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Post by tedwelser on Feb 16, 2016 10:07:03 GMT -7
I experienced a strange injury to my index finger on my left hand last night. I was bouldering on the new Moon Board which is located in Bryant's large and mostly unheated garage. I was still in the process of warming up and had done some warm up HB hangs, and a few easier problems on the 20 degree wall and sections of medium problems. I was trying the finish of a moderate moon problem (none of them are easy, lol) and using this hold in the red circle:  It is the final move of the problem and it is a bit of an out of balance move where you pinch the side pull and treat it almost as a gaston because you only have a decent foot on the right. When it happened I came down and was surprised that my finger felt sort of achy and stiff (there was no pain or pop or anything in the moment that indicated a problem). I warmed hands in my pocket and stood around hoping it was simply a temporary strain feeling related to the cold temps and trying hard in the moment. But the pain and stiffness remained so I did not climb anymore that evening. On the drive home my finger felt better when I held it in front of the heater vent, but when it returned to normal temps the pain returned. The pain is in my pip, towards the top of the knuckle and the outer or left edge. There is no pain related to what would normally be a tendon pulley injury. The knuckle seems to be slightly swollen compared to the right index. In a neutral position it does not hurt. Over beers that evening I pressed and prodded at my finger till I suspected that the pain occurred because my finger had been loaded laterally, so that instead of my finger pulling straight down like this | it had been loaded like this ( . The hold in question is a curved sidepull but the index loads near the top of it, so that if you pull down and left on it (like turning a steering wheel) the index has by far the best purchase on the hold. So I am thinking rest, ice, ibuprofen for the next few days? If it remains unimproved after 5-7 days get xray, otherwise start a conservative HB rehab cycle when the pain is gone? |
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Post by MarkAnderson on Feb 16, 2016 13:33:20 GMT -7
Definitely sounds like a collateral ligament strain. The great thing about these is that IME, as long as you load the finger straight down, it shouldn't aggravate the injury. If I were in your shoes I would see how it does over the next couple days and then consider continuing my cycle while avoiding moves that torque the PIP joint. If you're uncomfortable with that, then I would take a week or two off and then go back into HBing, but I think you'll find you're still plenty strong on straight down pulls, so it will be more like typical hangboarding than Rehab HBing (maybe pocket grips will be a bit tweaky?).
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Post by tedwelser on Feb 16, 2016 15:24:50 GMT -7
As injuries go, this is great news. I will keep resting for a while and look to get back to a HB routine of some sort.
I was not really in a bouldering / power cycle at this stage, but the Moonboard is still enough of a shiny new toy that I wanted to try some problems on it anyways. This time period is scheduled as base fitness, so I can likely do some supplemental exercise and start my HB season early, and integrate some ARC into a slightly extended HB cycle.
I can't help but feel that getting this injury under the circumstance of slightly cold, slightly inadequate warm up is a symptom of the many joys of getting older. It sort of felt as though I had sprained my ankle on the hike in while people in their 20's were rock hopping in the talus for entertainment. lol
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Post by majorsick on Mar 3, 2016 12:19:54 GMT -7
I have had this EXACT pain/scenario twice in the past couple months. It hurts for a few days, and when normal range of motion returns I resumed climbing (cautiously) pain free. I tweaked it again last night though... I had self-diagnosed it as a collateral ligament strain. Yay me! Mark I've been reading alot about treatment. Have you had any experience with buddy-taping in this case to prevent excessive lateral movement to the affected finger?
Ted, how have things progressed in the last 2 weeks? What have you been doing to treat/rehab?
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Post by MarkAnderson on Mar 3, 2016 15:30:46 GMT -7
I've never tried buddy taping. I know that's common in big dumb sports like football, but I think that might make it tough to grip certain holds, especially outside. It's probably worth trying though.
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Post by CS on Mar 3, 2016 19:16:07 GMT -7
I also share everyone's pain with this injury. The collateral strains just seem to heal reeeaaaaaaly slow. Mine came on about 1 1/2 years ago. Not sure what caused it, but I'm leaning towards max throw campus moves or I used to HB on metolius campus rungs. I've noticed the rungs are a bit narrow for me. Puts my hands into a position that could cause lateral strain. I've since fixed this.
Guys I've literally done everything possible to heal it and it's still not healed. I even took 4 months completely off. I've seen a dr. (hand speRCTMkicksAsst) and had xrays. Xrays showed a possibly healed stress fracture where the ligament joins the bone. Dr wasn't sure if it was fully healed, or not healed. He did say I only had a strain to the accessory collateral ligament. There is no real treatment for the injury. He showed me a better way to tape and that was it. I bought a home ultra sound machine from amazon and use it nightly. Seems to have helped a tinny bit.
Climbing doesnt hurt. Although I have really lowered my level, but its sore afterwards. Maybe in the range of 3-6 out of 10 soreness. I just finished 7 weeks HB. Starting off very conservative. Finger seemed to improve as I went. It does need a min of 2-3 rest days after an HB or climbing.
The bummer is I'll be going about my day and then BAMMM!! i snag the finger on something.....and the healing process starts all over again. It's such a bummer. Maybe I should just chop it off haaha!
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Post by majorsick on Mar 3, 2016 19:51:38 GMT -7
CS - do you protect the finger at all while you climb? Have you altered your warmup at all to minimize rest time between sessions?
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Post by tedwelser on Mar 4, 2016 14:15:37 GMT -7
I have had this EXACT pain/scenario twice in the past couple months. It hurts for a few days, and when normal range of motion returns I resumed climbing (cautiously) pain free. I tweaked it again last night though... I had self-diagnosed it as a collateral ligament strain. Yay me! Mark I've been reading alot about treatment. Have you had any experience with buddy-taping in this case to prevent excessive lateral movement to the affected finger? Ted, how have things progressed in the last 2 weeks? What have you been doing to treat/rehab? Hey majorsick and CS, here is my update: I fully rested for one week even though by the 5th day I was no longer feeling any pain or stiffness in my finger. I held out for the additional two days and started back with my standard HB workout, although with a reduction in weight for the closed crimp on the off chance that I had hurt more than the coll-ligament. I did not boulder or climb at all, I just warmed up on the HB with a long series of low intensity hangs from a range of grips. On the weekend I went to the Red and did low intensity outdoor mileage and just enjoyed my climbing. I mainly climbed 5.10's with one 5.11 each day just for fun. This week I have done two more HB workouts and did a little easy bouldering. I stayed away from the Moonboard, and only bouldered at the dojo yesterday (more than 2 weeks after the injury) after a complete warm up. I think I got off easy (so far) in terms of injuries. Besides being a possibly less severe injury initially these are the things that I did that might have helped. 1. I stopped climbing immediately after feeling something was not right 2. I waited till the pain and stiffness was gone before doing any HB / climbing 3. I only did controlled HB through recovery day 12, and the climbing I did was low intensity 4. I have taken the injury as a "warning shot" and decided to be super conservative with use of the Moonboard, which is basically super intense finger power limit bouldering on somewhat less than ergonomic holds. I only plan to get back on the MB when we get our additional Kilter holds to augment it and when it will be a bit warmer in that garage. I also plan to warm up at home before heading over. |
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Post by CS on Mar 4, 2016 14:36:37 GMT -7
CS - do you protect the finger at all while you climb? Have you altered your warmup at all to minimize rest time between sessions? Yeah I tape up the middle joint in an H pattern and buddy tape. I avoid dynamic lateral movements. As far as warm up goes I've always been good at slowly warming up, but now I take multiple days off as well. I've stopped climbing indoors and have been climbing mostly 10-11 slab outside. Great for my foot work and easy on the fingers. I'm hoping slow and steady is the right approach. Extremely frustrating. |
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Post by majorsick on Mar 11, 2016 14:10:46 GMT -7
Having felt some of those Moon holds, I've never understood why it is so popular. I like the idea of augmenting with Kilter, and like the idea of REPLACING even better. =)
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Post by GK on Apr 29, 2016 12:45:16 GMT -7
Hi All,
I believed someone asked earlier in the thread what rehab exercise might be useful for the collateral ligament injury, but there were no clear answers. I just wanted to re-ask that question specifically if there are any suggestions out there.
I too have suffered from collateral ligament injury to my left ring finger. I did a full rehab HB cycle per Mark's book, but I don't think it is going away. I did a LB session yesterday, while it did not hurt, the same area was sore afterwards. Also when I play with the finger, I can definitely feel the tenderness.
So are there any specific collaterall ligament exercise that would help with the rehab? I believe our regular HB rehab does not load the finger in such away that excersises it.
Thank you!
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