Thumb-Bang?

Balbertt

Balbertt

Active member
Anyone else get what I call Thumb-bang? when you crash and your thumb really hurts for some reason? most likely because you hit your thumb between the ground and your ski pole.
 
"Gamekeeper's Thumb" is what its real name is. It is also known as "Skier's Thumb". Your pole, (when you fall) abducts your thumb, causing a sprain (or tear) of the Ulnar Collateral Ligament of your 1st (thumb) MP joint.
 
I dont have pole straps. I have line pin poles, they basically have a bike grip. smaller for dem 5 finger grabs hehe.
 
I stopped using poles in the park this year and its a lot more fun. Never hurting my thumbs turned out to be an added bonus.
 
this happened today... sent a little natty jib only the landing was rocks and dirt. I ejected and received a nasty case of thumb bang. Relearned the rule that you should always look before you leap.
 
176e3d19_Trekking-Pole-Straps.jpeg
 
It hurts for days! I hate it! I'm going to start using my straps right tho i have been holding them wrong. But yeah it happens to be 3+ times a season.
 
i just got it horrible this weekend, like i have about half of my normal range of motion. last time i hurt this thumb, it didn't feel 100% until mid july. fun stuff
 
I started doing this midway through the season, instant relief, before it had gotten to the point where I couldn't hold my poles anymore! Now it's fantastic
 
Actually Skier's thumb is commonly said to be when the thumb is pulled back too far towards your wrist, not so much crushing it. I crushed my thumb between me and a cannon rail (large propane tank) a few weeks ago and my thumb is still swollen. It caused a small hairline fracture along my thumb. So I guess this sort of injury would in fact be called thumb bang, not skier's thumb.

Side note: I personally no longer use pole straps while skiing in the park. My logic: A friend of mine once fell landing too far forward, he tried to ditch his poles and put his arms in front of him as that is pretty much anyone's instinct. His pole straps stayed on. This unfortunately caused a pole to spear into the ground, and he broke his jaw on the handle. I just don't feel like it is worth the risk, even if it is unlikely. Lets be real, a broken jaw would fucking suck.
 
came here to say ive been dealing with the worst thumb bang ever for the last 2 seasons (it even hurts in the summer)

im gonna press through the rest of the season with it then consider getting it checked out
 
I use the straps but happened to me the other day on a powder day at bellearye hopping off a cliff. Managed to shake it off though. Cool to read a thread like this..
 
i thought i was an idiot when this happend. never realized so many other people got it. doesnt matter anymore though as im done with poles
 
Fell on my thumb on the first day of last season, it swelled up, hurt, ect, and went back down in like a month. I skied with it all season

12 months later doc tells me I had fully torn two ligaments

Fucking thumbs, man. I learned not to put my arms out when falling off of a rail.
 
This happened to me recently. I was just cruising the park, hitting the jump line at a local mountain (pretty small jumps fyi), and decided it would be a great idea to hit the largest of the three, a medium (for east coast) sized step over. Some dude had said earlier to just straight line it from the second jump. Did I? Fuck no. Cased the jump, double ejection, face plant over the knuckle. The only thing I hurt was my two thumbs. Both of em. I never got them officially checked out, but I'm positive that I sprained both. Doing everything sucked. Tying my shoes? Sucked dick let me tell ya. From now on, no straps in the park for me. Fuck straps.
 
This entire season I have managed to hurt nothing but my head and my thumb by crushing it. My nail on my left hand is about to fall off and the nail on the other is about to fall off. I find that falling with your pole straps attached is just wanting for you to hurt your shoulder which now both of mine Hurt because I would just torque my shoulder the wrong way
 
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