Get

1
Get A Grip
On Rock Climbing Injuries
2
Overuse
Ouch! That hurts! Climbing injuries hurt, but
climbers often ignore the pain. Bad ideait will
only get worse. In fact, most injuries from
climbing are orthopedic in nature involving
bones, ligaments and tendons.
Sound familiar? Studies have shown that more
than 65 of rock climbing injuries are due to
overuse and almost 90 affect the upper limb.
When your shoulder is screaming in pain from
climbing, admit it and get some treatment. The
following pages outline the most common overuse
injuries to the shoulder, elbow and hand. Ways
to identify and treat these injuries are given in
each section and the back page includes a Top
Ten list of ways to prevent overuse injuries.
This guide is not exhaustive, but it is a good
place to start.
3
Shoulder
Case 1 Sporty Gordy has sport-climbed for six
years and is plagued with right front shoulder
pain. The pain is dull when he climbs but
subsides with rest. Like a bad penny, it always
seems to come back and often feels stiff in the
morning and worsens in the evening after a hard
day of climbing.
Identify This has Rotator Cuff Tendonitis
written all over it! Treatment Rest - Yeah,
nobody likes to take time away from climbing, but
the body needs time to heal and continual stress
on an injury will only prolong the healing
process. Take 4-6 weeks off. Range of Motion -
Consult with your doctor or P.A. for strength
training exercises for the rotator cuff. Should
you experience pain with the exercises,
discontinue them and consult with your provider
again.
Ice Heat - Apply moist heat prior to training
exercises and follow-up every session with ice
for 10-15 minutes. NSAIDS - What? Your average
Ibuprofen, Aleve, Tylenol will relieve
inflammation and pain. Be sure to follow the
manufacturers dosage directions.
Shoulder injuries account for between 25 and
30 of all climbing injuries.
4
Elbow
Case 1 Trad Brad has been climbing for 20 years
and has been experiencing pain over his inner
elbow for the past three months. He has
difficulty holding onto, pinching or gripping
holds.
Identify Medial Epicondylitiswhats that?
Inflammation of the forearm from chronic wrist
flexion or hand grasping.
Treatment Rest - Unfortunately, its rest
again. You may need to take 2-6 weeks off. Once
you can open doors and lift bottles without pain
you can try climbing easy. If it hurts afterwards
(that night or the next morning) wait another
week. Ice - Apply an ice massage to the inside of
the forearm 3x/day until the pain has subsided.
Fill a Dixie cup/small Styrofoam cup ¾ full of
water and place it in the freezer. Once frozen,
peel off the rim until the ice is exposed. Rub
the ice on the painful area until red and numb.
Stretching - You can do these stretches right
away. Stretching discomfort is okay, pain is bad.
1. Bend your wrist forward and backward as far
as you can. Do 3 sets of 10 (stop if pain
occurs). 2. Pronation and supination of the
forearm With your elbow bent 90, turn your palm
upward and hold for 5 seconds. Slowly turn your
palm downward and hold for 5 seconds. Make sure
you keep your elbow at your side and bent 90
throughout this exercise. Do 3 sets of 10 (stop
if pain occurs). NSAIDS - Are your friends when
it comes to reducing inflammation and pain.
Again, Ibuprofen, Aleve or Tylenol work well. Be
sure to follow manufacturer instructions.
5
Hand
Case 3 Dyno Darma was attempting a huge move
when her foot slipped causing all of her weight
to hang from just two fingers. She thought she
heard a loud pop as pain shot through her long
and ring fingers.
Identify Yikes! Rupture of the Flexor Pulleys of
the finger (this is serious stuff). This is
considered a Grade III injury. Grade II is a
partial rupture of the pulley tendon with pain
locally at the pulley, pain when squeezing or
climbing and possible pain while extending your
finger. Grade I is a sprain of the finger
ligaments (collateral ligaments), pain locally at
the pulley and pain when squeezing or climbing.
Treatment Grade II Injury - STOP CLIMBING
IMMEDIATELY. Apply ice or cold immediately for no
more than 15 minutes at a time. Keep the hand
elevated and take an NSAID to reduce the swelling
and inflammation. See your provider for further
treatment.
Grade II Injury Lay off climbing for 1-2 weeks.
When resuming climbing tape the injured finger,
stretch your forearms (this relieves the stress
on the finger tendons) and climb the biggest
holds you can find. Start easy, this will be the
quickest way to recovery. Grade I Injury - Tape
the injured finger and continue to climb at a
level well below your normal level. Gradually
increase the stresses on the fingers. Stretch
your forearms after warming up and prior to
climbing. All Grades Once the injury has healed
use a soft tennis ball or Thera Putty (from an
orthopedic doc) to rebuild hand/grip strength.
6
Top 10 Injury Prevention

• Warm up thoroughly.
• Stretch, paying particular attention to the
  elbow, wrist, and forearm.
• Do easier routes and larger holds early in your
  climbing session.
• Avoid overtraining (depending on how hard you are
  climbing, you may only want to climb every other
  day).
• Take adequate rest and recovery periods
  (particularly if feelin under the weather).
• Regularly massage the forearms.
• Improve your balance by including single-limb
  free-weight leg exercises.
• Use tape if the finger tendons have been
  strained.
• Improve your physical condition with regular
  cardio and weight training.
• Listen to your body and stop when it hurts.

Resources http//www.rockclimbing.com http//www.
bodyresults.com http//www.physsportsmed.com/issue
s/1997/05may/jebson.htm http//www.thebmc.co.uk/sa
fety/hp/articles/getting_a_grip.pdf http//www.abc
-of-rockclimbing.com/