Climber/ Treeworker Injuries and Treatments

Jonny said:
Trimmed a black walnut on Tuesday, and my hands were all frigged up. Kept cramping and locking up and hurting. Wasn't much time climbing, maybe 3 hours. First thought is the saw, but I probably spent more time gripping a rope than saws and the ropes kinda need a harder grip too. They kept locking up on the steering wheel afterwards, right hand was worse than left but they were both messed up.

I may have gotten a tiny bit dehydrated but I never got fatigued or thirsty or anything like that. I had some caffeine and sodium and lots of water beforehand, and that's kinda my usual routine, a sugar free energy drink and water all day. Maybe some magnesium or potassium might help... or maybe stretching exercise for the hands, idk. Was bizarre, never had that happen before. Had to use my other hand to get my fingers off the steering wheel they were just kinda stuck gripping it.

Any thoughts or similar past experiences?
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MasterBlaster said:
I drank 2 to 3 bottles of generic Pedialyte every day... one bottle before I even left the house in the morning. You GOTTA load up on your electrolytes!
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I will 100% back up this advice from Butch. He saved my ass one summer with it. On a normal day without it I would get bad muscle cramping at night that would wake me up and not go away easily. On one really bad day I did not even make it home before both of my legs top to bottom were just seizing up completely. With the addition of drinking two or three bottles of electrolytes during and after climbs in hot weather, I suffered barely any symptoms at all. A mild cramp at night, at the worst. Keep the electrolyte drink handy to where you sleep, and if you wake up with a cramp, drinking about an eighth of a bottle of the stuff will cause the cramps to cease within about two minutes or less. At least, that has been my experience. I cannot thank Butch enough for this life-changing piece of advice.

The cool thing is, I have passed the advice on to others who have been suffering in a similar fashion, and they also report back that it works. Thanks so much, Butch.

Tim
 
For the last month or so, when someone grips too hard on a hand shake it feels like they're crushing a broken bone in my hand below my pinky finger. Never have any soreness or pain in that area other the then handshake, weird. Must be work related but have no idea, it's hard to remember not to shake.
 
I guess I'll toss my two cents in, FWIW.

My daily routine is typically one cup of Happy Coffee around 7:30 in the morning, no breakfast, no lunch. Drink about a gallon of water during the day. Have a light snack when I get home around 3:00, then a hearty dinner at 7:00 or so. It gets pretty hot and humid here in Florida and I feel fine.

edit: I'm waiting until July to break out the Cool Vest. Don't want to get spoiled too soon. :D
 
levi 2.0 said:
For the last month or so, when someone grips too hard on a hand shake it feels like they're crushing a broken bone in my hand below my pinky finger. Never have any soreness or pain in that area other the then handshake, weird. Must be work related but have no idea, it's hard to remember not to shake.
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I had an injury that I suffer like that. I was helping drag brush. As i was dragging a good sized piece, it caught on something on the ground and came to a dead stop. Normally my hand will either slip right off or just hold tight as I just stop dragging. This time I did not come to a stop and my pinkie got caught and bent sideways. POP. Anyway. Still cant handle a firm shake. Not as bad as its been, but sure hurts. Some days after a lot of rope work, keeps me awake. Did not break it, but boy howdy did I screw it up somehow. Bad sprains take forever to heal.
 
Two days before my wedding I was pulling a piece of brush and my hand came loose and I literally punched myself right in the mouth., split my lip and everything, had to wear make up to cover the injury for the photos.

(Will not post the photos, don’t bother asking)
 
Working all day on nothing but a cup of coffee is NOT the norm. In fact, this is the first time I've ever heard of that - EVER.
 
Mellow said:
I guess I'll toss my two cents in, FWIW.

My daily routine is typically one cup of Happy Coffee around 7:30 in the morning, no breakfast, no lunch. Drink about a gallon of water during the day. Have a light snack when I get home around 3:00, then a hearty dinner at 7:00 or so. It gets pretty hot and humid here in Florida and I feel fine.

edit: I'm waiting until July to break out the Cool Vest. Don't want to get spoiled too soon. :D
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That is an odd routine
 
levi 2.0 said:
For the last month or so, when someone grips too hard on a hand shake it feels like they're crushing a broken bone in my hand below my pinky finger. Never have any soreness or pain in that area other the then handshake, weird. Must be work related but have no idea, it's hard to remember not to shake.
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I had/have the exact same thing, I think mine was from years ago doing a hard hand shake contest with a 300lb guy, I gave up and he kept going. Had it for years whenever someone would shake my hand hard at all. Just lately it seems better.

MasterBlaster said:
Working all day on nothing but a cup of coffee is NOT the norm. In fact, this is the first time I've ever heard of that - EVER.
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Most days I work all day with just water, no coffee etc. S'all good.

Plus lately I joined the club of no-more-sugar. I still have a giant sweet tooth, still crave some desert after every meal but feel noticeably better overall, have more energy. Also cut out junky food like blue corn chips. Now I have home-assembled trail mix for a snack, nuts, seeds, dried fruit. 'Real food' definitely fills the void better than chit food.
 
Agreed.

Some say that intermittent fueling is better than more or less constant fueling
 
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