My injured paw is in pain today. It wasn’t while I was climbing, which is normal, but this cold weather is really adversely affecting it. I just taped my wrist up like I do when I’m climbing in an attempt to ease the pain a bit.
I wrap one piece of tape around my thumb and then across the back of my hand down across the wrist bone that was fractured. The second piece of tape is wrapped around the bottom part of my palm and wrist to secure and support the wrist and the other tape. It is wrapped loosely enough that free movement is possible and not immobilized in any way. The support of the climbing tape helps to relieve some of the inflammation in my joints and reduces the pain to a dull, yet persistent ache instead of a sharper, more acute pain. I can deal with pain, but efficient and effective pain management with the climbing tape helps to lessen the pain that I’m in while I strengthen and rehabilitate the injury. When the miracle healing of my scaphoid without surgery occurred, the hand surgeon didn’t want to mess with the injury, and this did not prescribe physical therapy. I was told to “do what you do” to rehabilitate the injury (ie. climbing). My problems are endurance, underclings, and pinches. It’s not just a matter of a fractured and now healed scaphoid bone in my wrist. My muscles in my forearm, my wrist, my fingers, my thumb, my entire hand have all atrophied badly after having been in a hard cast and then immobilizing hard splints for five months. That’s a long time not to be able to use a limb! My iron grip in my left hand is gone. My grip is more than twice as strong in my good hand as it is in my injured one. That’s a lot of strength to rebuild! And trust me, it doesn’t come quickly, easily, or without pain. I actually find that I have to retrain my grip in my injured hand. However difficult the journey or painful the battle, though, I will recover, and I will be the greatest climber I can possibly be!
CLIMBING 4 THE REST OF US 