youth climbing

Key Take Aways

✅ At the end of an 11 year follow up period, elite youth climbers were more at risk for arthritis if:
* use of campus board training during youth training
* higher climbing level
* total training years
(Unfortunately, none of those 3 factors had specific reported values in the study)

✅ Equally as important, 79% of the participants in this study were still climbing

✅ The risk for arthritis is higher in youth climbers, but at an 11 year follow up, most had very minimal symptoms such as pain or morning stiffness

Population

High level and recreational youth climbers

Summary

➡️ It’s been well documented that there is a positive correlation between years of climbing and rate of finger arthritis in adult climbers. In other words, in the adult climber, the more you climb, the more likely you are to develop finger arthritis

➡️ Little is known in the youth climbing population. It has been documented that youth climbers are susceptible to acute epiphyseal fractures, not pulley tears. There is little long term data on the effects of climbing in youth climbers

➡️ A study in 2018 provided some insight into whether or not youth climbers were more at risk for the development of finger arthritis

Citation

Schöffl VR, Hoffmann PM, Imhoff A, Kupper T, Schoffl I, Hochholzer T, Hinterwimmer S, Long-Term Radiographic Adaptations to Stress of High-Level and Rec- reational Rock Climbing in Former Adolescent Athletes: An 11-Year Prospective Longitudinal Study, Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 2018, 6 (9)

Link

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6125860/pdf/10.1177_2325967118792847.pdf