Injuries to Tendons

I had planned on making a nice, long post tonight about what I had coming up in the near future. I signed up for the Lead Climbing class this evening (starting on Monday), and plan on taking the Fast Forward 2 class next month as well.

Now, I’m not sure where I stand. My middle and ring finger on my right hand were sore after climbing on Tuesday (a couple of deep, two-finger pockets left their mark), and against better judgement I wanted to hit the gym for an hour before rehearsal tonight.

I was reaching way out for a nasty crimp (that I had hit once before), and when I hit it I felt this NASTY pop radiate from my hand down to my elbow. I knew it wasn’t good, but just laughed it off, watched a few other guys climb, and decided to pack it up (I knew I wasn’t going to be climbing anymore that evening).

I’m concerned it may be an issue with one of the tendons on my ring finger. I can squeeze the finger up and down with no pain, but if I put any pressure on it (as if I were going to crimp a hold or pick up a bottle of milk), pain shoots down my hand and wrist. I’ve done a little research, and I’m not sure it’s one of the tendons actually on the finger, but I’m leaning towards something further down into my hand or wrist.

I’m going to call the doctor either tomorrow or Monday (waiting for my new insurance cards to arrive in the mail), and see if they can determine exactly where the problem lies. In the meantime, I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I’ve read that tendon injuries can keep you out of climbing for several months… something I’m not looking forward to.

On a positive note – I am (was??) consistently bouldering V5s, and have started working V6s in the gym. I have sent a few of the easier V6s, which feels really good. Also, my brother hit his first V4 AND V5 today. Way to go!