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Post by Jack Ziegler on Sept 21, 2014 11:55:33 GMT -7
So, I started my first power workout yesterday. Did the warm up boulder ladder, and then on the second campusing set I strained my tendons on my ring and middle fingers. The pain was in the forearm, not any of the joints. It's the tendon that connect at fingertip, the one that connects at the next joint is pain free. I stopped the workout and did some route climbing instead on big jugs. Woke up this morning and my forearm and two fingers (tips especially) were very sore. I iced the fingers and forearm for about 20 min.
I'm hoping this heals by the next power session tuesday and I can try campusing again. Anybody have any recommendations on how to deal with this? Just go by feel, if it hurts to campus don't do it. Or don't campus until Friday and do some bouldering or route climbing on holds that don't hurt? When I climbed after the strain, I had no pain on big holds that contacted two pads, just pain were I only had contact on one pad. If it is still sore tuesday should I skip that workout and wait until it doesn't hurt at all?
I've been climbing consistently for 8 years and never had pulley or tendon injury, only some minor strains that were less intense than this one. I'm guessing it's probably because I'm way stronger after completing my second hangboard cycle.
Maybe do the 'X-tape' on my fingers and boulder (give support to the tip by connecting the next joint to it with tape). Our not boulder and do some route climbing?
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Post by Chris W on Sept 21, 2014 18:16:30 GMT -7
Judging by your other post in the sport climbing forum about your RRG trip, you may want to try large[r] holds that aren't quite jugs on a steep wall.
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Post by Jack Ziegler on Sept 22, 2014 7:57:08 GMT -7
Strain still hurts. Pain is down the fingers to the forearm but mostly in the finger tips.
Unfortunately, the RRG trip is at the end of my power phase, so I probably won't be sending too much there. My goal route this fall is ten digit dialing 12c in clear creek canyon CO. This is a very thin technical climb that is just past vertical with a bulge. I need more power to send this, so I'm worried if I skip the power phase and go straight to endurance I won't be ready to send this in November. However, I guess if I'm still in pain tmr, I should just tape and do laps across the jugs on the roof in the gym? Or maybe rest instead?
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Post by Chris W on Sept 22, 2014 8:06:59 GMT -7
You may just have to play it by ear. The basic rehab recipe is typically the same. Rest short time (1-2 weeks depending on severity) followed by gradual exposure to stress and stimulus until you are back to baseline. You wouldn't want to make it worse. Power training is typically a bit wild and crazy to begin with.
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Post by tedwelser on Sept 22, 2014 19:18:26 GMT -7
Ugh-- that is terrible news. My first campus session went well, but after that I felt as though I was much weaker on the board and was worried i might injure myself. Therefore I have been taking it easy on the board and putting more time into limit bouldering. I think I may have dodged a bullet so I wonder about more of the details of your workout when you were injured.
Did your injury occur on your latching hand or while locking off? At the end of your bouldering ladder did you do limit bouldering or did you switch directly to campusing? Was it a matching ladder, standard or a max ladder?
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Post by Jack Ziegler on Sept 22, 2014 20:22:13 GMT -7
I did one hour of bouldering first. I was merely doing matching ladders on the large rungs, I'm still pretty new to campusing. When it happened I missed the rung with my index and pinky and grabbed it with just the middle and ring fingers. I guess the lesson is to do more bouldering first and campus slower and more controlled so you don't shock load on the rungs with in accurate catch.
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Post by Chris W on Sept 23, 2014 10:48:12 GMT -7
I have trained through minor tweaks and pulls in the past when I probably shouldn't have and seemed to do OK. I used to use H.I.T. Strips and was constantly injuring myself with them and have, since obtaining the RCTM, taken them down. I have heard from reputable sources that taping fingers doesn't do anything, but it seems to make mine feel better when I strain them. Just because its placebo doesn't mean it doesn't work.
It may all come down to how badly you are injured and how lucky you feel.
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Post by MarkAnderson on Oct 9, 2014 11:38:01 GMT -7
Ugh! It sounds like you did some inadvertent 2-finger campusing. I think "the lesson" here is that if you don't hit the rung correctly, just let go and fall to the ground. Don't try to be a hero and latch a rung with poor form. If you miss the rung, especially if you partially miss the rung, just let go and try to be more accurate on the next set.
Unfortunately that won't help you now. Hopefully you're feeling better at this point. Let us know how it's going or even you need any further guidance.
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Post by Jack Ziegler on Oct 10, 2014 6:42:05 GMT -7
Yeah, it's been a slow recovery. I did about 2 weeks of limit bouldering but had to only push myself on the routes that utilized two pad holds. Climbed every 3 to 4 days and the tendons were a bit stronger each time. The middle finger was completely healed at two weeks, but the ring finger has been slow and is still at 50%. I've been at the red on vacation for one week now. I've experimented with different taping methods. Tried the "x" taping and that helped a little, mostly because the amount of tape made it hard to use the ring finger. However, I've found that putting a very very tight wrap around the second digit greatly reduces the pain and gives me some strength back. I think what this is doing is pasting the injured tendon to the healthy tendon that connects at the second joint and combines their strength while at the same time reducing the range of motion of the last joint. I have it so tight that the tip of my finger goes numb, therefore I only tape before a climb and immediately take it off when I'm back on the ground. Luckily at the red there are plenty of juggy 11s and 12s. I have to use all two finger pockets as IM rather than MR and be careful on the IMR pockets. I've climbed 6 days in a row (only 2-4 routes a day though) so there has been no recovery for tendon but it's not getting worse. My power endurance is low and steep routes have always been a weakness of mine so I'm just having fun and working technique. Next week I'll be back into the power phase and resting 3-4 days or more to get progress on the strain.
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Post by MarkAnderson on Oct 10, 2014 13:58:52 GMT -7
Awesome, sounds like recovery is going well. I think your training frequency is perfect (not including this week obviously). Replacing your tape for each burn is also a really good idea. I would continue to tape and continue to take it slow. Be happy it was season-ending and learn from it!
Mark
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