Where I am at the moment

*Disclaimer: This will hopefully be the least interesting post I put up. It is more of a point of reference for following posts. You have been warned*

I am currently Injured.
I am starting this blog, in day 2 of my first 'real' finger injury. Alas, I climbed when my body was over tired. I crossed through on a shallow-ish pocket (weighted it, not shock-loaded) at The Works, and heard two very distinct crunches come from my fingers.

I have always been pretty careful, and have seen real gains in finger strength since the summer. I tend to warm up well before I get on the wall, and tend to work through the difficulties on the wall until I feel able to pull hard. As of late however, I have been lazy and therefore stupid. A heavy session on Thursday at The Climbing Station with some fairly good success, led me to be too tired and 1 rest day can't have been enough.

Anyway:
Self diagnosed, but I appear to have damage the ringer finger on my left hand. The bruising and swelling (surprisingly minor), suggest I have damage the A2 and (possibly) A4 pulleys as well as the FDP tendon. 

The bruising is there. Its pretty subtle in this picture, but it is under the skin/flesh. You can also see the swelling.

Thanks Rock+Run http://www.rockrun.com/wp/finger-injuries-and-treatment/

When Uni starts back up again next week, I intend to see a Physiotherapist for some advice.

There is a ton of on line articles about finger injuries, and there are some fairly common themes about how to deal with them. I will endeavour to make a bibliography post for finger injuries, some time in the near future. They all seem to say pretty similar things however, and this is my recovery game plan:

• Rest after the initial injury, until pain and swelling has gone and full range of movement has returned: 1-3 week is a fairly standard time-frame mentioned.
  
  Do not do the next parts until your finger is ready. If you start doing the next parts and feel pain, stop. Immediately.
  
• Start climbing soon as you can, but keep it easy and keep it open handed. No half crimping. Lots of people talk about not being able to crimp. I currently find that my finger closes fairly well (although slightly inhibited by the minor swelling), but is slightly sore when I stretch it out fully (I expect minor over-extension of the joint). I suspect that the joint may have been slightly damaged when I pulled on the pocket.
  
• Ice Ice Baby! Well, Ice water. Regularly (twice a day) rest the injury in cold water with 5 or so ice cubes, for about 30mins at a time. Make sure fingers are flushed red after about 10 mins, or the water is too cold (Dave Macleod. Legend). Another thing that has been discussed is contrast baths, though I cannot find any academic papers to back that up, I might give it a try in week 2.
  
• Massages. Twice a day(ish), massage the injury in the direction of the fibres. Go until the movement is good, and the tissue is warm (I think they said). This is to make sure the fibres repair well, with minimal scar tissue.
  
• Stretch! Possibly the reason I haven't had this injury sooner. Stretch regularly. Stretch the forearms and fingers initially, and then do full body stretching in a pseudo-yoga style. Its all connected, so they say, and I put massive stock in stretching correctly to ensure the whole body is balanced and pointing in the correct direction.
  
• Build back up over time. It may take months, but I would rather have a few months of no crimping, then never achieve my goals, which this year, will involve some tough crimps. My plan after the first few weeks/months of being back on climbing, is to start deadhangs with the injured finger included. All open hand, and initially with assistance until I feel I can progress slowly. In the mean time, I intend to keep my other fingers in check, by exercising and stretching them thoroughly and regularly.
  
  I took a fall last February while bouldering, which left me with  a sprained ankle. I did the rehab, but it is still quite weak. I plan to start doing the balance practice again, and throw in some token 1 legged squats
  
  So, the plan in time frame (post return to climbing):
  
  Monday
  Full Rest
  Icing
  
  Tuesday
  (Climb if I can)
  Pushups 30s on 30s off 5 different positions. Make times longer over time.
  
  Sit ups 30s on 30 s off
  
  Dead hangs (eventually encores) 7 on 3 off.
  
  Planks 2mins on 2 mins off. Front, Right side, Left Side, Front left leg, Front right leg
  
  Pull Ups 30s on 30s off  5 different positions. Equal rest to work time.
  
  Ski Squats - 2mins on 2mins off.
  
  Front Levers. 5 per set, 5 sets (to introduce me to the exercise).
  
  Loop until all parts of each exercise have been done.
  5 loops in all.
  
  Stretch
  Icing and massaging
  
  Wednesday
  Rest
  Icing
  Assisted 1 legged squats
  Balancing
  
  Thursday
  Jogging/Hill reps, running is bad for you, but I need some cardio.
  Climb
  
  Friday
  Rest
  Assisted 1 legged squats
  Balancing
  
  Saturday
  Climb
  
  Sunday
  Climb
  Assisted 1 legged squats
  Balancing
  
  I have been thinking about starting to use weights for a little while now, but haven't committed to buying a set. I want to avoid bulking up as much as possible, and get leaner more than bigger at the moment.
  
  So far, the hardest boulder I have done is Font 7B (soft), and the hardest route I have done is french 7a. I am capable of harder routes, and I hope to prove this year, coming close to doing 'Out of my boots' (7c+), towards the end of last summer. I was waiting for the good conditions, but very close to climbing Marks Roof (7B) at Gardom's Edge after (half an hour of work). Oh well. Shit happens.