Below is a published article in the peer reviewed open access journal: Frontiers in Sports and Active Living. It was written by Dr. Jared Vagy DPT “The Climbing Doctor” and is titled: Clinical Management of Finger Joint Capsulitis/Synovitis in a Rock Climber. This case study presents a 23-year-old male recreational rock climber, who [...]
A new series of articles has just published on the topics of Training and Testing in Rock Climbing. A description of the free article series is below, along with the entire downloadable PDF. Dr. Jared Vagy DPT has published an article within the series titled "Case Report: Using Telehealth to Treat Triceps Tendinopathy [...]
This article will focus on why rock climbers have stiff shoulders. While analyzing the climbers’ neck and shoulder pain during a clinical exam, immobility assessment is a key component. Muscle Length Joint Mobility Range of Motion Pec Major Humeral AP Glide Shoulder Flexion Pec Minor Humeral Inferior Glide Shoulder Abduction Latissimus [...]
Treating tennis elbow (outside elbow pain) in rock climbers can be tricky. That is why it is important to be systematic in process. The best way is to utilize a rehabilitation framework, such as the rock rehab pyramid that is the book Climb Injury-Free. Starting with unloading the tendons that insert on [...]
Do you ever wonder why it is so hard to keep your fingers warm when climbing? Are you interested in strategies to keep the circulation flowing while you climb? Well, this article will go in-depth into several ways how to keep the blood flowing and will use a case study of a [...]
I was seeing a rock climber, she was a 22-year-old female, and she reported after a long session of bouldering that she would have wrist instability, as well as pain. I assessed her wrist mobility, and it was hypermobile, meaning it moved too much. In addition, I assessed her joint position error [...]
If a climber presents with palmar nodules in their hand—mostly the ring finger, followed potentially by the little and middle fingers—they may have something called Dupuytren’s disease, also known as Dupuytren’s contracture. This is typically not painful, and it may potentially be genetic. See below for a description of the symptoms Location [...]
If a patient presents with lateral elbow pain, it's possible they have lateral epicondylitis, lateral epicondylosis, or lateral epicondylalgia. In order to differentiate these symptoms and diagnoses, it's important for the clinician to take the climber through various sets of movements and screens. Pain Location Lateral Epicondyle, the bony prominence on the [...]
Finger pulley injuries are the most common injury with rock climbers. In order to understand pulley sprains, we need to understand the anatomy first. So, let’s discuss the pulleys in the fingers. Five of them are annular Three of them are cruciate The flexor digitorum superficialis and flexor digitorum profundus both pass under [...]
In this article, we will take a closer look at train climbing route speed, movement cadence, and technique. When analyzing climbing movement, there are five key components to look at: speed, hold contact, intensity, style, and alignment. Let's begin by first looking at speed. Static Climbing Movement The below video displays a [...]