One of the most frustrating things in climbing is dealing with injuries.  The only thing that can make this process worse is when an injury just seems to be getting worse despite taking time off of climbing to let it heal.  However, recent research into the role of pain in injuries is changing how we look at pain in the healing process and how we use it as a tool to inform the rehab process.

To clarify the role of pain in injuries, here’s an article from The Climbing Doctor blog by physical therapist William Bateman of ProjectPhysio.com.  In his article, Bateman describes how pain works and ways in which we can use this understanding to inform rehabbing our injuries.

“Unfortunately, misconceptions around pain are abundant, some of which dampen our ability to recover from injury. Clarifying the purpose of pain and how it works can go a long way in helping us overcome the most stubborn of injuries.” – William Bateman

The Role of Pain in Injuries

In his article, Bateman takes us through a hypothetical A2 pulley finger injury.  Using this example, he outlines how pain is actually meant to protect you from harm, but is a poor indicator of damage being done to your tissues.

This is a hugely important distinction about the role of pain.  To put in another way, every time you feel a shot of pain at the site of an injury chance are it’s not the result of you doing more damage.  Instead, it is likely the result of your overly sensitized pain alarm system firing as a protective warning.

What this means practically for climbers trying to rehab an injury is that we can’t use presence or absence of immediate pain as a reliable measure for healing.  Click through below to read the full article, learn more about pain and it’s role in healing, and for Bateman’s recommendations about how to better manage the healing process.

One quick disclaimer: We share articles like this for educational purposes.  They are not meant to take the place of or override professional medical care.  If you have a serious injury, go see a specialist!

Full Article: The Climbing Doctor – The Role of Pain in Injuries

(photo by Lauren Watson | courtesy of theclimbingdoctor.com)

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