RRC Archives

kneebar, so, with this nerve thing.. does that mean you're not going to be our rope gun?

I can carry the rope to the crag. If that is what you have in mind, but it will be a big fat 10.5 .

Bourbon heals everything! 8)

Years ago I damaged a nerve in my right index finger exactly in the manner you described, thin crack, thumb down. One of my climbing partners was head of surgery at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins. I told him that I believed I had severed the nerve by crushing it in the thin crack. One side of my finger (I don't remember which side for sure) was numb between the injury and finger tip. He said that was probably what had happened, that there were two lateral nerves, one down each side of the finger, that the nerve end would die between the site of the injury and the finger tip, and that the nerve could grow back at the rate of 1mm per day. I presume that this is as long as the path is not blocked by scar tissue. Anyway, after about 60 days it was almost as good as new. I kept climbing, although I bet I avoided anything that I thought might compound the injury. Sometimes it still feels a little numb, but it doesn't give me any problems. Good luck, and if pushing on a spot feels like an electric shock, then don't do that!

LK's info is very good. Let me give my two cents worth. If you still have feeling at your finger tip, the nerve is likely not damaged or severed. The neurovascular bundle in you fingers runs down the lateral aspects of each digits on both sides. Each nerves is wrapped by a nerve sheath. The nerve sheath acts like insulation on a wire, and improves transmission of information. It is very sensitive to ischemia and pressure. If you compressed the nerve for a long enough duration, and at a high enough force, you likely damaged the myelin sheath (the nerve wrapper). Without the sheath intact, you will get abnormal sensations in the affected finger. The nerve sheath grows at a rate of 1mm per month, rather than per day as mentioned above. So if the area damaged is 5-10mm in length, expect pins and needles for 6-12months. In fact, you may have altered sensation for longer than that, especially when traversing temperature extremes (cold hand plunged in hot sink / warm hand placed on cold rock). However, if you are having numbness (no feeling) go see a hand surgeon. If you cannot move the digit the way it once moved, go see a hand surgeon. If you are just having parathesias (pins and needle sensation, not to be confused with akathesia, ants in the pants feeling) then there is likely little that will heal your finger aside from time and avoiding movement that places untoward pressure on the same area where the original damage occured. (medical information found on the internet cannot be assummed to be legit and is likely provided by some flunky clown who doesn't know what the hell he's talking about so if your whole finger falls off, it's not my fault)

You just descibed exactly my issue, there is plenty of feeling. Just a bit numb with a prickly feeling. No problem with motion or strength. Thanks a bunch

I'm healed, I'm healed. No issues with the finger, I'm ready to screw it up again. Now if I can get over this cold.