Half-Crimp in Hangboard Reha

[flowsor]

Hi all, wanted to her your opinions on pulley reha on the Hangboard and the involved grip-types at certain stages of reha, and if it is advisable to use half-crimp at a certain point. An get some feedback on my Rehaplan.

My case first: I have a A2 pulley injury for about 4 months, starting with (i guess) partial tear. Sharp pain when I tried to crimp. I took a break and did easy climbing with a stiff taped finger like Dave McLeod recommends and it got better soon. But I never fully recovered because i got back on the wall and hard boulders way to early. I never took my rehab seriously. So it got kind of chronic since 3 months. It really never hurts while climbing and even not if I hang with a half crimp on the 15mm edge on the beastmaker, i have full ROM, no pain in daily activities, but it always fells tender to touch. The Tenderness is getting better and worse up and down. Especially up after long sessions. It’s my first pulley injury. My hardest Redpoint is 7c on route and 7b boulder, I climb since about 8 years now. So maybe I just needed this experience to take my rehab seriously.

So now i really want to take my rehab seriously. I read pretty much everything I could find on the internet. But beside this I wanted to hear your opinions, feedback and some experiences of your rehabing. Pretty much all the reha programs suggest to progressively load the pulley. The question for me is how much weight to take off and on which grip type to start from. Especially because it is tender for such a long time but i am definitely not at the stage of a fresh torn pulley.

I took 10 days completely off now. Now it is tender to touch very slightly, but only when I press my thumb hard into my finger pad, and I am sure I would not feel any pain even if I would crimp very hard. But I really want to get rid of it and not make the same mistake to get back to early. So I try to do some reha on the Hangboard like you Anderson Brothers, Esther or the reddit user linked below recommend and climb only with completely stiff taped finger on a very low level for some weeks slightly progressing it (to hold a basic endurance level). The question for me is, how much load an which grip type is a good reha starting point with the described symptoms? Remember, absolutely no pain while crimping hard, only when I press my thumb into my finger pad.

The question now is when I start hangs like you Anderson Brothers or esther recommend if I should go half crimp on a medium size edge (maybe 18-25 mm) and take some weight of and progressively load it for some weeks, or if I should consequently avoid any type of crimp for a couple of weeks, even controlled with weight off on the Hangboard. I would just do the hangs 3x10sek or something like that, or maybe 3 sets of repeaters. As I understood it is the pulley SOULD be loaded to a level where you feel very slight pain, so it can rebuild properly and if you don’t do it, I will never heal that good. And I know that I would not feel any pain when I take of weight.

So I definitely would do absolutely no crimps on the Hangboard, but the question is, if this is advisable or if it is better to just add some half crimps to strengthen the pulley again because the injury is not that bad.
I thought to do body weight hangs + progressively load on different open hand grips (involving the injured fingers) for about 3 weeks. Than adding half-crimps. Staring with maybe 15kg off (if it feels okay) an progress up do 15kg additional over 6-7 weeks. This would mean progressively reha for about 9-10 weeks. Beside I would climb easy and progress, but at least for the first 6 weeks or so with completely stiff taped finger and absolutely no crimping. Clear this plan is just an idea how it could work ideally, of course i always would check my finger and see what is possible.

Links:
https://www.reddit.com/r/climbing/comments/83ozx8/a_guide_to_effective_rehabilitation_of_finger/
www.trainingbeta.com/media/esther-fingers/

[jetjackson]

4 months is not a long time in pulley rehab terms - I would expect that some soreness can remain from a pulley injury for 6=12 months depending on the level of discipline on rehab, severity of injury, age, genetics, etc. etc.

It sounds like you're progressing - soreness on palpitation of pulley with finger test, but no other issues. Gets worse after climbing etc. I think that the palpitation test is an indication of whether you went too hard in your last session, if it gets worse, take an extra day off training and go back to a lower intensity than your last session. IME rehab progress is not a straight line - and I think that's ok. Certain other things like cold/flu or other body inflammation can set off an injured pulley, so it's not always climbing that does it.

It sounds like you're in a good spot now for pulley rehab through hangboarding. I think it's a good, safer way to start to eliminate that soreness that you're feeling. It's hard to really specify what you should do in terms of grips/weight, but I would err on the side of caution. Start lower than you think you should, no need to rush it. Last year I rehabbed some pulley soreness, I started on crimp at -50% of my bodyweight, and built it back up to BW slowly over 3 seasons. It wasn't until the 3rd season, that the pain disappeared completely.

[anicall]

I am kind of in the same situation right now. I am wondering if not crimping at all really works the A2 in a way that helps it rehab. If I stick to using the forge wide pinch and slopers, my ring finger A2 doesn't feel like it's being stressed at all. Maybe a half crimp is necessary to actually stress the pulley in a way that will stimulate supercompensation. I have been trying to use the half crimp position on the forge vder, taking off 40ish pounds with a pulley. My pulley isnt too sore afterwards, so I don't feel like it's making it any worse at least.

[Lundy]

So when I blew up my left ring A2, I jumped back into hangboarding about two months later (it was really bad and took a long time to just function properly again with no loading - just opening and closing my hand), and used it as the primary mode of rehab. For about the first 6-7 weeks, I just used the half crimp and open hand, both with LOTS of weight taken off. Then, after I think 6 weeks of two HB sessions per week, I also added the full crimp, again with massive amounts of weight taken off. I was careful to never push into pain, but made sure I was loading enough to find a bit of discomfort. The finger was usable and I was climbing decently about three months after starting HBing for rehab. Another 3-4 months later and I was full strength.

[jetjackson]

May 15, 2018 16:34:49 GMT -7 anicall said:

I am kind of in the same situation right now. I am wondering if not crimping at all really works the A2 in a way that helps it rehab. If I stick to using the forge wide pinch and slopers, my ring finger A2 doesn't feel like it's being stressed at all. Maybe a half crimp is necessary to actually stress the pulley in a way that will stimulate supercompensation. I have been trying to use the half crimp position on the forge vder, taking off 40ish pounds with a pulley. My pulley isnt too sore afterwards, so I don't feel like it's making it any worse at least.

Personally, If I was feeling absolutely not soreness in the pulley I was rehabbing, on the following day after a HB session, that would be an indication to me that I could increase the resistance, albeit very slowly. Ideally to me, some soreness during workout is acceptable, and some soreness in pulley the next day, but it's gone by the time you get back to the next HB rehab workout.