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Post by majorsick on Jun 24, 2015 7:22:14 GMT -7
Mark, majorsick is actually an exaggerated phonetic play on my last name. =)
Evan, that's a really interesting question because I honestly don't know. My hardest redpoints are easy 12s, and I would estimate the stresses on my fingers during the most strenuous of my hangboard rehab workouts to be around 10a. No pain. Since I will be doing my ARC workouts during the base fitness training phase on 5.8, I decided there was no need to continue hangboarding with any more resistance, figuring that the high volume ARC workouts will also help my finger re-acclimate slowly to the stresses of climbing.
I think this approach makes a lot of sense follwing an injury (granted I have the smallest sample set possible). Precise repeatable loading of fingers early on, dialing in resistance for pain free workouts. Gauge the difficultly of the loads you are subjecting your fingers to as a function of the 5.x scale. Hangboard a few grades beyond where you will do your ARCing, and work back through the cycle outlined in RCTM.
I'll check back in here with a progress update when I finish the Base Fitness phase.
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Post by majorsick on Jul 20, 2015 9:56:17 GMT -7
Finished up the Base Fitness Phase last week, and have experienced no pain at all on my previously injured finger. Proceeding cautiously into the strength phase... Any one have any experiences to share regarding their first strength phase post-injury?
Also, looking ahead to the Power Phase, I've never campused before... Thoughts on whether or not to dive into that given the recent history of injury?
Thanks!
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Post by MarkAnderson on Jul 20, 2015 11:56:10 GMT -7
There shouldn't really be many differences other than perhaps lest recovery time if everything goes well. Continue to be cautious and attentive to your injured finger and adjust the resistance and rest accordingly. Regarding campusing, I would wait and see how things feel at the end of the Strength Phase.
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dan
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Post by dan on Sept 8, 2015 12:15:18 GMT -7
Thought I might add another data point to this rehab program.
I've been doing basically the same rehab routine as majorsick since early May. Between HB rehab #1 and #2 was mostly rest (a backpacking trip). Between HB rehab #2 and #3 was a bit of moderate climbing with some fun onsight attempts and mileage. By HB rehab #3, I was basically back to baseline (even beyond baseline on the pinch and medium edge).
Unfortunately, I think I pushed it too much on my 3rd and 4th workouts. Rather than a 2.5lb increase on most holds, I did a 5 lb increase on everything. Though nothing felt "off" or tweaky during the actual workout, I was way more sore than usual after the 4th workout. The 5th and 6th workouts were miserable. Even with weight backed off from the 4th workout, the tendon(s) in my right ring finger (the original injury) felt stretched out and strained. Every hold felt tweaky again. I backed weight off even more for workout 6, but still things still felt tweaky.
Workout 6 was 4 days ago. Though things feel slightly recovered, I still feel soreness and occasional pain down in the forearm. I'm not sure what to do. I'm thinking of bailing on the rest of this HB phase and doing some moderate trad climbing for a month or so. If anyone has any suggestions as to where I should go from here I'd love some feedback or ideas.
Overall, I'd say that the rehab routine has been successful. Despite being annoyed with myself for pushing too hard on the HB, I feel like I'm still in a pretty good position to tackle some of the harder, more fingery routes on my list this coming Spring.
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Post by majorsick on Sept 8, 2015 12:26:07 GMT -7
Dan, I certainly don't mean to be standoffish, but it doesn't sound like we were doing the same program at all! Back to baseline resistance after 3-4 rehab sessions and doing mileage climbing interspersed? Not even close!
Edit (hit post before finishing response) I took it SUPER slow and started BORINGLY easy with resistance. Almost no climbing for 2 months. Again, I'm a single data point, but I can come back and say that I'm trying 100% and feel ZERO pain.
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Post by jlarson on Sept 14, 2015 13:37:42 GMT -7
majorsick...thanks for posting your experience! I just read through the thread w/r/t your hangboard progression and recovery. Good stuff! One question (open to anyone who cares to respond)...how did you conclusively diagnose the pulley strain? After consulting with Dr. Internet it seems like pulley strains result in inflammation and pain at the base of the finger. I'm a little skeptical of my ability to self diagnose but here's what I've got: I've been climbing for about 2.5 years and training regularly for about a year. I've been hangboarding ala RPTM and this season is the first season I've added a campus board. I've avoided closed crimping for now both in training and while climbing and there hasn't been any notably tweaky holds or anything lately. What has changed is I just got a membership to a climbing gym and my climbing volume and intensity has increased as a result. I'm fortunate to live next to a nice little outdoor bouldering area though the climbs are mostly polished slabs but that's led to an underdevelopment in vertical and overhanging technique and thuggery (hence the gym membership). This past week I've noticed mild pain at the base of my right ring finger as well as left middle finger, especially in the morning and upon palpation. I'm due for a campus board day tomorrow and leaning towards climbing through the discomfort. Any thoughts? EDIT Looks like a thread already exists for this question. Here's a link to the thread for those who may be interested.
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Post by MarkAnderson on Sept 14, 2015 15:02:46 GMT -7
j, I think you may have what stpatty describes in the linked thread (tendovaginitis). I would reduce the extra volume you've added since getting your gym membership and may be take some extra rest days. You might experiment with taping, but IME tape can aggravate inflammation.
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Post by jlarson on Sept 15, 2015 21:08:10 GMT -7
So after a fair amount of googling I found some things that helped me and may be of some interest to others... Diagnosing a severe pulley tear is pretty easy, acute pain, a pop, numbness/tingling immediately afterwards and "bowstringing" in the most severe cases. Much trickier is the differential diagnosis for a mild pulley tear, a chronic pulley strain, and what Mark is talking about, the inflammation of the sheath surrounding the tendons, tendovaginitis. In all cases mild/moderate pain is felt at the base of the finger. The only definitive method to figure it out is using imaging--MRI or a skilled user of dyanamic ultrasound. **I'll add here that I've found most of the climbing media/blogosphere to be pretty unhelpful as the VAST majority of information published on the internet covers pulley tears and ignores the other less severe (though maybe more common?) overuse injuries like tendovaginitis. So you have to use a bit of judgement. Was there a "climbing moment" or a particularly tweaky hold you remember from the previous week or so leading up the pain? If no, it's likely not a partial tear of the pulley and more likely a pulley strain or tendovaginitis. This is an important distinction to make because much less rest time is needed to heal an overuse injury than a pulley tear. Has your climbing volume increased recently? Are you warming up properly? If the pain goes away after relatively short periods of rest this would further support an overuse injury. Tendovaginitis is like the climbing equivalent of tennis elbow, yes it hurts but what's really needed to heal it is physiothearapy--not extended rest. Rest until the inflammation has subsided (ice and NSAIDS if needed) then google some physiotherapy exercises and gradually return to more intense climbing exercises. I found this website to be quite helpful and it's worth a look for the injured and curious.
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Post by MarkAnderson on Sept 16, 2015 10:23:50 GMT -7
Tendovaginitis is like the climbing equivalent of tennis elbow, yes it hurts but what's really needed to heal it is physiothearapy--not extended rest. Rest until the inflammation has subsided (ice and NSAIDS if needed) then google some physiotherapy exercises and gradually return to more intense climbing exercises. Great post! One point though. I would not recommend just googling some physiotherapy exercises for a finger injury. God knows what you might find (and I'm not just talking about NSFW!). Instead, I would use a hangboard. I firmly believe it is far and away the best tool for any kind of finger rehabilitation.
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Post by majorsick on Oct 27, 2015 8:54:50 GMT -7
Tendovaginitis is like the climbing equivalent of tennis elbow, yes it hurts but what's really needed to heal it is physiothearapy--not extended rest. Rest until the inflammation has subsided (ice and NSAIDS if needed) then google some physiotherapy exercises and gradually return to more intense climbing exercises. Great post! One point though. I would not recommend just googling some physiotherapy exercises for a finger injury. God knows what you might find (and I'm not just talking about NSFW!). Instead, I would use a hangboard. I firmly believe it is far and away the best tool for any kind of finger rehabilitation.
Not that you need my endorsement of Mark's statement, but I endorse Mark's statement. I am completely recovered and climbing at full strength with no pain after following the program discussed in this thread.
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danc
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Post by danc on Oct 27, 2015 12:26:47 GMT -7
Hi, in keeping with this thread on finger injuries. I was out bouldering the other day and hear a small pop in my ring finger. Now have some pain over the A3 pulley. Open hand grip seems ok. Not tested crimp! I'm going on my yearly pilgrimage to Fontainebleau next week and wondered if anyone had any advice about how to manage this injury while there? Help needed ?
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Post by majorsick on Oct 28, 2015 5:23:29 GMT -7
Hi, in keeping with this thread on finger injuries. I was out bouldering the other day and hear a small pop in my ring finger. Now have some pain over the A3 pulley. Open hand grip seems ok. Not tested crimp! I'm going on my yearly pilgrimage to Fontainebleau next week and wondered if anyone had any advice about how to manage this injury while there? Help needed ? Yikes... I would leave my climbing shoes at camp/hotel. Everything I've ever read on pops and acute pain of a pulley suggests that climbing is the last thing you should be doing. If you can't bring yourself to do that, I'd resist the urge to climb anything remotely crimpy or near your limit. I'd maybe try to focus on documenting the trip well with a camera, stay moderately inebriated, and just enjoy the company.
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danc
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Post by danc on Oct 28, 2015 13:35:27 GMT -7
Thanks for the wise words. I think I'm gonna wrap it in tape and climb open handed. Can't not go bouldering in font!
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Post by majorsick on Oct 29, 2015 11:17:19 GMT -7
I'd say to keep your fingers crossed, but... Eh...
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dan
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Post by dan on Oct 30, 2015 9:38:30 GMT -7
You may try buddy taping the ring and pinky fingers together. Be careful!
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