Un-Sprained Episode 22- 5 Symptoms to Tell If Your Finger Is Injured Or Overworked.

Have a finger that you feel is on the cusp of injury? Debating whether your finger is truly injured or just a result of overtraining? Often we climb to the strength of our shoulders and our minds, but not our fingers. Overuse injuries of the finger can often be noticed too late in our sport, leading to unwanted time off. Welcome to Episode 22 of UnSprained, a must-listen for five common symptoms to assist in assessment of if your finger is injured, or if you are just overtraining. I not only give you my 5 big symptoms, but guidance with what I'd recommend for each with an action plan for you to claw your way back to health. I'm here with guidance that should give you the self esteem and the building blocks to make your year a great one. Ok, for the first symptom, which can be a bit tricky... #1: Pain with Load Pain is a pretty great indicator. Mainly, this “check engine light” is one that your body uses over and over to tell you not to use an injury, and also a PRE injury. Essentially, your body is trying to protect your finger. You can have stabbing pain, sharp pain, a glimmer of pain (its here and then its gone) or a momentary strange symptom that never appears again. Many of you have had quick pains that were never felt again, so pain is the most common, but the most useless indicator of if you are truly injured. Now I'm talking momentary pain. Pain associated with a true injury (an impact, a jarring force, a fall where a finger gets stuck in a pocket or a crack is often a quick indictor that yes, you are injured… but it isn’t the most specific indicator of a big injury. So don’t let pain be the first and foremost indicator you listen to. I've seen many injuries that are BIG that have NO pain associated with them. And that’s scary. Myself, I’ve had 7+ fractures, many of which feel like a quick bee sting, and then squishy, or increasingly painful. So let the increase or the ramping up of symptoms also be important, (perhaps more than just a sharp pain itself). As climbers we have a ton of pain right, mainly on the pads of our fingers, and as we get blisters and lose skin. Its part of the game. Still on the #1 symptom of pain, now we know it can be a mirage, not really telling us the true story, or the full story. so lets get more into that… Listen every week, same great time same great place. Join me at climbinginjuriessolved.com for free downloads, step by step plans, and skills to get you climbing again. If you like this podcast, will you share it?! Thanks!!