Injuries and Medical Advice

Last year my knee exploded while during a heel hook. I ruptured my lateral collateral ligament, tore my posterior cruciate and arcuate ligament, the medial meniscus, as well as disrupting the posterior capsule of the knee joint. How is it even possible to do so much damage?

Several years ago I attempted the Southwest Couloir route on Mount Huntington in Alaska in some oversized Koflach boots. After I'd led many pitches of steep ice my left toe began cramping and hurting so badly I could no longer frontpoint and was basically climbing the last pitches with only my right foot.

About a month and a half ago I was working a project that involved a serious left-handed pinch using just the pointer and thumb. The next day I noticed that my thumb clicked whenever I extended it. It still does.

I broke my leg bouldering and had a titanium rod installed. I have heard mixed reports about leaving the rod in, one problem being irritation by the screws. Can the rod increase the chance of the leg breaking in the same place under similar circumstances, since the bone cannot “weld” itself together on the inside?

I've got an injury in the left biceps close to the elbow. The pain appeared after I tried a route with hard undercling moves two months ago. After resting for two weeks, I tried to rehab the arm with curls at low weights but this still causes pain.

I recently had a cortisone shot in the tendon of my middle finger to burst some type of cyst that formed after an injury. It feels much better now and I am climbing after a three-week rest, but I am curious if the tendon will return to full strength?

I have pain and swelling on the joint at the base of my pinky. The pain is point specific to the palm side. It hurts to bend or straighten. Grasping (steering wheel, ski pole) hurts a lot, seemingly more from contact than bending.

I use an old Pusher Powerjunkie hang board and I'm concerned about the angled geometry of the main jugs. In the past I have had elbow problems. Is it bad to do pull-ups on grips that are not horizontal? Do you think that this setup could have a negative effect on my elbows? Is it healthier to have the grips set up horizontally as most other hang boards do?

I've heard of people using shock therapy for finger injuries. Would you recommend this? If so, where can I get the equipment?

I broke two toes rock climbing a few months back and they have yet to heal. One is looking OK, but the other still has no mobility at the joint closest to the foot. Bending it is painful. Should I get it checked out or be more patient?

I found a study comparing various taping methods for pulley injuries. It mentions the H taping method as the best. What is the H method?

A year and a half ago I fell mountaineering, banged my right kneecap and couldn’t walk for two weeks. I saw a doctor, who said that I had lost cartilage. For the past year my knee has constantly throbbed.