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tie my shoes, climb, whatever, i get a pretty moderte pain sensation along the side of my finger, between the big knuckle and last knuckle...a good simulation for when it hurts would be to make a gun with that finger, and place the tip of the finger on the edge of the table with your thumb up and gently press downward.

Is there anything I ought to be doing other than taping the piss ot of it and playing nice?

A few years ago I had tendonitis in my right index finger. For a month or two I had to refrain from using it when I climbed and take an anti inflamitory 2x's daily. Now I have a little knot (probably scar tissue) on my tendon, but it doesn't cause me any problems. Probably the best thing to do, is let it rest so it can heal.

I had/have a similar issue. Basically the pain occurs whenever you bend the finger sideways even a tiny bit. I dont think this is a tendon but rather a ligament injury.
Taping the finger by itself really wont do much at all. The whole point of taping is usually to support your pulleys (i.e. keep them nice n' close to the 'ol bone). But pulleys dont have much to do with your ligaments which connect bone-2-bone.
However, taping that finger together with one next to it may give a little support. This is called "buddy taping". There was a mini series of 2 or 3 articles in Climbing about finger injuries within the last 1-2 years. Unfortuunately, I dont remember which issues. I've tried buddy taping it a few times and found it too weird to get used to climbing with. The only thing I know that you can really do to help it is to boulder ultra carefully by only pulling straight down on it. Or of course rest it, which is no fun but may be the best option if you want to be cranking hard many years to come.
Hope this helps. Finger injuries suck!

update(in case anyone gives a poo):

3 months from injury and my unit is fully functional. (anyone remember a certain 'brown unit'?) I can't quite close it all the way, but for the most part its cool if i pull straight down like Ron above suggests, and still tape for the support- it does help- maybe not in theory but in reality it sure feels better.

....you said 'unit'.

Mj

Buddy taping helped me.Cool idea Ron. The two get sweaty so I put tissue between them before taping.Its more comfortable.

yup- my friend's Weinimeir(sp?) dog had balls so big that they'd rub together and cause all sorts of problems- he started w/ tissue also but moved on to feminine hygiene products to minimize the, uh...discomfort.

Should have just chopped them off. NOw that would have minimized the discomfort!

i believe it was considered, but it was felt at the time that it would detract from this particular dog's special......swagger.

They were actually quite impressive- you probably would have stared.