Don’t know yet, it’s difficult to gauge just how bad it is, all I know is that it’s not the worst that I’ve been through.
If the finger was all that I was dealing with, I’d utilise this time to develop other physical qualities.
Not to be a downer, but I don’t see a lot of options and I’m at peace with that. Not because I want to be, but because I have to be.
I’d explore running if it weren’t for the hamstring. And, since I can’t do running I thought about finding myself a 6-day BB split to ensure that this period doesn’t cause me more troubles with my eating habits. I’m currently struggling to justify an appetite without physical activity. But, after glossing over some Meadows and CT stuff but dips and inclines are somewhat staple exercises, and there are a lot of other horizontal press work that wouldn’t mesh with my current shoulder function. I haven’t settled on not exploring this option further, but I don’t feel that I’m in the best frame of mind to be able to adjust any program of theirs.
With regards to general function, I’m happy this isn’t the worst finger injury I’ve experienced thus far. It has been my experience that using the hands without care is a surefire way to feel some pain and suffering. Everyday activities can easily affect the injured tissue. I’ve had teeth-gritting levels of pain from gripping a tea pot the wrong way, snapping the lid onto a lunchbox, lifting the toilet seat with the affected hand, fishing for keys in a pocket, wearing gloves, playing Playstation, typing at the computer, and additional activities still. I’m hoping I won’t have to experience that again this time. The dull, tooth-achy, type pain that accompanies the injury is enough of a hassle.
In the past, with regards to the gym, all I’ve found is that controlled movements are essential. And straps. Depending on which part of the finger is injured, barbells can be really unfriendly, or chin-up bars. This can be mitigated with Fat Gripz as the diameter changes, or rotating the wrist sometimes (trap-bar instead of straight-bar deadlift). Anything can illicit “symptoms”, either by loading the injured tissue or just pressing against it meaning that the actual tissue isn’t being loaded.
Anyway, I have a plan, there’s some really exhaustive write-ups on this type of injury. The rehab protocols usually include weeks long hangboarding programs, but curiously if I were to hangboard at that level I’d be a much better climber than I already am so a bit hard to know how to repurpose it for myself. Put on a harness, and rig a pulley system to offload some bodyweight maybe.
Hopefully it is just I that is injury prone and its not the activity that is at fault. I’ve given some thought about how HRT might impact muscle/tendon strength imbalances but haven’t dug into it that much. Or what happens to tendon integrity as T comes down, and E remains up. Won’t go down that rabbit hole as I can’t do anything about it anyway.
Climbing, my dear sir.
For sure!
Loathe them, in the best way.
Yup!