Risk factors of hand climbing-related injuries

Painfully ignorant? Impact of gender and aim of training on injuries in climbing

Introduction

Climbing has evolved from an obscure outdoor sport to a predominantly indoor sport with the rise of mainstream climbing on artificial walls. Reported climbing-related injuries were predominantly chronic and may be avoided with proper planning of training. All climbers, regardless of age and gender, are training on the same routes and perform similar movements; however, few studies have investigated gender-specific injuries in climbing.

Objectives

Assess the distribution of chronic climbing injuries in an international population with gender-specific analyses and assess the impact of the person's training focus or aim of training on those injuries.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey using a web-based item-driven questionnaire was created and promoted using social media and several climbing media stakeholders. All climbers engaged in either sport climbing, bouldering or traditional climbing were included.

Results

The survey received 1513 responses (877 men, 427 women and 9 not reporting gender), of which 50.3% (n=665; 51.4% men and 48.0% women) had experienced an injury in the past 12 months. There were significant differences in injuries in feet/ankle (p=0.014), neck (p=0.03), head (p=0.0001), shoulder (p=0.001), elbow (p=0.021) and fingers (p=0.003).

Conclusion

Over 50% of the climbers experienced an injury in the past 12 months. The most common injuries were to the shoulders (women) and fingers (men). There were significant differences between the genders regarding injury site and prevalence. The gender differences may be affected by the aim for training and the style of climbing.

Risk factors and injury prevention strategies for overuse injuries in adult climbers: a systematic review

Introduction

Climbing is an increasingly popular activity and imposes specific physiological demands on the human body, which results in unique injury presentations. Of particular concern are overuse injuries (non-traumatic injuries). These injuries tend to present in the upper body and might be preventable with adequate knowledge of risk factors which could inform about injury prevention strategies. Research in this area has recently emerged but has yet to be synthesized comprehensively. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the potential risk factors and injury prevention strategies for overuse injuries in adult climbers.

Methods

This systematic review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Databases were searched systematically, and articles were deemed eligible based upon specific criteria. Research included was original and peer-reviewed, involving climbers, and published in English, German or Czech. Outcomes included overuse injury, and at least one or more variable indicating potential risk factors or injury prevention strategies. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed with the Downs and Black Quality Index. Data were extracted from included studies and reported descriptively for population, climbing sport type, study design, injury definition and incidence/prevalence, risk factors, and injury prevention strategies.

Results

Out of 1,183 records, a total of 34 studies were included in the final analysis. Higher climbing intensity, bouldering, reduced grip/finger strength, use of a "crimp" grip, and previous injury were associated with an increased risk of overuse injury. Additionally, a strength training intervention prevented shoulder and elbow injuries. BMI/body weight, warm up/cool downs, stretching, taping and hydration were not associated with risk of overuse injury. The evidence for the risk factors of training volume, age/years of climbing experience, and sex was conflicting.

Discussion

This review presents several risk factors which appear to increase the risk of overuse injury in climbers. Strength and conditioning, load management, and climbing technique could be targeted in injury prevention programs, to enhance the health and wellbeing of climbing athletes. Further research is required to investigate the conflicting findings reported across included studies, and to investigate the effectiveness of injury prevention programs.

Systematic Review Registration

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/, PROSPERO (CRD42023404031).

A Finger in the Game: Sport-Specific Finger Strength Training and Onset of Injury

INTRODUCTION

Strength training has proved to be an effective way to prevent injuries, but the evidence of the impact of strength training on finger injuries is lacking. A fingerboard is a sport-specific tool used by climbers for strength training of fingers. In this study, we searched for associations between fingerboard training and finger injuries in climbers with different lengths of climbing experience and levels of performance.

METHODS

A web-based survey was used to collect information on self-perceived pain or injury in fingers (SPIIF) and regular fingerboard training (RFT). The survey was administered to the Finnish climbing community. Data were analyzed using contingency tables; chi-square was used to evaluate statistical significance.

RESULTS

No significant correlations between SPIIF and RFT were found when analyzing all the participants (n=434) together. In climbers with 6 y or more in the sport, SPIIF was not common and RFT was negatively associated with SPIIF (χ2 [1, n=200]=4.57; P=0.03). In contrast to this, in male climbers who had been climbing for less than 6 y and had advanced to 7a level or higher (French lead/Font bouldering), SPIIF was common and RFT was positively associated with SPIIF (χ2 [1, n=75]=4.61; P=0.03).

CONCLUSIONS

We suggest that doing RFT may prevent SPIIF in climbers with a long background in the sport as fingerboard training can help build stronger fingers and thereby stronger tendons and ligaments. Climbers with fewer years in the sport and less adaptation to the fingers should be cautious with their training loads and RFT to avoid finger injuries and pain.

Olympic competition climbing: the beginning of a new era-a narrative review

Climbing as a competition sport has become increasingly popular in recent years, particularly the sub-discipline of bouldering. The sport will debut in the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games. National and international competitions have three disciplines: lead (climbing with rope protection), bouldering (climbing at lower heights with mattress floor protection) and speed (maximum speed climbing on a standardised route in 1-on-1 mode). There is also a 'combined mode' of all three disciplines (combined) which forms the Olympic competition format; all competition formats are held on artificial walls. Existing literature describes a predominantly low injury frequency and severity in elite climbing. In comparison to climbing on real rock, artificial climbing walls have recently been associated with higher injury rates. Finger injuries such as tenosynovitis, pulley lesions and growth plate injuries are the most common injuries. As finger injuries are sport-specific, medical supervision of climbing athletes requires specific medical knowledge for diagnosis and treatment. There is so far little evidence on effective injury prevention measures in top athletes, and antidoping measures, in general, requiring further work in this field. An improved data situation regarding high-performance climbing athletes is crucial to ensure that the sport continues to be largely safe and injury-free and to prevent doping cases as extensively as possible.

Lean and mean? Associations of level of performance, chronic injuries and BMI in sport climbing

Objectives

To assess possible associations between performance level (achieved level of difficulty), chronic injuries and body mass index (BMI) in sport climbing.

Method

Retrospective survey.

Setting

Web-based questionnaire.

Participants

667 active climbers (385 reported having chronic injuries).

Outcome measure

BMI, performance level in sport climbing, onset of a climbing-related injury, preferred style of climbing, education, gender.

Statistics

Descriptive statistics and general linear model(GLM) performed with SPSS V.25 for windows.

Result

No associations were found between level of performance in sport climbing, onset of a climbing-related injury, preferred style of climbing, education, gender and BMI.

Conclusion

BMI is not associated with climbing-related chronic injury or level of performance in climbing. The average BMI of climbers up to the elite level is similar to that of a lower rate of performance.

Clinical relevance

The findings in this study suggest that there is no need for maintaining a low BMI to be able to reach elite levels in climbing.