Reply To: tendonitis

I used to have finger and elbow tendonitis years ago but managed to get rid of both. Did a CAWA talk and wrote an article in W/Climber on the topic. From my personal experience, and reading, I would like to make these points (note: I’m not medically trained).

1.) Chronic tendonitis comes from a combination of overuse, muscular imbalance, and personal susceptibility. Climbing is very specific to some muscles (e.g. inner forearm, finger flexors, front deltoid) and does little for opposing muscles ( outer forearm, finger extensors, rear deltoid). Read up on this (training books, mags) and fix the imbalance, else your problem will reoccur, even if it does heal for a while – i.e. fix the cause, not just symptoms.

2.)Do not stop training completely while you are healing (except for first say 4 weeks). Then train at a low level, say 10% of what you were doing. If you stop completely for several months, the injury will heal “weakly”. Do not crimp – use the open hand grip.

3.)First thing is to get rid of inflamation, do not climb with inflammation or it will get worse. Voltaren is an antiinflammatory. Ice packs help too.

4. You can try strapping elbows/shoulders and taping fingers for prevention.

5. So the steps are (a) get rid of inflammation, say 1 week (b) crosstrain your body to fix muscle imbalance, start with no weight, just isometric, gradually buid up, say 3 months, (c) start climbing in month 2 and gradually build intensity over say next 3-6 months, using tape/straps. (d) Take your local doctors advice with plenty of salt – they will tell you to do nothing – this will work for sure…until you start climbing again. Sports medicine has moved on a lot in last 20 years. Find a good physio – ask around. They are worth good money. (90% of physions are money wasters, in my experience).

I hope this gets you thinking….

Ross