hallo

need some advide please

today,
i was doing 3 finger pockets on my hang board, i did warm up
i usually do this 4 times (sets) for 5-8 seconds
but today i felt my finger give way (pop i think) then i had this strange tingle sensation up my arm
my finger feels a bit numb, i can move it to much, it hurts inside my arm
i can do pull-ups however.

what does this mean? how servere is the injury?
what sort of professional should i see?
how long will it take to heal.

i would appreciate some advise and who to see

thanks so much
vernon

go to www.rockclimbing.com and search through the injuries and accident forum to see if you can relate your injury to someone elses.also post your question in that forum but you will have to give a much better description of what hurts,where it hurts,what motions cause pain,WHICH FINGER IT IS THAT HURTS! etc otherwise people will not help you.google the hand/finger/forearm anatomy aswell to brush up on your knowledge of the various mechanics of the hand/finger etc.tingling and numbness are symptoms of nerve injuries but you more than likely strained a flexor tendon(there are different flexor tendons,it depends which finger you hurt).something you can try in the meantime(ONLY ONCE) is to hold:
1)hold your arm out straight(parrallel to the floor),palm facing down
2)flex your wrist sothat your finger tips point towards the ground
3)bend only your injured finger towards you,keeping it straight

if you strained that finger flexor tendon this will cause pain up that tendon in your forearm.
another important thing to state is whether you were close crimping or open handing that 3 finger pocket.i pressume you were open handing which would tend one to head more towards a flexor strain.
DONT play around with that finger(bending it and testing it all the time to see if it still hurts cause that will just prolong recovery)
dont waste your money going to a general gp,if anything go see a orthopedic hand surgeon
good luck

go to a physio

_________________
Climb ZA - Administrator

thanks everyone for the help and advise

Eish dude, that sucks! Good luck! I'm sukkeling with an injury myself and it's so kak!!

If you're in Pta/Joburg, I can recommend Mark Seuring as a climbing physio. PM me if you want his phone number.

Hi Guys

Sorry for stealing this thread but my finger...ouch!!!

When climbing this last weekend i hurt the base of my ring finger while crimping. I did a bit of reading on the web and it looks like i probably have a partial tear of the A2 pulley in this finger. From the info i have found people have recomended rest/stopping climbing for up to 6 mounth depending on how severe the strain is . I belive my injury is not to bad as i have full flexability of the fingure but it does hurt when i press the affected area. Has anyone experianced a similar problem? I would apperciate any treatment suggestions, rest time and any info on strapping the affected fingure. Also when can i star climbing again?

Word
Alex

Yes i have and still have the same problem. I ussually tape it up not to tight and not to loose. Then i stil go and climb it does not hurt as bad as without tape it actually works great for me. What i find with the tape is that it compresses the erea, so it wont expand more than it should. Resting time yes is up to 6 months which is why I still climb with sore fingers. Just dont over do them there is a limit to ones health. Climb what you are comfortable on and if you are like me you can still push your boundaries to limits without suffering no climbing. I use Dischem's inhouse brand of adhesive tape 1.25cm width it's good enough for me.

_________________
Live life to the full, Or make full use of Life.

There's actually a website: http://www.climbinginjuries.com/

But the worst thing you can do is diagnose yourself, go to a physio and if he says lay off the climbing, then do it dude, it's not worth screwing it up permanently.

Hey guys

I was looking at the posts. You are all more or less correct. I am a physio and i know mark. He is moving to cape town, but from the description of the injury it sounds like you need to see a surgeon. I would say that you should see a hand doc

There is a Dr. Marshal Murdock: His rooms number is 011-726-5163

I know him well and he is a brilliant CONSERVATIVE doc

hope this helps

Thanks for the post Ryan. I think that'll certainly help.

Guys, a word to the wise, self diagnosing is dangerous. It's not that I don't believe it's possible, it's just that we always tend towards what we want to hear.
"Yeah, if it's a tear I have to lay off for 6 months, but it feels more like a small strain to me..."
Sound familiar???

If climbing is your passion, do what's best as recommended by a specialist, rather lay off for a little while than hang up your shoes and chalk-bag forever.

Thanks, I'm done with the soap box... Next?

_________________
I'm not a complete idiot... There're some parts missing!

Vernon... sorry dude... sounds serious. The tendons run right up the arm so if it's hurting badly you gonna need to get that checked out.

Alex69... if it's fairly mild, I have that injury quite often... by often I mean 2 or 3 times a year. I can generally feel it coming and strap up immediately. Proper strapping is important. I'll either ease off the hard climbing or stop completely for 2 to 3 weeks. Maybe do rounded jug pull ups depending on the severity.

Then strap up well again and give it a try. If it feels good, I'll try keep the climbing easy and gauge the effect. If it hurts like before then it's probably best to go to the physio/doc.

For me, the most important thing is to catch it early and ease off before it gets bad.