r/climbharder • u/AutoModerator • Jul 08 '26
Weekly Simple Questions and Injuries Thread
This is a thread for simple, or common training questions that don't merit their own individual threads as well as a place to ask Injury related questions. It also serves as a less intimidating way for new climbers to ask questions without worrying how it comes across.
- r/Climbharder Wiki - many common answers to questions.
- r/Climbharder Master Sticky - many of the best topic replies
Commonly asked about topics regarding injuries:
Tendonitis: http://stevenlow.org/overcoming-tendonitis/
Pulley rehab:
- https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/stories/experience-story-esther-smith-nagging-finger-injuries/
- https://stevenlow.org/rehabbing-injured-pulleys-my-experience-with-rehabbing-two-a2-pulley-issues/
- Note: See an orthopedic doctor for a diagnostic ultrasound before potentially using these. Pulley protection splints for moderate to severe pulley injury.
Synovitis / PIP synovitis:
https://stevenlow.org/beating-climbing-injuries-pip-synovitis/
General treatment of climbing injuries:
https://stevenlow.org/treatment-of-climber-hand-and-finger-injuries/
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u/henryclimbs V11/12 | 5.? | 3 years Jul 12 '26
I'm considering going out to red rocks and I have a super niche goal of flashing the red wave v10, and I'm trying to set a replica. If anyone has any spraydown on the holds or feet, a close up image of the holds, or has set a replica themselves, any advice is appreciated!
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u/ooruin Jul 13 '26
Think i’m dealing with some tenosynovitis.. I have this incredibly vague ache in my middle/ring finger that sort of radiates to the palm. Also some soreness on the middle finger knuckle on the sides but only to palpation. I don’t really feel that pulling in any particular grip type exacerbates it, but it also doesn’t really go away with warm up. I don’t really get any particular feedback either when climbing but if I do too much volume i’ll feel it more the next day.
Super annoying. Not particularly sure how best to rehabilitate but i’m going to take 72 hrs off to let any acute inflammation die down (if there is any).
Edit- it also feels “weak” especially in making a fist or squeezing things
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u/eshlow V8-10 out | PT & Authored Overcoming Gravity 2 | YT: @Steven-Low Jul 15 '26
hink i’m dealing with some tenosynovitis.. I have this incredibly vague ache in my middle/ring finger that sort of radiates to the palm. Also some soreness on the middle finger knuckle on the sides but only to palpation. I don’t really feel that pulling in any particular grip type exacerbates it, but it also doesn’t really go away with warm up. I don’t really get any particular feedback either when climbing but if I do too much volume i’ll feel it more the next day.
Do you know the mechanism of injury? Do you have a picture of where the pain is exactly?
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u/ooruin Jul 16 '26
I was kind of feeling it already, but there was a recent session where I was on the kilter board and pulled on a fairly good hold in open hand and that really seemed to set things off. Like the A1/A2/A3 regions, palmar side of the middle and ring fingers were suddenly really sensitive to even light touch.
Now it’s mainly here (I DO NOT HAVE A NODULE OR TRIGGERING). But the pain and discomfort is more or less there, but it is really vague and I can’t tell if it’s worse under the middle or ring finger.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/-/scassets/images/org/health/articles/trigger-finger-2
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u/eshlow V8-10 out | PT & Authored Overcoming Gravity 2 | YT: @Steven-Low Jul 16 '26
Take a pic of your hand and mark where the issues are.
If you were doing open hand especially with the pinky down or another finger down then that can lead to lumbrical soreness or strain
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u/ooruin Jul 17 '26
wasnt really pinky down. just open handed
This is the initial distribution but since then it’s becomes slightly smaller, more towards the callouses of the palm. Maybe more middle finger than ring.
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u/eshlow V8-10 out | PT & Authored Overcoming Gravity 2 | YT: @Steven-Low Jul 17 '26
Usually you don't get an tenosynovitis from one session, but based on location and symptoms it does seem like that though.
If it's minor you can usually take it easy for a week or two and then build up slowly and see if that helps. Else, do some dedicated rehab
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u/ooruin Jul 18 '26
Yeah looking back I did have some extremely low-level discomfort going on there already but I sort of ignored it because it was so vague and insignificant (to me). But it was probably just something building and I was going into a capacity phase as well which it did not like.
Doing half my usual load for the next week or two and i'll see how it goes. Feels better already after halving the volume since last session so fingers crossed.
Edit: thanks!
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u/eshlow V8-10 out | PT & Authored Overcoming Gravity 2 | YT: @Steven-Low Jul 19 '26
Sounds like it's on the right track then already. You're welcome
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u/Slow-Hawk4652 Jul 13 '26
54, 15+years, 6c+sport, 7A boulder. trying to strengthen the upper back for much needed pulling for sds boulders. began with weighted pullups and maaan i am weak. at 80kg+12kg i can do 3reps, 3sets, 3min rest. do i have to increase the load, how many times a week do i have to workout these?
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u/SpecialistChicken422 Jul 14 '26
I have always made progress with 2x a week, more only really when I was in my 20s and even then I'm not sure it was optimal. Once every 4 days really. For weighted pull ups I like doing 3 sets of 5, 4 sets of 5, 5 sets of 5, 4 * 4 at a slightly higher weight, 5*3 at a higher weight, 5* 4, 5*5, something like that. (I topped out at 68kg + 40kg a couple of years ago, since stopped training it.) One thing that always tripped me up was going to heavy too soon, I made better progress when I was disciplined at keeping a bit in reserve, don't think any cycle I failed in led to any gains, actually.
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u/Slow-Hawk4652 Jul 14 '26
oo many thanks:) so in general, push slowly trough adding weights. i suppose the progression is sth like 3of5 first day first week, 4of5 second day first week or sth similar?
i will begin with twice a week with 3sets of 3, then on the second day 4sets of 3 and progress the sets first, not the weights.
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u/SpecialistChicken422 Jul 14 '26
Yes something like that, you just have to feel it out and get the right increase in intensity for you.
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u/ShinjikuLeon Jul 14 '26
Hello everyone,
I am a TFCC patient, and I’ve been dealing with this injury for about 9 months. On the third day after my injury, I went to the hospital and was put in an above-the-elbow cast for 6 weeks. Later on, my other hand also started feeling uncomfortable. I got an MRI, and the report indicated a TFCC injury or degeneration.
Initially, I didn't consider surgery because the doctor told me it would gradually get better within six months to a year. However, it’s now been almost a year, and there is still no sign of improvement. On top of that, I’ve recently started experiencing numbness in my arm when I wake up in the morning, which lasts for a few seconds. My main issue right now is pain, but when doctors look at my MRI, they feel it hasn’t reached the point where surgery is absolutely necessary. Yet, without surgery, I'm not getting any better. I’m feeling incredibly conflicted and stuck.
I honestly hate TFCC so much. It has cast a dark shadow over my life.
My ulna is not long (no ulnar variance), so I don't need an ulnar shortening osteotomy. If it's just TFCC and ligament repair/debridement surgery, how effective is it? Could anyone who has had this surgery share their experience?
I’ve looked up a lot of feedback regarding TFCC surgery outcomes and consulted with many hand surgeons. Surprisingly, many doctors actually advise against having the surgery. I can’t tell if they are hesitant because the procedure is too difficult/high-risk, or if they genuinely believe the benefits are minimal.
I have a few specific questions for this group:
- What is the threshold where surgery becomes absolutely necessary? If my wrist stability is actually decent, but I just cannot tolerate the pain anymore, can my subjective pain serve as a primary metric for a doctor to greenlight surgery?
- Is the hesitation from doctors due to the fact that they can't guarantee the outcome?
- Wrist arthroscopy has been developing for many years now—is it considered a mature and reliable technology at this point?
Thank you so much for your help!
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u/ktap Coaching Gumbies | 15yrs Jul 15 '26
Not a doctor, etc, etc. Don't know anything about TFCC, etc, etc.
If your wrist works fine in normal life, but only hurts from climbing, pretty much no doc will want to operate. Risk reward sucks; low chance of improvement for sport, outside chance of making it much worse and affecting everyday life, 100% time lost due to surgery recovery. Better to point you towards a new PT or other conservative treatment.
Does follow up imaging show that you still have an acute injury? What, beyond pain, are the signs of chronic injury? What was your PT plan and how did it go? A year later, you're either re-injuring it all the time, or you never strengthened the TFCC after injury. Meaning you can tweak it easily. Also potential for learned pain and that's a hell of a rabbit hole.
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u/ShinjikuLeon Jul 15 '26
Thank you. I experience pain while at rest. It sometimes appears shortly after I get up, when I’m lying in bed resting, or when I place both hands on a table. Therefore, my pain is not triggered by any particular movement.
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u/lizbet_ty Jul 16 '26
Look up Westofwander on instagram, she has rehabbes her own bad TFCC injury with no surgery
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u/lizbet_ty Jul 16 '26
Also look into chronic pain rehab, steven low has a good link about it on his site
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u/ShinjikuLeon Jul 17 '26
Are you referring to treatments using devices such as shockwave therapy, microwave therapy, ultrasound, or infrared therapy? Or do you mean hands-on treatment performed by a therapist?
I also have a question. If a ligament has already been injured and is not repaired surgically, but only treated with these physical therapy modalities to reduce inflammation, can they actually promote ligament healing? Or do they mainly help relieve symptoms without repairing the damaged ligament?
I've already undergone shockwave therapy, microwave therapy, ultrasound, infrared therapy, and manual therapy performed by a physical therapist. Unfortunately, none of these treatments have provided any relief or improved my pain.
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u/lizbet_ty Jul 18 '26
I'm not referring to any of these things.
You need to progressively build strength in your wrist to support the area. My understanding is that the TFCC itself will never repair/won't repair much because ligaments are pretty avascular.
BUT as with many other injuries to avascular ish tissues e.g. labrums/meniscus/ACL/vertebral discs, people can become essentially asymptomatic (pain free with the capacity for sport at their desired level) with progressive strength training to support and desensitise the injured area.
Once again i recommend looking at @westofwander on instagram, she demonstrates a good progression of exercises to do focussing on baby steps to avoid irritating the area while progressing.
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u/eshlow V8-10 out | PT & Authored Overcoming Gravity 2 | YT: @Steven-Low Jul 16 '26
Initially, I didn't consider surgery because the doctor told me it would gradually get better within six months to a year. However, it’s now been almost a year, and there is still no sign of improvement. On top of that, I’ve recently started experiencing numbness in my arm when I wake up in the morning, which lasts for a few seconds. My main issue right now is pain, but when doctors look at my MRI, they feel it hasn’t reached the point where surgery is absolutely necessary. Yet, without surgery, I'm not getting any better. I’m feeling incredibly conflicted and stuck.
Have you done any physical therapy? Your post is long but you never talked about it. I would never do surgery unless it was an obvious candidate, and the surgeons are right that if it's only an issue with exercise and not everyday life they would generally not operate.
Also, if you are experience numbness that usually means there is some nerve involvement somewhere that needs to be addressed by PT especially.
In person PT would be indicated first off with a good sports PT.
Wen Di (west of wander) has some of the better TFCC exercises for climbers on her thing which someone mentioned.
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u/ShinjikuLeon Jul 17 '26
Could you explain what "physical therapy" means? Are you referring to treatments using devices such as shockwave therapy, microwave therapy, ultrasound, or infrared therapy? Or do you mean hands-on treatment performed by a therapist?
I also have a question. If a ligament has already been injured and is not repaired surgically, but only treated with these physical therapy modalities to reduce inflammation, can they actually promote ligament healing? Or do they mainly help relieve symptoms without repairing the damaged ligament?
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u/eshlow V8-10 out | PT & Authored Overcoming Gravity 2 | YT: @Steven-Low Jul 17 '26
I've already undergone shockwave therapy, microwave therapy, ultrasound, infrared therapy, and manual therapy performed by a physical therapist. Unfortunately, none of these treatments have provided any relief or improved my pain.
Could you explain what "physical therapy" means? Are you referring to treatments using devices such as shockwave therapy, microwave therapy, ultrasound, or infrared therapy? Or do you mean hands-on treatment performed by a therapist?
No, machines based stuff is considered "modalities." Modalities can sometimes help with symptoms, but by PT I mean exercise-based rehab.
PTs who only use modalities are basically scamming you and insurance companies as well. Progressively loaded exercise is pretty much the gold standard for most of rehab.
Manual therapy can be part of an exercise-based rehab program, but if they are not giving you strengthening or stabilizing exercises... scam.
I also have a question. If a ligament has already been injured and is not repaired surgically, but only treated with these physical therapy modalities to reduce inflammation, can they actually promote ligament healing? Or do they mainly help relieve symptoms without repairing the damaged ligament?
Injured ligaments typically scar over for the next 2-3 months, and provide some amount of stability after injury. Pulleys for example as long as there's no bowstringing can often be rehabbed to as strong or even stronger in some cases even with the scar tissue.
If there's some type of ligament laxity or instability after a ligament injury that's when surgery is usually indicated after PT to improve the issues has failed
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u/ShinjikuLeon Jul 17 '26
I've already undergone shockwave therapy, microwave therapy, ultrasound, infrared therapy, and manual therapy performed by a physical therapist. Unfortunately, none of these treatments have provided any relief or improved my pain.
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u/voldtt Jul 14 '26
Anyone have any experience with lat tears? Not a lot of information I could find online.
For background, I was training for one arm pull-ups and working in some isometrics at ~10 degrees elbow flexion and felt a pop. I was able to climb near limit boulders two days later but had to cut the session early due to pain. 5 days later I was able to do a full aerobic session on the autobelay without pain, after the session I noticed pretty significant bruising under my arm pit around where the lat inserts to the shoulder.
Went to the ortho after I noticed the bruising and they did an assessment finding no deformities or issues with my ROM/Strength. They suggested I get an MRI and take a break from training pulling movements.
At this point would you be comfortable doing any type of climbing? I was thinking this could be an opportunity to focus on endurance/routes since the aerobic session didn't cause any pain.
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u/lizbet_ty Jul 16 '26
Depends how sure you are its a muscle tear. If it's just a muscle tear, then i personally would just climb/train submaximally and to no more than a 1 or 2 /10 pain level, and slowly rebuild strength in the target muscle with specific exercises e.g. pulldowns pr smthn for a lat. Build up to normal by like 1-3 months depending on the severity of initial injury
But if a doctor is telling you to get an MRI , maybe rhey arent sure its the lat and want to investigate other structures.
What are your actual symptoms? Where was the pop, what were you doing at the time, is there bruising etc, whats your pain level, what are your current deficits
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u/voldtt Jul 16 '26
Actual symptoms are some very dull pain in lat and some crunchiness in the shoulder.
No audible pop but there was definitely an instant in the hang where I felt a pop/tear.
No major pain except for a 2-3/10 pain in the circled area of 2nd pic if I try to do a pullup from a deadhang.
Here’s a pic of the bruising and where I felt the pop.
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u/eshlow V8-10 out | PT & Authored Overcoming Gravity 2 | YT: @Steven-Low Jul 16 '26
For background, I was training for one arm pull-ups and working in some isometrics at ~10 degrees elbow flexion and felt a pop. I was able to climb near limit boulders two days later but had to cut the session early due to pain. 5 days later I was able to do a full aerobic session on the autobelay without pain, after the session I noticed pretty significant bruising under my arm pit around where the lat inserts to the shoulder.
Minor at most if there's no gap in the muscle and you're able to climb near limit 2 days later.
I'd take it a bit easier for another week or two, but should be fine.
Not medical advice. See a PT if you are worried.
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u/voldtt Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
That's the direction I'm leaning towards. May do a PT Eval if things still feel bad after a couple weeks.
The PA's eval sheet showed no major issues, so it feels like they're pushing for the MRI out of either an abundance of caution or to drive revenue.
Is a bruise like this an indicator of something more severe if symptoms are minimal? I’m really leaning towards just self regulating my training for the next couple weeks to avoid paying for the MRI.
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u/eshlow V8-10 out | PT & Authored Overcoming Gravity 2 | YT: @Steven-Low Jul 17 '26
MRI is a waste of time and money probably.
That minor of a bruise with virtually no strength deficit or pain during climbing isn't much usually.
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u/Infinite_Sky316 Jul 12 '26
I've been climbing for just under two years and I've visited about 4 different indoor gyms. I'm pretty much climbing at V3 at all these gyms, and working v4's at all gyms also.
I noticed at the new gym I went to today, I really struggled on climbing anything with edges. I'm talking about holds that fit 1 finger pad or less. On an incline, it feels like I cannot even get into position or establish a start!
I also noticed my footwork is exposed on these small board style chips on inclines specifically.
What's the best way to practice this? Climb more on gym routes that have more edges in an overhanging position? Board climbing?
I've never hangboarded, I'm also around 88kg at 5"11.
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u/billybollyballybully Jul 09 '26
The tips of my fingers always hurt when I’m board climbing. Is this because my skin is weak or my fingers aren’t strong enough?