Anyone Else Find Fingers Growing Bigger from Climbing?
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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? |
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There aren't muscles in your fingers. Your tendons are bigger and your joints are swollen/contain more scar tissue than before. |
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wendy weiss wrote: Hope not. My joints feel fine. |
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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. |
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Downtownt Kay wrote: 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... |
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I don't know about my fingers but my sack grows and shrinks noticeably depending on how dicey the climb is. |
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Jon Frisby 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 To answer the OP's question, yes, it's very common. |
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Martin le Roux wrote: 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 ;( |
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frank minunni wrote: True, that, but as I have no rings on that part of my anatomy it doesn't matter so much. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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..... ;) |
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Alicia Sokolowski wrote: But how do you fend off the hoards of potential suitors?! |
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Ted Pinson wrote: 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. |
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Nope. |
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Dana Bartlett wrote: So in a few years, I'll get getting perfect fingerlocks in splitter 0.5's instead of rattly ringlocks? Rad! |