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Mend Physical Therapy Blog and Injury Information

The movements inherent to rock climbing can put significant stress on the meniscus. High-stepping, heel hooking, drop-knees, and planting/twisting can make the knee susceptible to meniscus tears. Both traumatic and degenerative meniscus tears are common among climbers, but there is excellent evidence showing that conservative treatment should be the first line of treatment in the...

Tendon pain and injuries are very common in rock climbers because of the repetitive stress that is placed on our muscles/tendons with this sport. Tendon injuries have previously been diagnosed as tendonitis and were believed to be marked by an inflammatory process in the tissue.  Our current knowledge on these injuries has been improved by...

Lateral elbow pain (aka lateral epicondylalgia, aka tennis elbow) is a very common condition experienced by rock climbers. The most common cause of lateral elbow pain is chronic degeneration of the tendons that attach at the lateral epicondyle of the elbow. These structures become painful with the repetitive stress of climbing, particularly with crimping, pinching,...

Make sure you’re incorporating shoulder strengthening into your elbow rehabilitation! The elbow is one of the most common sites for pain in rock climbers. Lateral elbow pain (tennis elbow) is a limiting condition causing pain with repetitive movements including crimping or pinching while rock climbing. This condition was previously thought to occur secondary to inflammation...

During the rehabilitation of rock climbers, many respond favorably to manual therapy techniques such as dry needling and joint mobilizations. Physical Therapy spinal and extremity joint mobilizations are slow passive movements applied to a patient’s joint surfaces. These interventions have been shown to decrease pain, improve range of motion, and increase the immediate force production...

Self soft tissue mobilization using a foam roller or other device (stick, ball, etc) is a popular adjunct to training that we see in rock climbers. We often receive questions about how and when foam rolling should be utilized in training and whether it helps with recovery, performance or injury prevention in rock climbing. A...

The subscapularis is the largest and strongest of the rotator cuff muscles. Its primary function is shoulder internal rotation and it plays a critical role in stabilizing the front aspect of the shoulder during climbing movements. The subscapularis is the least commonly injured muscle of the rotator cuff, but is still prone to pain and...