You know what Jams My Cams? Injuries and the ensuing recovery period.

I think it is safe to say that we all hate to get hurt and when it happens doing what we love it makes us question the very reason we continue our pursuits. We have all had a little tweak in the hand or fingers, maybe a twinge in the elbow or shoulder, or pulled a muscle in our back or hamstring from a weird position and those things get better rather quickly. We take a week or two off and come back a little tentatively before getting right back to crushing. Those little injuries are bothersome because they mess up our schedule and set our goals back a bit, but they are easily overcome. As we have discussed in the CTC posts, take care when it is appropriate will save you from making the condition worse and limits the amount of recovery time needed. Taking stock of our digits and limbs will make for a much longer and happier climbing career.

But what about big injuries? Just the other day I witnessed a nasty fall in the bouldering cave of my local gym which ended in the climber being carted out by EMTs. The ankle injury he sustained is going to take at least two months to recover and return to regular activity, let alone to return to regular strength. At least while he is in a boot he can do pull-ups and hangboard safely to maintain upper body and finger strength. Ankle injuries are the most common fall-related injury in climbing, followed by knees and then back injuries. These strains, sprains, and fractures are the result of falls, bad belays, bad spots, bad landing zones, pulled gear, etc. Sometimes they are unavoidable, like when a hold blows and sends you spiraling in an unplanned direction, and you can chalk it up to luck or timing. Crank Climbing member Justin Meserve has broken more than his fair share of holds, but has been able to avoid injury thus far. His brother, on the other hand, took a two foot fall in the gym and got his foot stuck between the pad and the wall resulting in a six month hiatus to rebuild his ankle. Basically, these things are unpredictable. We can mitigate the risk of recklessness, a lack of planning, or overconfidence by assessing the route and our safety structure and exits.. Risk will always be present, but if we can limit the risk, we can reduce the possibility of these types of injuries.

And then there are the injuries that result from overuse. It’s that pulley that was pushed too far and pops, the hamstring you tore from working that that long traverse with about a dozen heel hooks before the top out, or that awful gaston that wrecks your shoulder. Rest and proper nutrition are important to prevent these types of injuries, but sometimes they creep up on us even when we think that are getting adequate rest. The most common sudden overuse injury is the the A2 pulley of the ring finger because it is in the perfect location to be under the most stress given the finger’s length compared to the adjacent fingers. Lower extremity injuries such as sprained or broken ankles, were in second place for decades, probably because of those crazy, early-age boulderers using carpet squares instead of pads. Thanks to increasing concerns for safety, so many pads that some hot spots look like the gym, and a general fear of breaking stuff so as to avoid the recovery period, this injury has been reduced in the last decade or so. The new silver medal in climbing injuries is the SLAP (Superior Labral tear, Anterior to Posterior) lesion. This has been on the rise because of two things; 1) the increase in difficulty and variety of problems, and 2) the increase of climbers on the scene. I am one of these statistics. I felt the pop, felt the weakness, gave it some time, but it only got worse. It is one of the few injuries that we as climbers are facing that can only be repaired by surgery. I go under the knife a week from this posting and I am facing weeks in a sling, months of physical therapy, and more months before I return to full strength. These injuries leave us stranded without the ability to even keep hangboarding to stay strong. It is frustrating and they lead us to question why it is we do this to ourselves.

When I popped my A2, A3, A4, and A5 pulleys, plus two finger extensors in 2008 from a crimping 2-finger pocket, I was out for 6 months. I was a millimeter from needing surgery according to the doctor which would have required up to a year to recover. Stuck on the sidelines, I returned to swimming and sailing and found a new career, but climbing was still my biggest love. I wondered then if I would return in the same capacity. Would it be more recreational rather than hyper competitive? Should I just sell all my gear and stay on the sailboat? The answer was that I craved to return to the sport and I came back with a vengeance. I went on more road trips, trained harder for more competitions, my projects got taller and more run-out. Then the SLAP lesion. It happened on a day when we were just playing around not really being serious. I hit the gaston and tested the move and felt the pop while pulling through. It was a combination of the sudden overuse and the unexpected, un-plannable injury. I am facing the surgery 15 months after the injury because there was never a “right time” to have it done. The pain could be mitigated and avoided by my performance in both climbing and life has stagnated (paddling for work is excruciating) so the fix is necessary, but I am facing the same question I faced seven years ago. Is it worth it?

I think that the regular person that starts an activity and then gets hurt probably will not return. One bad experience is enough to turn them off of the sport. Others will get hurt enough times to finally call it quits or because they are just getting to old or too poor from being hurt. Some people accept it a a reality of the sport and still enjoy it, but to a lesser extent so as not o have to go through it again. And a smaller percentage will be chomping at the bit to return and will come back stronger than ever. Part of how we return, if at all, is how much we have accepted the sport into the fabric of our lives. What camp will I fall into? Before the knife I would like to think I will come back with fervor. After the knife, who knows. Maybe I will find a new hobby that takes all of my time and is safer, like Warhammer. Does make me weak if I quit, or does it make me smart? These are all questions that we will all face at some point or another if you are in the sport for long enough. Whatever my choice, or your choice, at least make it your own and not your mother’s.  I encourage all of you to share your stories about injury, your recovery, and how it has impacted your mindset.

-Tylor Streett, his mother asks him every time he gets hurt if he is going to continue climbing after his elbow, his finger, his other finger, his wrist, his shoulder blade, his foot, his other foot, his other other finger, his knee, his back, his ankle, and now his other shoulder injuries, but at least she still worries. Maybe that’s why she is his emergency contact.