Knitting Problems – Healing Carpel Tunnel and Wrist Pain
My husband is always teasing me about my “knitting injuries” but I’ve had to take a break from knitting lately due to carpel tunnel pain. When I talk to people about knitting and read blogs, one thing I don’t ever see is discussed is wrist pain and how to deal with it but I’m sure other knitters must suffer from this too. If you suffer from carpel tunnel or wrist pain while you’re knitting, using the computer or doing other crafts, there are several things you can do to help it heal.
I’ve misused my poor wrists for most of my nearly 60 years. I spent several years doing medical transcription, then I worked as a bead artist for many years and now I spend a great deal of the day on the computer and knitting in the evenings. All of these activities have taken their toll on my wrists over time.
What is Carpel Tunnel Syndrome?
The carpel tunnel in your wrist is a narrow passageway of ligament and bone. The median nerve and tendons run from your forearm through this tunnel and into your hand. Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused when the median nerve becomes pressed or squeezed at the wrist due to thickening or swelling. This nerve controls sensations to the palm side of the thumb and all fingers except the little finger, and also sends messages to the small muscles in the hand that allow the fingers and thumb to move.
As you may have experienced while knitting or doing other crafts, when the median nerve is squeezed you get pain in the wrist, palm and fingers and sometimes even weakness and numbness of the hand, wrist and forearm. What happens is that overuse of the hands and wrists causes swelling and inflammation which in turn presses and sweezes the median nerve.
How to Prevent Carpel Tunnel or Wrist Pain
If you haven’t yet had serious pain and stiffness in the wrist and fingers, or only have it once in a while, there are things you can do to prevent it from becoming serious wrist pain.
1. Take frequent breaks from repetitious activities like using the computer, knitting, crocheting or doing bead work.
2. When you are taking a break, vigorously shake out wrists and hands to increase circulation.
3. Stretch the hands and wrists. Hold your hand straight up in front of you, as if for prayer. Using the other hand, press fingers back to stretch. Repeat with other hand.
4. Make sure, if you use the computer, that you have a good chair and your keyboard is at a good height.
If you already have wrist pain you can try wearing splints or tension gloves to keep your wrist and hand in proper position while you work or knit. If you don’t take care of wrist pain in the early stages, your fingers and palms can go numb and surgery is pretty much the only thing that will restore function.
Magnetic Therapy for Wrist Pain
I’ve been reading Energy Medicine: Balancing Your Body’s Energies for Optimal Health, Joy, and Vitality
Magnetic wrist wraps for wrist pain
I found these hand and wrist splints on Amazon.com that offer the convenience of a splint and they also contain magnets to help open the energy pathways and alleviate pain. They were the most economical magnetic wrist splints so I could buy one for each wrist. Several other magnetic wrist splints were more expensive and didn’t have very good ratings from users.
I’ve been using them for about a week and the pain in my wrists and hands is considerably less now.
If you suffer from wrist pain, don’t give up knitting or other activities. Rest and stretch your wrist and fingers, take frequent breaks and try some magnetic wrist wraps or other splint to see if your pain decreases so you can continue doing things you love.
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