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Counter-intuitive
Aug. 20th, 2007 10:22 amWhen my right thumb began to hurt, I figured it was the knitting and decided to just rest it.
At that point, it was more or less normally flexible - just doing the click and pop thing.
I stopped using it - I left off knitting for weeks, and used the thumb as little as possible. And then I didn't have a choice. I could type but I couldn't bend it at all, and even trying was painful. My orthopedist prescribed more rest, not using my carpal tunnel brace because it hit right at the base of the thumb and mega doses of Ibuprofen.
It didn't help.
He gave me a shot of cortisone. It didn't help.
Finally, I started doing a little knitting again - just a half hour or so every other day, just to get my husband's socks finished, and then to start another pair and to start my mother-in-law's lace scarf. And gradually, I started knitting more.
A few weeks ago, I noticed my thumb was hurting more, and I realized it was because I was bending it more. It hurt, but it was bending. And the only change was that I'd upped the knitting.
I knitted a sock last week - fastest I've ever knitted a sock (for the record - toe-up with a heel-flap gusset heel. Best heel I've ever made.) Today my right thumb is bending more than it has in months. It hurts, but it bends. It's just so counter-intuitive - not knitting made it worse!
At that point, it was more or less normally flexible - just doing the click and pop thing.
I stopped using it - I left off knitting for weeks, and used the thumb as little as possible. And then I didn't have a choice. I could type but I couldn't bend it at all, and even trying was painful. My orthopedist prescribed more rest, not using my carpal tunnel brace because it hit right at the base of the thumb and mega doses of Ibuprofen.
It didn't help.
He gave me a shot of cortisone. It didn't help.
Finally, I started doing a little knitting again - just a half hour or so every other day, just to get my husband's socks finished, and then to start another pair and to start my mother-in-law's lace scarf. And gradually, I started knitting more.
A few weeks ago, I noticed my thumb was hurting more, and I realized it was because I was bending it more. It hurt, but it was bending. And the only change was that I'd upped the knitting.
I knitted a sock last week - fastest I've ever knitted a sock (for the record - toe-up with a heel-flap gusset heel. Best heel I've ever made.) Today my right thumb is bending more than it has in months. It hurts, but it bends. It's just so counter-intuitive - not knitting made it worse!
