Abstract
Climbing became one of the official Olympic sports in 2020. The nociplastic pain mechanism is indicated as important in professional sports. Functional pain, which has not been examined in climbers until now, can be an example of nociplastic pain. This study aimed to determine functional pain locations in climbers according to gender and dominant climbing style. Climbers (n = 183) and healthy subjects (n = 160) completed an online survey focused on functional pain occurrence in the head, spine, and upper limbs. The logistic regression showed that climbing predisposes one to functional pain at: Gleno-humeral joint (odds ratio (OR): 3.06; area under the curve (AUC): 0.635), elbow (OR: 2.86; AUC: 0.625), fingers (OR: 7.74; AUC: 0.733), all (p < 0.05). Among the climbers, the female gender predisposed one to pain at: GHJ (OR: 3.34; AUC: 0.638), thoracic spine (OR: 1.95; AUC: 0.580), and lumbosacral spine (OR: 1.96; AUC: 0.578), all (p < 0.05). Climbing predisposes one to functional pain development in the upper limb. While the male climbers mainly suffered from finger functional pain, the female climbers reported functional pain in the GHJ and the thoracic and lumbosacral spine. Further studies on functional pain occurrence are recommended.
Highlights
Climbing became one of the official Olympic sports in 2020. It consists of three disciplines: lead climbing, bouldering, and speed climbing [1]
It has been shown that the percentage of eccentric contractions during a performance is lower in lead climbing [4]
The results showed that the climbers were three times more likely to experience functional pain in the GHJ (AUC: 0.635) and had 2.86 times higher odds of developing functional pain in the elbow (AUC: 0.625) and 7.74 times higher odds for functional pain occurrence in the fingers (AUC: 0.733)
Summary
Climbing became one of the official Olympic sports in 2020. It consists of three disciplines: lead climbing, bouldering, and speed climbing [1]. The main difference between these disciplines is the height of the wall and the use of protective gear in lead climbing. Bouldering requires more dynamic moves than lead climbing [2,3]. Due to these differences, some distinctive features have been confirmed among competitors, e.g., boulderers show a higher maximal and explosive strength than lead climbers [3]. It has been shown that the percentage of eccentric contractions during a performance is lower in lead climbing [4]. Bad technique habits or the discipline of climbing can contribute to the additional overloading of soft tissue, which can become a source of pain, as in the case of injury [5]
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