De Quervain's and cortisone shot: two questions

Last year I had it and had to stop completely for 3 months. 

Now I have an alpinism course coming up and it just showed up again... I've been waiting for this course for the past two years, I'm quite depressed.

Anyone here had to deal with De Quervain's and got the cortisone shot? 

How long after the shot were you able to climb again? 

I've read that the shot can cause muscle loss and weakness. 

Have you experienced any of this? 

Thanks

I delt with dequervains for pretty much and entire year in 2022. I opted out of surgery and the shot as my PT said it can weaken the tendon further. Sucks to hear it came back. Fascia scraping and stretching was huge for mine. Sucks I don't think there's any short term fix. My hand doctor recommended the surgery if it ever comes back. 

Stan Lajoie wrote:

I delt with dequervains for pretty much and entire year in 2022. I opted out of surgery and the shot as my PT said it can weaken the tendon further.

Cortisone shots are "strong medicine" and should be limited to the absolute minimum if at all possible. Some health practitioners suggest a max of 3 lifetime cortisone injections, many feel that repeated shots cause more long term damage than they solve.

I found the Cortisone shot to not help with my dequervains symptoms. I think it took me 2-3 weeks to get back to normal after the shot. After I got the shot I found that I did have weakness after the shot that felt different than before.

I had it seriously bad for about 6-8 months and since then need to avoid certain slopey holds without proper warm up. I've had it as a back of the mind injury for about 3 years. I found very very gradual PT exercises and reintroduction into climbing to work.

I’ve also been dealing with de Quervain’s for the past few months. What kind of PT have y’all found to help? I’ve been doing some exercises I’ve found online, and it’s improved a lot, but I feel like I’m stuck at like 60-70% recovered.

These are what I was doing when it was pretty bad:

Wrist curls (finger curls), reverse wrist curls, dumbbell rotation: these are what I started with. I still do these all the time.

Hangboarding: 3 finger drag and half crimp. Started with both feet on and for awhile was also doing tension block just to make it extremely easy. 

Lockoff exercise on a pull up bar. On a jug I would get enough pads or a chair to get into a 90 degree position and do 2-3 reps of holding for 10 seconds. I would keep one foot on the chair or both feet on to make it easier.

Looks like I also did some KB exercises like a kettle bell press. I had some shoulder issues/weakness that also contributed to the pain.

For awhile I also trained pinch blocks. I started with something like 2.5 lbs and got all the way up to 40lbs eventually. I cut this exercise out and didn't see that it helped the de quervain's symptoms that much. but slopers and pinchy holds were my kryptonite for awhile and still can be without proper warm up.

Finally I did change how I climb. A lot of pinchy holds I try to compress on instead. I also stopped 3 finger dragging on actual holds as much as for whatever reason that seemed to aggravate my thumb more. 

Stan Lajoie wrote:

I delt with dequervains for pretty much and entire year in 2022. I opted out of surgery and the shot as my PT said it can weaken the tendon further. Sucks to hear it came back. Fascia scraping and stretching was huge for mine. Sucks I don't think there's any short term fix. My hand doctor recommended the surgery if it ever comes back. 

thanks I'll look into fascia scraping

John Lombardi wrote:

I found the Cortisone shot to not help with my dequervains symptoms. I think it took me 2-3 weeks to get back to normal after the shot. After I got the shot I found that I did have weakness after the shot that felt different than before.

I had it seriously bad for about 6-8 months and since then need to avoid certain slopey holds without proper warm up. I've had it as a back of the mind injury for about 3 years. I found very very gradual PT exercises and reintroduction into climbing to work.

damn. yeah it sounds I should avoid cortisone...mine is getting better by resting but still not healed. I guess from now I'll always be careful with it. The wrist is also tough as it becomes almost impossible to train upper body. Taking time off climbing really messes me up and I feel depression crawling back into my life, I hope it heals soon 

• Fascia scraping, doing the same stretch that is the test for it (tucked thumb then bend the wrist down or whatever) and sleeping with a big wrist brace. You need the brace that has a big peice of metal in it that dosent let your wrist move at all at night. Also doing isometrics with your thumb in multiple angles.. I just chilled and climbed 5.easy adventure stuff and it eventually got better. Was avoiding the stretch at first because it hurt and also was using a brace at night that was too small, having the PT correct that stuff made it start getting better. Also used the brace at work whenever I had to lift anything or put weird load angles on my wrist. 

wrist brace at night helps a lot but it takes time, like months, that has been biggest help for me.  Simply stretching the wrists through yoga or holding a plank a few times a day also seems to help. 

I dealt with De Quervain’s after a rough go with covid. I would wear a brace and take months off climbing but it would still persist. After nearly a year of these shenanigans, I decide to get the CORT shot. I didn’t climb for I think 2-3 months after the shot, was pretty diligent about wearing a brace after it, and it never came back.

I dealt with De Quervain’s after a rough go with covid. I would wear a brace and take months off climbing but it would still persist. After nearly a year of these shenanigans, I decide to get the CORT shot. I didn’t climb for I think 2-3 months after the shot, was pretty diligent about wearing a brace after it, and it never came back.

L C wrote:

I dealt with De Quervain’s after a rough go with covid. I would wear a brace and take months off climbing but it would still persist. After nearly a year of these shenanigans, I decide to get the CORT shot. I didn’t climb for I think 2-3 months after the shot, was pretty diligent about wearing a brace after it, and it never came back.

did you manage to train at all during that year?

clericus vagans wrote:

did you manage to train at all during that year?

Throughout the year, I would rest, try to climb again, pain would come back. Once I got the shot, full stop did not climb at all. Fitness always comes back even if it takes time. It was worth it to me to come back without pain.

L C wrote:

Throughout the year, I would rest, try to climb again, pain would come back. Once I got the shot, full stop did not climb at all. Fitness always comes back even if it takes time. It was worth it to me to come back without pain.

tough. thanks for sharing