Finger Strength and Arthritis

I'm 44 years old and I've been in the building trades for 20+ years. It's kept me in pretty good shape generally, but has been hard on the body too.

I've been climbing now for about 5 years. I've plateaued at the 5.10ish level. The obstacle seems to be my finger strength, specifically it feels like I have some pre-arthritis symptoms. I have some joint pain and weakness, and my hands fatigue too easily.

I'd appreciate any feedback from people who've had this problem, and who've had any success with strength/stamina training. Could anyone recommend some training that may work, or should I set my sights lower, accept it and just enjoy the lower fruit?

Thanks

I'm quite a bit younger then you, but considering there is a 60 year old man climbing 5.14a I doubt you need to accept only the lower hanging fruit.

As for building strength and endurance, I would guess that either hangboarding or 4x4 training would work well for you. Or just go to the gym and consistently climb stuff one letter grade above what you can do.

As for your prearthritic hands, is it just joint pain, or is there swelling as well? If you really are seeing the first symptoms of arthritis I would think that a trip to the doctor would be good choice. They would know what could be done to help extend the life of your joints.

Good luck

Voltaren Gel. Ask your doctor about it - it's prescription and comes in a tube like toothpaste. I'm 67 and this is the best thing I have found for my arthritic hands.

Chris Rice wrote:Voltaren Gel. Ask your doctor about it - it's prescription and comes in a tube like toothpaste. I'm 67 and this is the best thing I have found for my arthritic hands.

thnx, i think the 'kids' advice was not for the age group.
Extensive plastic pulling at a more advanced age may not have the positive results., the OP is looking for
buyer beware , know your audience....

Jacob, there isn't much swelling yet as you'd imagine with arthritis. Maybe a little in the large knuckle of the middle fingers, which are also the most painful. I've not seen a doctor nor can I afford it. But I'm pretty sure it's pre-arthritis. It's just different than ordinary fatigue that everyone is familiar with.

So yeah, I'd want to be very cautious about working out on a hangboard without talking to someone who's had my symptoms and found that it helped and didn't further aggravate the problem. As a side note, I also have some thinning of L5 disk associated with my work that caused me some back issues, but when I started climbing and hiking frequently, those symptoms pretty much vanished. I totally believe exercise can be a great treatment for these problems.

So thanks everyone for the input so far.

Good and thoughtful response, Doug.
Jacob I was not being dismissive. Hands that have gripped and wacked, in
Hard work with tools are often hardend from that work in ways that then lend to weakness,
When changing to open hand work.
Hands act as 'dampers' take 80% of vibration caused by tool work.
This can cause a claw like power position, this is good for crack climbing not so much
For crimping, open hand hanging etc.
There is a squeeze ball that has a hole thru the middle allowing for a rubber
band with finger loops at one side and a thumb loop at the other.
This then focuses exercise in opening the fingers against resistance....
Last I knew Metolious climbing products carried them.

edit:
excellent post from Jake Jones, Milage over strength specific training ,
find the balance. Hydration and full rest. are also important.

FOUND IT, I have seen these for sale at stores Like Five Below
youtube.com/watch?v=WMsxGfA…

There are some interesting links on this subject....

Chris Rice wrote:Voltaren Gel. Ask your doctor about it - it's prescription and comes in a tube like toothpaste. I'm 67 and this is the best thing I have found for my arthritic hands.

This stuff does work.

I have done quite a bit of building myself and while is does affect fingers/arthritis, other factors come into play here. Genetics can be one...

Sad to say, but climbing just under your limit and having really good technique, as mentioned above, really works wonders.

Good footwork always helps finger strength !

john strand wrote:Good footwork always helps finger strength !

+1

I'm 54 and found this to be so true !!

john strand wrote: Good footwork always helps finger strength !

And the key to great footwork is often really strong fingers.

(a quip I heard long ago from an old school climber who was sending vertical v10 in his late 40s)

Stretch your fingers all the time every time. (do it now)

Make it a habit, make it a twitch

When pooping...Stretch
while reading this...Stretch
going to grab an apple?...Stretch
Making love to your gal?...pause and Stretch
While thanking god fore a meal...Stretch

If people around you start to get annoyed...you are doing it right.

Pnelson wrote: And the key to great footwork is often really strong fingers. (a quip I heard long ago from an old school climber who was sending vertical v10 in his late 40s)

I first heard this one about John Bachar- "wow, what great footwork!" YA and really fucking strong fingers !

Doug S wrote:I'm 44 years old ... The obstacle seems to be my finger strength,... Thanks

Everybody seems to think they just need more finger strength. And yet the feet and legs take 90+% of a person's weight, more so on less-than-vertical terrain. Perhaps one can improve their footwork by 5% and reduce the finger load by 50%? It's not as sexy as showing incredible finger-arm power, but it works.

So, why not focus on learning to use the feet, legs, hips, and trunk more effectively? Shift to lower-angle, yet still difficult, stuff. On overhanging terrain, learn how to use the lower body to shake out and rest the fingers. In the meantime, get into a long-term habit of regular finger therapy.

Doug S, and John,
Basically arthritis is inflammation of cartilage in the joins leading to weakening and 'degradation destruction' of said cartilage. Cartilage acts as sort of a "semi-flexable lubricant" for the joints, when it's gone it's gone and then you have bone-on-bone motion.
Drugs like Voltaren (or its oral equivalent diclofenac, and other oral anti-inflammitories like Aleve (Naproxin), Advil (Ibuprofen) and asprin, reduce this inflammation and pain, and MAY slow the degradation.
But what's been weakened is weakened. Building up the muscles around the joint helps strengthen the joint, and stretching helps too (try stretches in warm water first thing in the morning), but be careful of doing "too much too fast" in the 'strengthening area'.
Also check the PRECAUTIONS issued with Voltaren Gel which, of importance to the climber, are: don't use on skin with cuts or abrasions [ what climber's hands do you know that don't have "cuts or abrasions"]. The reason for this one is PROBABLY that the gel MAY increase permeation through the abrasion/cut of bacteria on the skin.
All that being said, and precautions taken, Voltaren gel seems worth a try. Looking at the statistics in the package insert ("Google "Voltaren Gel" and read "precautions") it seems that there was not an overwhelming number of patients who saw improvement, but the blood levels were MUCH lower than in the oral dosage administration; so if it works for your hands and you don't need to take a lot or oral drugs, that's a good thing.
Doug S - I'd highly recommend a doctor's consult and he/she will probably want an X-Ray to confirm. Find one that specializes in arthritis, explain your financial situation (i.e. no insurance) and maybe offer to pay cash; sometimes understanding doctors will drop their price (in exchange for not needing to bill insurance). Otherwise, there may be a free, or pay-as-much-as-you-can, clinic in your city or nearby.
I'm 69, retired from pharmaceutical development/quality control and have had this problem for about 3 yrs now. But advice from another, older climber is worth repeating here: "Keep Climbing !"

A rather simplified explanation of arthritis i think.

There can be many causes..genetics, diet, trauma..etc joint degradation and cartilage issues are just few of the effects. IMO opinion, once the damage is done, it's not getting better ( 3 joints replaced and several other surgeries)

You can however modify habits and deal with things better. Weight loss can help to a point..diet..and technique all help.

I had a partner for several years who was a carpenter as well...it took years for him to get really good finger power..it's just such a different thing for climbing.

Beware some meds that will cause other problems..long term IBU can create heart issues ( it did for me) and liver/kidney stuff is also common with many meds.

Voltaren is $$$ w/o insurance that covers it..many do not.

Sanllan wrote:Stretch your fingers all the time every time. (do it now) Make it a habit, make it a twitch When pooping...Stretch while reading this...Stretch going to grab an apple?...Stretch Making love to your gal?...pause and Stretch While thanking god fore a meal...Stretch If people around you start to get annoyed...you are doing it right.

STRECH EVERYTHING AND HANDS/FINGERS
And CORE strength ~ CENTRAL BACK, Neck,

Technique/ foot work is dependent on the large muscle masses
working together,

Robert Hall wrote:Doug S, and John, Basically arthritis is inflammation of cartilage in the joins leading to weakening and 'degradation destruction' of said cartilage. Cartilage acts as sort of a "semi-flexable lubricant" for the joints, when it's gone it's gone and then you have bone-on-bone motion. Drugs like Voltaren (or its oral equivalent diclofenac, and other oral anti-inflammitories like Aleve (Naproxin), Advil (Ibuprofen) and asprin, reduce this inflammation and pain, and MAY slow the degradation. But what's been weakened is weakened. Building up the muscles around the joint helps strengthen the joint, and stretching helps too (try stretches in warm water first thing in the morning), but be careful of doing "too much too fast" in the 'strengthening area'. Also check the PRECAUTIONS issued with Voltaren Gel which, of importance to the climber, are: don't use on skin with cuts or abrasions [ what climber's hands do you know that don't have "cuts or abrasions"]. The reason for this one is PROBABLY that the gel MAY increase permeation through the abrasion/cut of bacteria on the skin. All that being said, and precautions taken, Voltaren gel seems worth a try. Looking at the statistics in the package insert ("Google "Voltaren Gel" and read "precautions") it seems that there was not an overwhelming number of patients who saw improvement, but the blood levels were MUCH lower than in the oral dosage administration; so if it works for your hands and you don't need to take a lot or oral drugs, that's a good thing. Doug S - I'd highly recommend a doctor's consult and he/she will probably want an X-Ray to confirm. Find one that specializes in arthritis, explain your financial situation (i.e. no insurance) and maybe offer to pay cash; sometimes understanding doctors will drop their price (in exchange for not needing to bill insurance). Otherwise, there may be a free, or pay-as-much-as-you-can, clinic in your city or nearby. I'm 69, retired from pharmaceutical development/quality control and have had this problem for about 3 yrs now. But advice from another, older climber is worth repeating here: "Keep Climbing !"

Volteran Gel was recommended to me by one of my climbing partners who is an MD. I don't use it all the time by any means - only when I have a flare up. Otherwise I train appropriately - hard at times - moderate at times and easy at times - rest and therapeutic work at times. Oh I'm 67 and have been climbing 32 years now.

I'm in my 20's so not sure if I should really be allowed to chime in here but seems like there is some good advice so I figured I'd throw my two cents in.

Mileage seems like a better alternative to hangboarding and perhaps some bouldering and traversing that is mileage based(higher quantity of easier problems; off vertical to overhanging terrain) and based off of time on the wall(25 min sessions traversing with no off the wall time) could be beneficial and eventually one can get used to different hold types and monitoring pump at their own pace this way.

I think working the antagonist climbing muscles of the forearms and fingers(Extensors?) has to be great for any climber but for some reason I was never a fan of the metolius ball. I just use rubber bands around my fingers for extension finger exercises.

I also have some of these finger massaging tools that I like that are relatively cheap on Amazon. They both help with overall blood flow and manual massage therapy that seems to be beneficial especially after doing a lot of climbing where my finger joints need some love and attention afterwards. I also soak my hand in epsom salts after sessions. This helps makes my finger joints feel better.

Hope this helps!

-RS

Ryan- you can wear that stuff at clubs too... Right?

I started MELT therapy a while back for my feet..it does help and like my Doc says'if it works for you, do it"

Following for my own benefit... I was diagnosed with arthritis in the fingers a few years back. (31 YO now). I started crack climbing as a way to lay off the fingers yet still climb. For me constantly flexing the joints outwards throughout the day combined with warm water in the mornings helps make it a bit more manageable. Climbing more cracks instead of face was probably the bigger impact though....

Until your start harder and thinner cracks ! Then your fingers fall off