Crocheting Can Be Dangerous!

As I said, Maria and I are going to try our first table at a craft fair this Saturday.

We're delightfully excited!

We've a lot of items to offer but yet I think I should make more and more and more....

I have to be cautious, though.

Did you know you could be injured by crocheting?

Several years ago, while I was still working as an oncology nurse, I crocheted hats for the chemo patients.  A LOT of hats.  I was using small hooks and doing a nice tight crochet and apparently I was pretty intense about it.

I developed a very painful right arm.  I didn't figure it out on my own.  I thought I had some kind of nerve entrapment or something.  I reached the point where it was difficult to even lift my hand without experiencing a sharp pain.  Starting IV's on patients became a miserably painful experience so I finally spoke to my doctor about this weird pain.  I was sent on to a neurosurgeon as the suspicion was still an entrapped nerve.

The neurosurgeon did a careful exam and declared that I had lateral epicondylitis, also known as "tennis elbow".  I likely had a tear in my tendon, which is holding muscle to bone.  I'm telling you, this is not a fun injury.  It hurt WAAAAAY more than having my shin cut to the bone by an evil plate.  Click here if you missed that story.

The neurosurgeon was perplexed, however, as to how I could have developed this.

I do NOT play tennis.

He told me it had to be something repetitive.  I thought and thought and mentioned I had been crocheting a lot in the evenings.  He asked me to show him how I crocheted and when I tried to simulate the movement he smiled and said,

"That's it!"

Later, I heard him chuckling out in the hall while telling someone

his patient got hurt crocheting.

It was kind of funny.

Anyway, I had to undergo 6 weeks of physical therapy, which actually felt pretty good.

I also had to be fitted for a splint.

That was fun because I needed to fill out insurance paperwork regarding my injury.

I remember some questions that made me laugh out loud right there in their office.

How did you get this injury?  CROCHETING

Where were you when this injury occurred?  IN MY ROCKING CHAIR

After the 6 weeks of physical therapy and splint-wearing I was still having a lot of pain that restricted my movement.  Finally, I went back for a steroid injection.  I'd heard that would be quite painful but actually it wasn't bad at all for me.  It brought relief quickly so I was very, very happy. 

I don't really want to go throught that again but I also love crocheting.  After taking a couple of years off I've been doing it now even more than before.  I've had to adapt my ways, though.  I brace my arm a certain way, usually against the arm of the chair or something, and it seems to be doing the trick.  I stop and stretch out frequently as well.

Anyway, enough of that!

Here are some of the things we've been making.

Some will be for the sale and some will be for Wyoming Rose Boutique.

I'm going to figure out how to use Random.org today to choose the give-away winner.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for that announcement!

Have a great day!