Climbing Injury Guide Overview: Understanding Overload, Pain & Tissue Mechanics

Climbing Injury Guide Overview: Understanding Overload, Pain & Tissue Mechanics

1. Why This Overview Exists

Climbers often feel pain but don’t know what the problem is:

  • “Is this a pulley strain?”
  • “Is this elbow tendinitis?”
  • “Is my shoulder impinged?”
  • “Is this just fatigue?”

And online information is usually vague, contradictory, or medically generic.

This page fixes that by giving you:

  • a mechanical diagnosis framework (not medical, but biomechanically precise)
  • clear symptom patterns
  • tissue-type explanations
  • a decision tree leading to the correct injury guide


2. The Three Mechanisms Behind All Climbing Injuries

Every injury you’ll ever get is caused by one of these three things:

1. Load > Capacity (the universal rule)

If external load exceeds tissue capacity → tissue fails.

This includes:

  • pulley overload
  • tendon micro-damage
  • elbow tendinopathy
  • shoulder torque issues
  • knee rotation pressure
  • wrist shear load

Dit is de basis die je volledig vindt in F1 – Load vs Capacity.

2. Poor Force Direction (vector error)

Vector = force direction.

If joints aren’t aligned:

  • shear (sideways stress) increases
  • pulleys take too much load
  • elbows absorb rotational torque
  • shoulders impinge

Dit principe wordt verder uitgelegd in P5 – Technique-Driven Injury Prevention.

3. Under-Recovery (collagen not rebuilt)

Most persistent injuries start because tissue hasn’t completed collagen remodeling (tissue rebuilding process).

Signs:

  • morning stiffness
  • dull ache
  • delayed pain
  • joint tightness

Uitgewerkt in P4 – Recovery Principles.

3. Acute vs Chronic Injuries (Simple Decision Model)

Acute injury

  • sudden
  • sharp
  • local
  • often a “pop”
  • immediate weakness

Examples: pulley rupture, ankle sprain.

Chronic injury

  • dull ache
  • morning stiffness
  • only hurts in certain vectors
  • improves after warming up

Examples: elbow tendinopathy, shoulder impingement.

Dit principe is uitgewerkt in F4 – Acute vs Chronic Injury Mechanisms.

4. Pain Location = Biggest Clue to Injury Type

You can identify 80–90% of climbing injuries by answering:

Where does it hurt?

Choose a region:

  • Fingers → G1 or G2
  • Elbow → G3 or G4
  • Shoulder → G5 or G6
  • Wrist → G7
  • Biceps → G8
  • Knee → G9
  • Ankle/landing → G10

Below is the decision tree.

5. The Climbing Injury Decision Tree

A) FINGER PAIN

Pain on the front or side of finger?

Sharp pain in crimp / pop / pinch?
→ Go to G1: Finger Pulley Injuries (A2/A3/A4)

Pain in the belly of the forearm, especially after gripping?

→ Go to G2: Flexor Tendon Overload (“Crimp Elbow precursor”)

B) ELBOW PAIN

Inside of elbow (medial side / funny bone area)?

Worse on pulling, gripping.
→ G3: Medial Epicondylitis (Golfer’s Elbow)

Outside of elbow (lateral side)?

Worse on pinches, wrist extension.
→ G4: Lateral Epicondylitis (Tennis Elbow)

C) SHOULDER PAIN

Pain when raising arm / catching swings / gastons?

→ G5: Shoulder Impingement

Shoulder feels weak or unstable / clunky?

→ G6: Rotator Cuff Weakness & Instability

D) WRIST PAIN

Pain on slopers / compression / sidepulls?

→ G7: Wrist Alignment & Tendon Irritation

E) BICEP PAIN

Front of shoulder → biceps tendon, especially on underclings

→ G8: Biceps Tendon Irritation

F) KNEE PAIN

Pain during dropknees / high-steps / rotations?

→ G9: Knee Torque Injuries (MCL/Meniscus)

G) ANKLE PAIN

Pain after falling / unstable landings?

→ G10: Ankle Sprains & Landing Mechanics

6. How the Injury Guides Are Built (What to Expect)

Every injury guide (G1–G10) follows the same structure:

  1. Mechanism (what physically happens)
  2. How it occurs (movement errors, load patterns)
  3. Diagnostic clues (not medical, biomechanical)
  4. Red & yellow flags
  5. Pain signature
  6. Technique errors to avoid
  7. Immediate actions
  8. Rehab phases
    1. isometrics (static holds)
    2. eccentrics (slow lowering)
    3. heavy–slow resistance
  9. Return-to-load protocol
  10. Prehab routine
  11. When to seek help

Consistent + actionable = extremely high authority.

7. What This Overview Does NOT Do

It does not:

  • diagnose medical conditions
  • replace medical advice
  • claim therapeutic outcomes
  • give anatomical pathology

It does give you:

  • mechanical clarity
  • load-based reasoning
  • high-quality self-management guidance
  • logical routing to the correct article

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