
"Connective tissue adaptations in the fingers of performance sport climbers": https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26267120

To answer the OP's question. yes, it's very common.

You're correct. Forgot about the bone growth. I think I've been particularly affected by swollen joints and started taking Glucosamine with Chondroit and MSM as a 28 year old ;(

Andrew Rice · · Los Angeles, CA · Joined Jan 2016 · Points: 11
frank minunni wrote:

I don't know about my fingers but my sack grows and shrinks noticeably depending on how dicey the climb is.

True, that, but as I have no rings on that part of my anatomy it doesn't matter so much.

Lee Green · · Edmonton, Alberta · Joined Nov 2011 · Points: 51

Bone, tendon, and ligament all thicken in response to the cyclic loading stress of rock climbing. That's physiologically normal, and good. My wife and I wore the same rings for 31 years. When we took up climbing, gaining no weight, 2 yr later we had to have our rings resized. Now, 6 years later, we can't wear them, and they can't be resized further. (Custom made of 3 dissimilar gold alloys with different ductilities; they'd split.)

If you want to wear a ring, two bits of advice. First and foremost, never wear it climbing. Not because you'll scratch it up, but because if your fingers swell, it could be anything from annoyingly to dangerously hard to remove. Second, think about a design that is either all one alloy or is split, so it can be easily resized.

I know some climbers like tungsten rings, because they're so abrasion-resistant. We considered, but decided against, because the ring splitters ERs have can't cut them. In an emergency, bad stuff. I could remove one, as I keep a Dreml around, but few docs do.

Ted Pinson · · Chicago, IL · Joined Jul 2014 · Points: 252

https://groovelife.co

I ended up replacing my wedding ring with one of these.  Was getting to be too hard/painful to remove and replace my ring after climbing.

Ken Noyce · · Layton, UT · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 2,658

Yep, my wedding ring used to be a bit loose and I can't even get it over the knuckle anymore.  I've been thinking of getting one of the silicone ones so that my wife is happy.

Alicia Sokolowski · · Brooklyn, NY · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 1,771

I stopped wearing my ring altogether.  It used to be so loose I would occasionally fling it off my finger if I was making a lot of hand movements.  As I climbed more, it got tighter and tighter until it just hurt to much getting it off and on.  Lucky for me, I am married to a climber, so he experienced the same thing.  We both just stopped wearing them.  Neither one of us really cares.

John Barritt · · The 405 · Joined Oct 2016 · Points: 1,083

I have two https://qalo.com/ rings and will probably get a few more. Solves a lot of problems, heat cold expansion, blood pressure/exertion, arthritis etc. Anything that makes you want to take your ring off fades away and you can do all your activities safely while honoring your spouse or just being stylish..... ;) 

Ted Pinson · · Chicago, IL · Joined Jul 2014 · Points: 252
Alicia Sokolowski wrote:

I stopped wearing my ring altogether.  It used to be so loose I would occasionally fling it off my finger if I was making a lot of hand movements.  As I climbed more, it got tighter and tighter until it just hurt to much getting it off and on.  Lucky for me, I am married to a climber, so he experienced the same thing.  We both just stopped wearing them.  Neither one of us really cares.

But how do you fend off the hoards of potential suitors?!

Alicia Sokolowski · · Brooklyn, NY · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 1,771
Ted Pinson wrote:

But how do you fend off the hoards of potential suitors?!

You know, I've never had that problem, not even when I was single.  I'm going to choose not to contemplate that too long, before I get a complex.

Andrew Rice · · Los Angeles, CA · Joined Jan 2016 · Points: 11
Colonel Mustard · · Sacramento, CA · Joined Sep 2005 · Points: 1,252

Nope.

F r i t z · · (Currently on hiatus, new b… · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 1,155
Dana Bartlett wrote:

Looking through my copy of One Move Too Many:

". . . 40% of all rock climbers have excessively thick fingers." 

" . . years of climbing, the cortex of the bones grow, resulting in increased bone density and thickening." 

So in a few years, I'll get getting perfect fingerlocks in splitter 0.5's instead of rattly ringlocks? Rad!

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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