Is it possible to get an injury while knitting? Unfortunately I have to say it is. I’ve experienced it myself the last few months. How is this possible? What have I done? Can it happen to you? What do I do now?
Let me start off by saying: I am not a doctor or physiotherapist. If you have any pains, please go to a professional. I will tell my personal story.
What kind of knitting injury do I have
I have epicondylitis lateralis, which is also called a tennis elbow. It refers to inflammation or degeneration of the tendons that attach to the lateral epicondyle of the humerus, typically caused by overuse of the forearm muscles.
In other words: it hurt like h*ll. I’ve been having pains for a few weeks and totally ignored it. But when it kept me from sleeping because my elbow would hurt even when I wasn’t doing anything but laying in bed, I thought it would be time to consult a professional.
The verdict: a tennis elbow. For me this feels like a sharp pain in my left elbow. Especially when using it and making pressured movements (like a push-up).
How I got my injury from knitting
I went to the physiotherapist and he concluded within seconds: it’s a tennis elbow and it’s 99% sure that it’s from knitting.
So how could this have happened?
I was knitting a beautiful new sweater. But on tinier needles than Im used to. Most of my knits are on needles of 5mm. This sweater is on 3mm. Which is beautiful, but makes a big difference in the way you hold them.
The second difference was that the pattern is (also) very beautiful, but more complicated than normal. With an ajour pattern and. lot of knitting together. Every 10 stitches the pattern calls for a knit 4 together. Which, especially with the smaller needles, calls for more force.
And the third element of creating my injury was a triple header in Formula 1. I do most of my knitting in front of tv. And I love knitting while watching Formula 1. It’s not complicated tv so you can focus on your knitting. My husband and I are absolute F1 fans and watch the pre-race analysis, qualification, the race itself and the post-race comments. All in all that’s quite some hours to watch tv (and knit!). So there were 3 consecutive weekends (a triple header) with races and a lot of knitting.
Combining these 3 elements (the smaller needles, the pattern and the amount of hours), and I have given myself a tennis elbow from knitting.
How to get rid of this knitting injury
The first thing my physiotherapist told me was to stop knitting at once. OUCH.
That is a though one. I know it would be better, but it’s still my biggest hobby. So I was down.
That’s also the reason I haven’t posted on this blog for a few weeks. I was so sad not to be able to knit, I couldn’t motivate myself to write about it.
Beside stop with the knitting, was the advice to not put strain on the arm at all for a while. So no heavy lifting or using it while working out. Which was also a challenge. Because I do CrossFit, I had to adjust all the workouts for a couple of weeks. Also no fun.
He also taped my elbow to strengthen the elbow. I don’t feel like that actually helped a lot. But it made me aware of the injury.
So after 4 weeks of no strain on the arm and physio-tape, I can finally say that it feels much better. Including the first 6 weeks of me doing nothing, I’ve had this tennis elbow for 10 weeks.
And that’s long, but not as long as some stories I’ve read online (which is always a bad idea). I’ve read that a tennis elbow can take up to 6 months. So when it’s 10 weeks for me, it’s much quicker.
Can you get a knitting injury
So yes, you can get an injury from knitting. But I assume that you are all more wise than I am and stop in time. For myself: I haven’t started knitting again, I’m a bit afraid. But I’ve started working out normally again and that feels good.
