Post by jetjackson on Jun 13, 2016 11:33:02 GMT -7
Yesterday I was working my current project (it's going to go down real soon) - a 5.12a I've posted about here before. Video from yesterdays burn here.
After coming down, I noticed in my middle left finger, that it was quite sore. If I pressed on the joint - right where the C3 cruciform pulley is, there was distinct pain. The interesting thing though, was that there was no swelling, and no distinct moment of pain that I recall from the climb. The pain was localized quite close to the skin surface, if I stroked the skin surface very sightly, I could feel the pain - this is distinct from typical pulley injuries I have had, where the pain is duller, and feels deeper. Additionally, whilst there was pain if I stroked the surface of the skin, I could put the finger in a crimp position with no pain, and today, a day later, there is no pain. Rather than rest and have another burn on the project, I decided to call it a day, and head back next week for another RP attempt. The whole way back from the crag in the car I was lamenting this new injury that I'll have to 'work through'.
There is a reason I've become hyper-obsessed with finger pain, and balk at the slightest sign of anything. I've posted a few times about different pulley injuries etc. and I've been climbing for 20 months and have had pulley issues in 5 different locations. It's worth noting that whilst I used 'recurring' in the title, I haven't had the same issue on the same pulley - of the 5 I note, none have been in the same location. It seems as soon as one heals, another one goes - out of 20 months I've probably had 8 months of completely finger injury free, 2 months of completely off, 4 months of 'rehabbing', and the rest of the time at a point where I'm at 80% capacity.
The first couple were mild, about 6 months into my 'climbing career' and I probably made them worse by continuing to climb, without really knowing what they were. I started doing research, realized they were probably slight pulley tears, and that crimping was most likely causing them. At that time, my open handed grip strength was very weak, and I set about fixing that. I started taping my injured fingers to restrict myself to only open handing holds, my climbing dropped a few grades (in the gym, that is - I wasn't climbing outdoors at my peak level yet) and over a few months my open handed strength improved.
I bought Dave McLeods book, Make or Break, where he talks about pulley injuries, and has a graph showing the injury over time, and how a climber goes through stages where they think the injury will be healed, and they will prematurely push too hard, exacerbating the injury, and prolonging the time at less than peak capacity. I've made a bit of a graph to show the 'journey' of each injury. The green describes the first pulley injury. At point A, I've not fully accepted that there is an injury and I've pushed it and made it worse - see point B. I've then gone completely off climbing at point C and so I've recovered and then returned to climbing expecting to be able to climb at high capacity, only to discover that it hasn't really improved.
A lot of people bring this up, that they completely stop climbing for 6 weeks, only to return to climbing and find that even 2 number grades below their RP level will make the pulley sore again. DM describes this in his book, and his viewpoint is that tendons and pulleys don't like rest. I subscribe to this view-point and so in the latter injuries I have taken short complete breaks from climbing 1-2 weeks, to let the inflammation go down. During that short break I will ice water bath the pulley, and take Advil. As I go back to climbing, I will occasionally take Advil after a climbing session, and maybe ice water bath the day after, particularly in the early stages, and when I think I have pushed it too hard. I'll throw in extra rest days and won't return to climbing until the pain in the pulley is at least mild. The blue line describes how my other pulley injuries have progressed (since making that graph I realize the blue line should probably hit the 80% line a little earlier). They don't really happen in an acute moment, there is no noticeable swelling, and I really only notice it after climbing, rather than during climbing. Those injuries have gone away after about 2-3 months, utilizing the method described in this paragraph.
Earlier this year at the end of February, during a limit bouldering training session, I pushed too hard and there was a pop in my right middle finger. Immediately it felt almost electrified - not really pain so much as it felt weaker and it was 'buzzing' almost. This was my experience of a more acute pulley injury. It was slightly swollen the next day, the first time I had actually had swelling. I took about 2 weeks off, sought out a hand therapist and made sure I hadn't done a serious tear. Of course, they don't know a whole lot about climbing, and they just tell you to lay off for 6 weeks and then increase your progression back to climbing very slowly. I've drawn this on the graph as the red line. I put this injury down to over training - the day beforehand I had done a campus session. At point B, I had a trip to Hueco Tanks planned, so I went to Hueco tanks and only climbed problems with jugs and slopers, which probably prolonged the recovery more than what it would have been if I had skipped that trip. I went very easy on that finger for a while after the Hueco trip, and then started a hangboard rehab program where I did 7 hangboard sessions. That injury is still lingering, and I'm currently at about 80% capacity - If I climb hard on that hand, I'll feel soreness in the finger for a day or so after the climb. I figure it will probably go away after another slightly harder hangboard rehab cycle next month.
So for the last month I've been climbing at what I would say is 80% capacity - I avoid anything with right handed crimps that I can't open hand. That has still allowed me to climb 5.11c, and project the 5.12a that I mentioned at the start of this post.
The weekend before last, I was working a 5.12b/c in the gym with some left hand crimpy moves. I didn't feel anything during the climb, but the next day my left ring finger was sore if I put it in a crimp hold. I'd describe it as a slight tweak, and it's probably at 80% capacity - I can still open hand on that hand without any pain, and I've been taking ibuprofen and bathing the finger in ice water.
That brings me back to yesterday, when that index middle finger seemed to tweak on that climb. Now, it may turn out to be nothing more than some slight bruising, but it's causing me to ask some deeper questions. That is, am I just pushing too hard in general. I'm 32, and I started climbing later (30) - have I not allowed enough time for my tendons and connective tissue to strengthen? Should I just hold back for 6-12 months and build a bottom heavy pyramid of hundreds of 5.10's and low to mid 5.11's. What is the root cause here - is it age/tendon strength, technique, warm-up? I feel like I've tried to minimize the issue by open handing nearly everything I can, and limiting use of the crimp. I warm up on easier climbs before I jump on something at my limit. Although I'm getting better at actually managing the injuries and rehabbing them, it seems new finger injuries just keep happening.
I want to progress in my climbing over the coming years, but I fear that as soon as I jump on something with a full crimp, I'm going to tweak a pulley. I've read that tendons don't really strengthen that much in later life. I know I'm being a sad-sack today, and I try to think of how the RPTM talks about how injuries will get better... but then I think about my age, and all these pulley injuries and tweaks I've been getting, and I wonder if I'll ever be able to get on classics in the >5.13 range that require hard crimps.
After coming down, I noticed in my middle left finger, that it was quite sore. If I pressed on the joint - right where the C3 cruciform pulley is, there was distinct pain. The interesting thing though, was that there was no swelling, and no distinct moment of pain that I recall from the climb. The pain was localized quite close to the skin surface, if I stroked the skin surface very sightly, I could feel the pain - this is distinct from typical pulley injuries I have had, where the pain is duller, and feels deeper. Additionally, whilst there was pain if I stroked the surface of the skin, I could put the finger in a crimp position with no pain, and today, a day later, there is no pain. Rather than rest and have another burn on the project, I decided to call it a day, and head back next week for another RP attempt. The whole way back from the crag in the car I was lamenting this new injury that I'll have to 'work through'.
There is a reason I've become hyper-obsessed with finger pain, and balk at the slightest sign of anything. I've posted a few times about different pulley injuries etc. and I've been climbing for 20 months and have had pulley issues in 5 different locations. It's worth noting that whilst I used 'recurring' in the title, I haven't had the same issue on the same pulley - of the 5 I note, none have been in the same location. It seems as soon as one heals, another one goes - out of 20 months I've probably had 8 months of completely finger injury free, 2 months of completely off, 4 months of 'rehabbing', and the rest of the time at a point where I'm at 80% capacity.
The first couple were mild, about 6 months into my 'climbing career' and I probably made them worse by continuing to climb, without really knowing what they were. I started doing research, realized they were probably slight pulley tears, and that crimping was most likely causing them. At that time, my open handed grip strength was very weak, and I set about fixing that. I started taping my injured fingers to restrict myself to only open handing holds, my climbing dropped a few grades (in the gym, that is - I wasn't climbing outdoors at my peak level yet) and over a few months my open handed strength improved.
I bought Dave McLeods book, Make or Break, where he talks about pulley injuries, and has a graph showing the injury over time, and how a climber goes through stages where they think the injury will be healed, and they will prematurely push too hard, exacerbating the injury, and prolonging the time at less than peak capacity. I've made a bit of a graph to show the 'journey' of each injury. The green describes the first pulley injury. At point A, I've not fully accepted that there is an injury and I've pushed it and made it worse - see point B. I've then gone completely off climbing at point C and so I've recovered and then returned to climbing expecting to be able to climb at high capacity, only to discover that it hasn't really improved.
A lot of people bring this up, that they completely stop climbing for 6 weeks, only to return to climbing and find that even 2 number grades below their RP level will make the pulley sore again. DM describes this in his book, and his viewpoint is that tendons and pulleys don't like rest. I subscribe to this view-point and so in the latter injuries I have taken short complete breaks from climbing 1-2 weeks, to let the inflammation go down. During that short break I will ice water bath the pulley, and take Advil. As I go back to climbing, I will occasionally take Advil after a climbing session, and maybe ice water bath the day after, particularly in the early stages, and when I think I have pushed it too hard. I'll throw in extra rest days and won't return to climbing until the pain in the pulley is at least mild. The blue line describes how my other pulley injuries have progressed (since making that graph I realize the blue line should probably hit the 80% line a little earlier). They don't really happen in an acute moment, there is no noticeable swelling, and I really only notice it after climbing, rather than during climbing. Those injuries have gone away after about 2-3 months, utilizing the method described in this paragraph.
Earlier this year at the end of February, during a limit bouldering training session, I pushed too hard and there was a pop in my right middle finger. Immediately it felt almost electrified - not really pain so much as it felt weaker and it was 'buzzing' almost. This was my experience of a more acute pulley injury. It was slightly swollen the next day, the first time I had actually had swelling. I took about 2 weeks off, sought out a hand therapist and made sure I hadn't done a serious tear. Of course, they don't know a whole lot about climbing, and they just tell you to lay off for 6 weeks and then increase your progression back to climbing very slowly. I've drawn this on the graph as the red line. I put this injury down to over training - the day beforehand I had done a campus session. At point B, I had a trip to Hueco Tanks planned, so I went to Hueco tanks and only climbed problems with jugs and slopers, which probably prolonged the recovery more than what it would have been if I had skipped that trip. I went very easy on that finger for a while after the Hueco trip, and then started a hangboard rehab program where I did 7 hangboard sessions. That injury is still lingering, and I'm currently at about 80% capacity - If I climb hard on that hand, I'll feel soreness in the finger for a day or so after the climb. I figure it will probably go away after another slightly harder hangboard rehab cycle next month.
So for the last month I've been climbing at what I would say is 80% capacity - I avoid anything with right handed crimps that I can't open hand. That has still allowed me to climb 5.11c, and project the 5.12a that I mentioned at the start of this post.
The weekend before last, I was working a 5.12b/c in the gym with some left hand crimpy moves. I didn't feel anything during the climb, but the next day my left ring finger was sore if I put it in a crimp hold. I'd describe it as a slight tweak, and it's probably at 80% capacity - I can still open hand on that hand without any pain, and I've been taking ibuprofen and bathing the finger in ice water.
That brings me back to yesterday, when that index middle finger seemed to tweak on that climb. Now, it may turn out to be nothing more than some slight bruising, but it's causing me to ask some deeper questions. That is, am I just pushing too hard in general. I'm 32, and I started climbing later (30) - have I not allowed enough time for my tendons and connective tissue to strengthen? Should I just hold back for 6-12 months and build a bottom heavy pyramid of hundreds of 5.10's and low to mid 5.11's. What is the root cause here - is it age/tendon strength, technique, warm-up? I feel like I've tried to minimize the issue by open handing nearly everything I can, and limiting use of the crimp. I warm up on easier climbs before I jump on something at my limit. Although I'm getting better at actually managing the injuries and rehabbing them, it seems new finger injuries just keep happening.
I want to progress in my climbing over the coming years, but I fear that as soon as I jump on something with a full crimp, I'm going to tweak a pulley. I've read that tendons don't really strengthen that much in later life. I know I'm being a sad-sack today, and I try to think of how the RPTM talks about how injuries will get better... but then I think about my age, and all these pulley injuries and tweaks I've been getting, and I wonder if I'll ever be able to get on classics in the >5.13 range that require hard crimps.
