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Finger injuries and 5.12+

jhammer03 · · Manassas · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 45
Omar Little wrote:...I am currently taking time off (planning on 2 weeks) to nurse my finger which had bothered me off and on from a partial A2 tear 2 years ago. Anyways, my finger seems to get worse when I stop climbing. Meaning it goes from painful but not debilitating while climbing, to sore all the time after a week and a half of no climbing but light hand exercises. Does this happen to anyone else? It is quite frustrating and make me think that I should just climb through everything, which is how I got here in the first place (and is a bad idea!) Thanks
I don't think 2 weeks is enough time, unfortunately. Soreness and swelling is part of the healing process. It makes sense that the pain increases when you rest. You don't have any adrenaline to mask the pain. The fluids that the body floods the afflicted area with, while painful, carry white blood cells an other goodies that are what "heals" the damaged tissues. I had a pretty nasty ankle sprain last spring and I've only recently gotten back to 100% on it. It takes a long time to heal tendons and ligaments.

If you're gonna climb, I would say to stay on jugs. If it hurts at all, you should stop.

ALL of my climbing partners are out right now with various types of tendon/ligament injuries.... ALL...
chuffnugget · · Bolder, CO · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 0

judicious use of a hangboard is great injury prevention

if you want to climb past 12 in NM, boudering at least v5 is inevitable

The tower is the only endurance area, everything else is bolted boulder problems

Fan Y · · Bishop · Joined Jun 2011 · Points: 830

if you are a solid 5.11+ trad climber, you should have pretty good technique, so that isn't your problem. you are projecting 5.12+ sport routes (on the rocks) from a good foundation and you are already worried about finger injuries, it just means you aren't physically (or mentally, if you are coming from a strict crack climbing background) ready to crimp. I see three ways to fix this: 1) do a lot of lower -end 5.12s that still challenge your finger strength; 2) do a lot of face climbs that allow you to weigh your feet, and 3) do a lot of onsight climbing at your limit. This is a much more fun way to improve your finger strength, but at some point in the future you will find that a bit of fingerboarding is necessary.

oh and by "a lot" i mean half a season to a full season.

Evan Belknap · · Placitas, NM · Joined Mar 2008 · Points: 65

I just want you guys to know that I just hang boarded the fuck out of a hang board for like 7 minutes, and my fingers feel great.

GhaMby Eagan · · Heaven · Joined Oct 2006 · Points: 385

I climbed a thin 12c immediately before joining the peace corps, came back and had 3 finger injuries in a year. After 3 years I'm finally back to working 12's. Finger tendons and ligaments take a long time to get strong.

M Mobley · · Bar Harbor, ME · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 911
DoesNotCare wrote:I climbed a thin 12c immediately before joining the peace corps, came back and had 3 finger injuries in a year. After 3 years I'm finally back to working 12's. Finger tendons and ligaments take a long time to get strong.
for some of us yes, they do
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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