RCL thumb tear

I was bouldering in a gym and was on a two hand start where your arms are spread out, supporting most of your weight. I was leaning to my left side and heard a CRUNCH sound (like breaking dry spaghetti) and my thumb collapsed. Got super queasy and lightheaded.

Once the pain chilled, I thought I was good to climb again as it wasn’t super painful, just sore. I got on an easier route and as soon as I grabbed a pincher hold, my thumb collapsed backwards again. Yikes.

Got an X-ray this morning, no breaks. Suspected RCL ligament tear and getting an mri next week to check. Hoping for a minimal or partial tear since a full tear usually indicates surgery.

Apparently this is a relatively uncommon injury compared to UCL or pulley tears. Anyone have this happen before?

I fully tore my UCL and RCL and did not need surgery. The tears were stable and just got splinted. Went to the best surgeon in philly and their was the recommendation. After it fully healed, I had no lasting issues. Climbing actually helped a lot in getting mobility back. 

Brielle Rae wrote:

I fully tore my UCL and RCL and did not need surgery. The tears were stable and just got splinted. Went to the best surgeon in philly and their was the recommendation. After it fully healed, I had no lasting issues. Climbing actually helped a lot in getting mobility back. 

That’s really reassuring, thanks! The osteo dr did not seem super hopeful, but will be referring me to a hand specialist if he thinks the tear needs surgery, so I at least feel good about that. Obviously everyone’s cases are different, but how long did it feel like recovery took?

I’m going to let you all in on something. Modern medicine doctors and surgeons don’t know JACK S**T about how to properly heal climbing injuries!! Period!! Their answer is always surgery. You can tear a pulley and don’t need surgery, in fact I highly recommend against it! There is plenty of Information written by credible people in the Climbing world. I highly recommend Dave McCloud. He’s written a couple books on climbing related injuries, how to heal them and how to come back stronger. I’ve read both his books and there was information in there that helped me tremendously with some climbing related issues. I would only suggest surgery as a very last effort. And then I would see a specialist, not some ER Surgeon. 

Interesting! Good news though- NOT a full tear, no surgery. Literally the best case scenario I could have asked for. It’s a little stiff still, but I’m good to climb with a brace for a bit and should be back to normal in a few weeks