Climbing/bouldering Flexor Tenosynovitis pain
many climbers experiencing pain at their pulleys may not have a pulley injury at all! There is actually a completely different injury that presents with many of the same symptoms. It’s called flexor tenosynovitis and as the name implies it involves the finger flexors that run underneath the pulleysSo what is finger flexor tenosynovitis? You might think it’s some sort of irritation of the tendon itself, but it’s actually inflammation of the sheath that surrounds it, caused by friction between the sheath and the pulleys when under heavy load.
A highly enlightening article. I think this is the answer to finger pain for most people who do climbing/bouldering. If it were a Pulley injury you'd notice it as an acute happening, even if its a minor tear you would notice it when it happen during a climb. While the Tenosynovitis sneaks up on you, gradually over weeks, you can't pinpoint where or when you started to feel the pain, it just appeared. Tenosynovitis tenderness/pain happen when you press on the area while a Pulley injury tend to give hurt all the time.
Another article on the topic: https://theclimbingdoctor.com/rock-climbing-finger-tenosynovitis/
A fix for the flexor tenosynovitis is to do easy tissue load, for example doing short active hang on a rounded (cushioned) pull-up bar (hangboarding with straight angled fingers put too much tension on the finger) with rounded finger grip over the bar. Keep the feet touching the ground in the beginning until tolerance has been built up, keep it short for 5-10sec only, multiple sets.
#Climbing #Bouldering #Finger #Injury #Flexor #Tenosynovitis
This Common Finger Pain is NOT a Pulley Injury (HOW TO FIX IT)