Common Climbing Injuries

Rock climbing is one of the UK’s fastest growing sports. Attracting over one million hobbyists and professionals, it offers an excellent range of benefits and boasts a fantastic community. However, like any sport, climbing poses a risk of all kinds of injuries.

Here, we take a look at some of the most common climbing injuries and how you can prevent them.

Finger injuries

According to a recent retrospective study, finger injuries are the most common type of climbing injuries. It was determined that regardless of experience, gender, and ability, finger injuries were prevalent in both route and boulder climbers. A total of 667 active climbers were studied, and finger injuries made up for 41.3% of all injuries experienced. Another study reported that as many as up to 70-75% of climbers have had an injury to their fingers in the last six months.

Charlie, our new specialist upper limb, hand and wrist physio has worked with many climbers and boulderers with their sport specific injuries.

“This is certainly something I have seen reflected in my clinical practice. Whilst living and working in Singapore I successfully helped competitors preparing for the International Federation of Sports Climbing (IFSC) Asian Championships overcome several finger injuries,” says Charlie.

During climbing, the fingers have to endure a higher load than any other sports - and need to grip onto holds of different sizes, shapes and angles as well as jamming them into cracks. Half of finger injuries involve the flexor tendon pulleys that endure very high forces, as the fingers grip the surface to support their body weight against gravity. Repetitive loading of these pulleys can lead to overuse syndromes.

When attempting to tackle more complicated and challenging climbs it is common for early attempts to take longer than more familiar or less challenging climbs. Avoid overuse injuries of your flexor tendons by ensuring you take a longer break between heavy climbing sessions, at least 48hours, to allow tissues sufficient time to recover.

There are many different structures in the fingers, so if you do sustain an injury, a thorough assessment will need to be carried out to determine the root cause of the injury and to aid the rehabilitation.

Shoulder injuries

Just like the fingers, the shoulders are put under significant pressure during climbing. You rely on them to pull you up, withstanding your full body weight. A common shoulder injury that can occur during climbing is shoulder impingement syndrome, which can also be referred to as subacromial pain syndrome.

Caused by continuously reaching up high to pull yourself up, shoulder impingement syndrome leads to pain when trying to reach overhead. You may also experience a popping or cracking sensation in the shoulder with a diffuse ache in the upper arm. The condition causes the tendons of the shoulder to become sensitised, and in most cases a period of rest from the aggravating activity is required, alongside anti-inflammatories in the acute stage.

The good news is that there are preventative measures you can take to avoid a shoulder injury. A physio can give you a thorough assessment and get you started on some basic exercises to improve the strength and mobility of the shoulder muscles and keep you climbing higher!

Elbow injuries

Elbow injuries are extremely common in climbers. One injury to watch out for is elbow tendinopathy. This debilitating injury can keep you off the rocks for months, if not years if it isn’t treated quickly enough.

If you have an elbow tendinopathy, it typically starts off as a dull ache. You may feel this on the inside or outside of the elbow. Your upper arm will feel tight, and over time become overly sensitive. This type of injury develops when the tendons become overloaded due to repetitive strain. Weak or tight shoulders can also contribute to elbow pain and there may be an issue with technique - so it is worth speaking to a climbing coach for advice.

All of these common climbing injuries can be extremely painful. However, with a professional assessment, treatment and preventative measures including proper warm-ups and cross-training, you can get safely back on the rocks in no time.

How to treat and prevent common climbing injuries

If you are experiencing any kind of pain after climbing, book a consultation with Charlie. He will thoroughly assess your injury, before putting together a rehabilitation program including a plan to stay safe, warm up properly and move more efficiently.