For the past week or so, my right hand has been paining me. From my index finger down to my thumb, sometimes down my arm halfway to my elbow. This is not good. At first I blamed spinning a lot after not spinning a lot. Then I blamed knitting the shawl, which is rather heavy and the needles were a tad short so there was some wrestling going on as the thing became larger and larger. Then I started to panic, thinking about Patti and her three-month, carpal tunnel induced knitting hiatus. No can do--I have projects! Deadlines! So, Tuesday, I decided to "work through it" and see what happens. By Tuesday night, my hand was visibly swollen. So, yesterday, just a few rows of knitting and resting in between. This morning everything was normally sized and felt ok. A bit of knitting and spinning today and...it is achy and a little tingly.
Help!!!!!!!
1 comment:
Advil. Helps with the swelling and inflammation. Isn't great for the stomach. I have to eat something when I take it.
I guess the only other thing I'd do at this point is carefully evaluate your knitting and spinning postures. Are your neck, shoulder and back muscles completely at rest when you do both? Do you make movements with your whole arm, or just fingers, hands and/or wrists? Whole arm is better, of course, with wrists relatively constant in relation to your forearm and hand.
Can you use fingers other than your index finger to draft the yarn? Mix it up a bit? Is your thumb always at a natural, and relaxed-feeling angle to the rest of your hand?
Oh Robyn. I'm sorry! I find yardwork and gardening--as much as I really enjoy it--makes the pain and swelling much much worse than a day of knitting or spinning. Then again, I'm not spinning on an S.P. :) But it can't be that. It just can't.
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