Sunday, January 29, 2012

A knitting exercise.

I've been having increasing problems with my hands... and the big problem is problems with my LEFT hand. Which is Really Bad, because that's supposed to be my 'good' hand. It was especially painful after knitting. I couldn't quite figure out what in hell was going on. What to do?

I had the hub take video of me while I was knitting.

Pretend there's a video of me knitting here. I'd love to post it, but Blogger AND Flickr are both refusing to accept it. Buggering fucks.

Here. Have a photo instead. Me knitting:
It looks pretty good. Nothing's twisted around horribly, doing unnatural motion, or anything like that. Fingers are in natural, half-curved positions. However.

Pay close attention to my left hand and wrist. See how it's sort of twisted outward? For no apparent reason (it doesn't help my grip, motion, yarn management, anything), it's just bent. Backward. Wrist bent backward. Yeah, THAT sounds like a problem.

Imagine your ligaments and tendons are rubber bands. Some of them stretch from your elbow down to your fingers. Many more run from your upper arm down through your wrist. Any bending of your wrist (especially backward) stretches those tissues. See?
Not good. It's squishing your radial and ulnar nerves. Gee, that might MAKE IT HURT.

My new assignment: Quit twisting my wrist out while I'm knitting.

Now it's your turn. Get someone to video you, while you're knitting. Take a good, unbiased look at it. Are you twisting around, or bending at bad angles? Fix it. Your hands will thank you.

10 comments:

ellen in indy said...

let me be the first to say a sympathetic "OUCH!"

got nobody available to video me right now, but
the bad news is, my left wrist hurts.

the good news is that -- thanks to a wonderful o.t. and her splints and exercises -- my osteoarthritis-plagued thumbs both are working better than a year ago.

let's hope we both feel better soon.

Catie said...

I like your analytical mind - it wouldn't have occurred to me to video myself knitting to help identify a problem. I'll try videoing myself within the next 2 weeks :)

Unknown said...

Can you get a brace to wear while you are knitting? I know it can help enormously when you are learning to keep your hands in a certain position.

Freyalyn said...

I second the comment about the brace, just until you can retrain your wrist to stay straight.

roxie said...

You are the best problem-solver I know!

David St. Louis said...

Brace was the first thing I thought of also...

Barbara said...

I thought of a brace too, I wear one on both wrists to sleep in because I curl my hands lately when I sleep which makes them basically numb all day. Ouchie. I'll try the video idea. Thanks.

Ellen said...

I'm going to try this. I thought the reason my left hand was sore, though, is that is how I hold my Kindle and Iphone when reading. Will check this out.

(Pretending to be handsome Latino man from a commercial - much better than midwestern me! )

Stay Strong!

Emily said...

I'm so sorry you're having such trouble! The brace is an excellent idea. But I'm glad beyond words to see you post.

parenting articles said...

nice nails!;-)