Sunday, March 30, 2008

Yarn Elbow?

I think I have lateral epicondylitis. Or more commonly known as Tennis Elbow. Except I haven't picked up my tennis racquet in 6 months. Now, my circulars - that's another thing entirely.

I'm a thrower. That is, I knit English style with my right hand, wrist and elbow leading the way. When the Yarn Widower sees me wincing while knitting, he tries to show me what I look like by swinging his entire arm around his left hand. He says helpful things like, "yeah, well, it looks like you may have to stop knitting for a while." What?!?!?!??!

F-that. I will knit through the pain.

But yesterday while participating in an anatomy workshop with a renowned body-worker Ashtanga guru, the teacher noticed my elbow brace (yeah, I had to buy one, no it's not really helping) and said, "Don't let that get any worse."

And in my head I started whining softly to myself, "But. I can't. NOT. knit." After the panic died down, I meekly asked him what I should do.

1) Ice baths - helps bring down the inflammation
2) Wrist stretches - those forearm tendons are like metal rods, they're so freaking tight (not his exact words...)

I got these images from a drummer's website - the first picture shows how to stretch the wrist flexors. The second shows how to stretch the wrist extensors. Owie but a good kind of pain.

Anway, the anatomy guru made no mention of knitting cessation. Hurray! As soon as I got home, I popped some advil and stretched my aching joints while softly moaning for effect (it's hard to get any sympathy from the Yarn Widower; I've really got to work it. Even still, all my efforts got me was a cocked eyebrow and a skeptical "Are you coming down with something? sigh.)

This morning I'm back at the knitting. It's a bit better but I may have to switch to Continental for a while. As for the ice baths, I think I'll wait until it's warmer out. Or until I can't take it anymore.

2 comments:

  1. yikes
    i hope you get better.
    is there
    a tennis wrist?
    that's what i have...
    knitter's wrist...
    so continental
    is bad too.
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great Post!

    Another way to get rid of forearm pain and tennis elbow is to wear Elbow Braces.

    Well, although there are so many good elbow braces out there - as far as quality, comfort, and prices are considered - Serola's Gel Arc Elbow Brace is the best one for forearm pain. I'd say it was well worth my $20 investment, and I highly recommend this product to others. Couple years ago, I used to type a lot in front of a PC and would get Carpal Tunnel. Then, I heard about this elbow brace made by Serola Biomechanics from a co-worker. Since I started wearing the elbow brace, I never had any forearm pains. It worked for me!

    Visit the manufacturer's website for more info, in fact, you can directly buy from them at: http://shop.serola.net/product.sc?categoryId=1&productId=6

    Hope it helps, and good luck to everyone!

    ReplyDelete