As the title says, I’m looking for some advice about hobbies.

I struggle with depression off and on and recently it’s been quite tough to be motivated, but I tried indoor rock climbing and I’ve been going twice a week for around a month and I love it. I like the problem solving aspect and it being mixed in with physical activity, as I have a sedentary job as a software developer so it’s good to be more active.

This is where the issue is though, I have terrible hands. I have something called Dupytren’s Contracture, which essentially is extra collagen forms around the tendons and severely limits range of movement in the hands (I’ll post pictures of my hands in the comments).

So my question is would you continue this hobby even though it’s wrecking my hands and look at having another fasciotomy to get them less painful.

Or can you suggest any other physical hobbies that would also be engaging mentally to complete.

Perhaps I should have been wiser before getting hooked on this, but I’m devastated that I might not be able to do it long term.

  • @Rednax
    6•10 days ago

    The puzzling part is fun, because you are constantly learning new ways to use your body. See how to balance, how to move around, etc. I have found that dancing gives a similar learning challenge. Especially the more free-form dances like salsa and bachata. It’s fun learning new moves every week during the lesson, and then try to see if you can put them to practise during a party.

    And don’t worry about beeing to stiff. If you can balance around boulders, you can get your body to move around for dancing too. Just takes some practise. I currently do both, and feel like I lack dexterity more for the climbing than for the dancing.

    And unlike most of the hand-friendly options mentioned already, you do have to use your hands and arms a lot. Just not in a way that puts any stress on them.