How To Deal With Shoulder Injuries?
So I have this chimney route that I climb whenever I’m having an off
climbing day since it makes me feel a little less frustrated to know
that I can still climb a 5.10 when my forearms are totally pumped, but
about two sessions ago my shoulder started getting really grindy and
sore. What do you know about shoulder injuries? I feel like I’m stuck
between taking time off from climbing and risking injuring it further
if I keep climbing on it…any insights?
Anyways. Happy Thanksgiving!!
-Katie
Dear Katie,
Drat. Shoulder injuries are tough. I have not had them myself, but many of my friends have dealt with shoulder problems. I know that you definitely want to go to a doctor and get diagnosed. I have six friends who were diagnosed with the type of injury that can be surgically corrected. All of them wanted to avoid surgery, so they spent a year (or more) trying to rehab the shoulder, with a lot of frustration. All of them finally “gave up” and got the surgery. All of them were healed and climbing again within a few months after the surgery. So the moral of the story is, if surgery is strongly recommended by your doctor, you should probably get a second opinion, and then just go ahead and get it over with.
Climbing on a grinding, sore shoulder is probably a bad idea. I know it’s frustrating to lose fitness and not get to climb….. Go get it checked out, and don’t forget that you can train your forearms in the gym by doing forearm rolls with a big weight bar. And that won’t hurt your shoulders 🙂
Good luck, and I hope you heal soon!
xx Steph
Good advice Steph. I slipped a disk in my back and pinched a nerve in my left shoulder. If my therapy didn’t work they threatened surgery. Luckily it worked and I’m fine. One of the therapies for my shoulder was this:
Find a doorway with a molding around it that your fingers can reach. If you have a pull-up bar on one that you regularly use, that’ll do.
Stand straight directly under the doorway (or pull-up) bar with your hands above your head, fingers over the molding/bar, your feet flat on the ground and stretch. Then slowly move your chest and stomach forward as though you’re trying to pull yourself up (but your not) until you’re on your tippy-toes and then move back to standing straight under the doorway again. Repeat, over and over.
The Mckenzie method of therapy saved me from surgery, and I highly recommend it. They’ll be honest if they think they can’t help you and tell you straight up if you may need surgery. They’ll also give you exercises that you’ll have to do every day (probably for the rest of your life) to control the pain. I walked in there barely able to move at all, and now I’m 97% pain free. It’s worth a shot…
http://www.mckenziemdt.org/
Cheers!
Shoulder Injuries are a very serious matter that should not be neglected.
Hey Katie,
I am one of Steph’s friends who was diagnosed with a shoulder issue and yes, avoided the surgical repair because I did not want to miss a minute of climbing!
While your condition sounds vastly different from mine (i had a “slip shoulder” due to naturally lax ligaments which made me extra prone to sub-luxes and dislocations) –in a way a “grindy” joint (of any type) can be far more serious as it can result, at a minimum, in bone loss and arthritis. And a LOT of pain! These types of injuries REALLY tend to not get better by ignoring them – and then the list of compensatory injuries/conditions starts to grow…like our friend who ignored his shoulders (his condition was more similar to yours than is mine)and couldn’t even reach into his chalk bag!
That doesn’t mean surgery is the only route, but you must tend to this!
Bottom Line: Steph’s advice is sound. Get a consultation, then another. And don’t worry about time off—surically required or just rest. Mine flew by! I gardened, trained at a gym, ran a lot (as soon as I could), came back to climbing after 3 months and THEN took THREE MORE OFF!! Cuz I didn’t feel ready! So 6 months later I started back, fitter all over than ever before, and proceeded to have the BEST climbing year to that date. And better yet, it was worry free and I could FINALLY dyno. And mantle without panicking.
Be sure with whomever you consult that they understand you are ROCK climber, not snow slogger, as tends to be the normal conception. Bring in pics, video, anything that emphasizes you might find yourself hauling your body weight from a free hang on one arm! The mis-conception of rock climbing often leads to the doc allowing climbing to go on too soon after a procedure, resulting in injury to the repair and negating any positive benefits one might procure from a procedure. I felt they allowed me back to the rock too soon – and pulled the plug myself. Others have been too over zealous to reign themselves in…
Oh and our other friend – he also required a surgical procedure–it was a succes– as his shoulders were a bone on bone spurred mess. If you deal NOW, perhaps you can avoid this.
In reality, taking the time off is FAR easier than one thinks…you may even enjoy it! I was SHOCKED by how productive a week could be without spending 8 hours at the crag every other day 🙂
Good Luck Katie!
Keep “us” posted!
Haven’t gotten into the doctor yet, but I will as soon as I can. I laid off the chimney climbing hoping that would help, but I’m still hurting. Not AS much, but still enough that a game of volleyball will leave me wincing.
Most of my pain is in the anterior tendons, so I might be lucky and not have any rotator cuff problems, which I’m hoping is the case…
I’ll update when I get to the doctor.
Hello Stephanie,
I was wondering, do you like to climb alone or is it ok for some others to be around when you climb.
I think I speak for all of the bama crew ( Kianna says hello), that we would love for you to come down south where we can climb with you. We really love the positive energy thats around you.
We hold you guys in high respect! My granddaughter still thinks your the greatest and still has the poster you sent last year. I really wish you could climb with her, it would boost her climbing more than you could know. I’m still nursing the right ankle, the taping works better. Will you ever come here in the southeast to climb? Anyway we love you guys… climb and fly well!
Steph,
I’ve had pain in my left shoulder for about 3 weeks now. I tried to work out on a butterfly machine and the next day deep pain. I can’t afford a doctor and of course I don’t have insurance. I’ve allready got tramatic arthritis in my rt. ankle ( we’ve talked about that injury before)
I know I need to take it easy on it, but what could I do to work the soreness out later on?
We can normally tell you immediately if your claim is worth pursuing, the chances of your succeeding, how much compensation you are likely to receive for your personal injury in Ireland, and what will be involved in taking the claim, including how long it will take and how much it might cost (usually zero)
Remember one thing, health is first than other thing. Meet to doctor for your personal injury treatment and as well as to experienced solicitor for claim. [ personl injury ireland ]
I had the exact same problem a few years ago and went ahead and got surgery and did physical therapy for a while. At the time, I was a soccer player and had to take about 6 months off from it. I started climbing about 2 years ago and have been having problems with it again. It subluxates (partially dislocates) in certain positions with certain amounts of stress. The doctor told me to go back to physical therapy and to keep climbing, which helped a lot. Once I stopped with physical therapy I started noticing instability again. No matter which way you go about it, make sure you strengthen it as much as you possibly can. The one thing I have learned is that the recovery process is so important – especially for climbing, keeping a stable, strong shoulder makes a world of difference. I would go to a doctor and see what they say first, but be careful: I thought surgery would ensure healing, but it hasn’t. It seems that the only thing that will heal it in the end is strengthening, it just depends on how much dedication you’re willing to put forth. Good luck!!! I know taking time off from climbing sounds awful – I’m dealing with the same thing right now!
are you still climbing as part of your rehab? Sorry to hear you’ve had such a hard time. 🙁