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I visited the GP this morning and it seems I have a bit of nerve damage to a finger tip caused by climbing. I had some numbness that i thought was just due to the hard skin/callus biulding up, then I got some tenderness on part of a finger tip. Initally put it down to bruising but after a few weeks of rest it has not got better and if anything has got worse, even very light pressure in this small spot causes discomfort, so went to the doc. She reckons minor nerve damage, 2 to 3 months to heal 😕
Anyone else had this? Should I worry about damaging it again or should I just tape the figertip and MTFU? Doc didn't say much about rest or not even when I asked.
I'm going to get frustrated if I can't climb for a couple of months.
UKClimbing.com might be a better place to be asking this sort of Q, i would tape it and stop doing crimpy small edgey stuff for a while....oh and MTFU !!
climb on gritstone slabs for a while
having gone through the ****ed pulleys, damaged nerves etc joy of hard crimpy bouldering and pebble pulling, ignoring doc's advice and just tapin up as soon as possible to get back on the rock I'd say listen to the GP. Done the MTFU bit and had to give up hardclimbing due to the permenant damage to my hands. Can still biff up an E3 on the trad but what's the point when you know what you used to be able to do?
when it get's really cold the mobility in my knuckles is so good I can't do up buttons. What's a couple of months compared to having to stop?
As you say tazzy, all makes sense and I suspect I'll continue the rest, the soreness is a weird and quit painful feeling and is just putting me off anyway! Just asking as the doc didn't say rest, I asked, she suggested wearing gloves or taping the finger but didn't really seem too clear.
I've not been climbing all that long and had just gone a good long (6 month) spell managing 3 times a week average and hence gone up several grades, improving on strength and technique and getting hooked on leading. It's just frustrating to think how pant's I'll be in 3 months time. what you say makes sense though.
Oh and a new climbing wall opens in South london this weekend. www.thereach.org.uk I believe entry is free for this first weekend.
if you want to know how to tape up properly have a look here
http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/FingerTaping.htm
Nerve damage is usually classified into 3 with the mildest being a neuropraxia, this is when the nerve and sheath is still completely intact but it has suffered an insult. If this is what you have then don't load it, just normal movement and let it recover. It usually takes about 12 weeks to be back to normal depending on how bad it was to start and what you've done since (i.e. not continued aggravating it).
The other 2 types of nerve damage are more severe and involves actual damage to the nerve/nerve sheath....you don't want this, recovery can be ages and or not at all.
Or you can tape it and carry on 😀