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March 21, 2011 – Chronic Injury Survey Hopes to Help Climbers

A new survey launched this week hopes to gather information that can lead to a better understanding and treatment of chronic injuries suffered by climbers.

A new survey launched this week hopes to gather information that can lead to a better understanding and treatment of chronic injuries suffered by climbers. The survey, which runs for the next two months, was the put together by a Canadian climber and medical student, Alex Folkl.

Folkl says, “I never would have put it together, except that about two years ago, I started to develop some pretty severe lower back pain that eventually put me out of climbing for about one-and-half years. Today, with regular physical therapy and the occasional anti-inflammatory, I can climb again. When I originally hurt my back, I’d gone through the medical literature looking for guidance and found nothing.

Acute injuries, which occur suddenly during activity and last for a short period of time, are well researched in the sports medicine community. Unfortunately, there is little information on climber specific chronic injuries that are often a result of overuse and last for many months or even years. Folkl’s survey hopes to correct this situation.

Climbers are encouraged to fill out the survey. It is anonymous, takes less than five minutes to complete and consists of only 15 questions.

Please fill out the survey located here.

More details here.

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