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Complete rupture of A2 pulley 27-May-2011 At 10:32:06 AM crazyjohn

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On 27/05/2011 JDB wrote:
>I've spent a life-time
>not being able to climb above 20!
>
>It makes sense to me to have a lengthy initial lay off then a gentle re-introduction
>back into climbing. I suspect the consequence(s) of climbing through the
>injury that one actually extends the length of time of complete recovery
>(I'm happy to be corrected on this)

This used to be a problem with climbing. Everyone has their own "suspicions" and anecdotal evidence about injury recovery. However, the links I gave to Julian (best climbing osteopath in Oz) and Dave's pulley article(an article derived from most if not all of the journal published medical surveys and rehab done on actual climbing pulley injuries) both will tell you to not stop climbing. There is an initial rest period of a week or two. I rested my pinky by not climbing routes for about a week(but still training!) and have climbed 25 without pain after 8 days from injury using tape and a stick as a splint.

Letting the finger do nothing will only prolong the injury. Of course, mine is a weird pinky injury and yours is the ring finger. Ring fingers take awhile. You may have to COMPLETELY lay off bouldering and route climbing for a few weeks except for maybe routes you have dialed so well you can climb them without strain on your finger. The last A2 ring finger injury I had was from Ethiopia a couple years ago. I was lucky enough to be living at Araps and after a week of rest I was doing tons of easy soloing with no pain. That really helped the recovery! If you dont want to move to Araps to go soloing for a month, you can still train!

Athletes train and perform through injury all the time. You can still work core, slabs, train on a hangboard, etc. You can actually get stronger while injured! Take the time to focus on boring stuff you would never have done before because you would have went climbing. Your core can never be strong enough! What about taking photos of all those nice people who belayed you day in and out(and took photos of you!) while you were fit?

There is more than one reason why the quoted climber has never climbed past 20. Some people's bodies are just hopelessly screwed up. However, I think the lack of progression in sport and inability to overcome injury in the vast majority of people is due to mental weakness. Myself included here!! Most of my life Id rather drink and party rather than train. I did a little more research on pulley surgery. It is almost NEVER performed on single complete ruptures. Just follow Dave's program, especially using the Lewis Effect in a cold water bathe and the deep friction massage method. I did a cold water bath followed by DFM last night and my pinky feels great this morning! And dont stop training!