The tendons that bend a finger run along the bone on the palm side. Pulleys are bands of tissue that hold them down against the bone, like the rings along a fishing rod holding the line close to the rod. There are five ring-shaped pulleys on each finger, numbered from the palm outwards. A2 sits at the base of the finger and takes much of the strain.In a full crimp the finger is bent sharply at the middle joint and the tendon tries to pull straight across the bend, like a bowstring. The pulley is what stops it. That is why crimps are where pulleys get hurt, and why an open hand loads them far less. A strain is the band stretched or partly torn. A rupture is the band gone, and the tendon lifts visibly away from the bone. Hers, the clip is careful to say, is not a diagnosis you can make from a video.Ilse Verhoeven sent this an hour after the appointment, so that I could explain it to people who ask. She had already explained it to me with a rubber band looped over a pencil, which was better, but I cannot carry Ilse around. Generic clip from a physiotherapist who treats climbers, no name kept. The verdict that morning: 🩹 2025-03-15 - Left ring finger A2 pulley strain, mild, no rupture. Six weeks without crimping and months before full load.What the fishing rod did for me: it turned 'my finger is broken' into 'one ring on the rod is frayed', a much smaller sentence. It explained the pop, which was the band and not the bone. And it explained the plan before I had read it: open hand, slabs and slow loading are all ways of keeping the line from snapping straight while the ring mends. Watched four times on the first day. I showed it to Jonas, who said it was a detailing problem, and to Caleb, who wanted to know the force on the ring and has been told to ask Ilse. On 12 September, discharged, I watched it once more on the tram home, for old times' sake. It is a strange thing to be fond of.
