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Knitting requires extensive hand work. There’s no escaping that fact. Devotees can spend hours repeating only a select number of small movements over and over again. This is why knitters often complain of hand pain, as do those people who crochet and sew. The pain is caused by microscopic injuries to soft tissues in the hand and wrist. The medical term for this phenomenon is called Repetitive Strain (or Stress) Injury or RSI.

Repetitive Strain Injury develops over long periods of time, with symptoms most often coming on slowly and progressively. Generally, once you’re aware of the symptoms the pathological reason for the problem has progressed far. The good news is that diagnosing and treating RSI is relatively easy. And taking measures to prevent Repetitive Strain Injury from ever happening is just as simple.

If you already have hand pain or other symptoms, you must be sure it is simple RSI and not another condition like carpal tunnel syndrome or wrist tendonitis.  The latter are more serious disorders and require special attention. There are ways to determine if you have RSI instead of something else, and simple self-tests can help.

If you’ve determined you have Repetitive Strain Injury then the first thing you should do is temporarily stop the activity causing it. Avoid knitting or other strenuous hand activities for at least 2 weeks. Next, rest your hands as often as you can. Also take time out whenever you think of it and wring them out for a few seconds. Let them just rest quietly as long as possible.Wear a wrist splint at night to avoid unconscious hand bending and twisting which can make the situation far worse in the morning. Finally, massage your fingers, hand, wrist, and forearm at least twice a day. A good, vigorous, and deep massage gets blood flowing, breaks micro-adhesions, and drains accumulated fluid. An automatic massager is very helpful.

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To prevent getting Repetitive Strain Injury in the first place there are some very simple things you can do right now to avoid suffering later. First and foremost is to make sure you take frequent breaks from knitting. Put the needles down and exercise your fingers, hands, wrists, and shoulders as often as you can. Various videos are available to quickly demonstrate such exercises. Also, avoid a marathon knitting session. Prolonged hand activity is just asking for trouble. Finally, before you begin to knit, warm up your hands. Stretch them as well as your arms and shoulders much like any athlete would do before an activity. The benefits of stretching range from increased blood flow to loosening tissues and should be part of your knitting routing.

Also, to help avoid the misery of Repetitive Strain Injury a knitter must pay attention to posture. While it may not seem related, proper sitting posture is essential to good hand health. Drooping shoulders and a bowed head transfer forces to the hands. They also impede good blood flow to the extremities and can impinge on nerves in the hand and arm.

Use these tips to take care of an existing condition of RSI as well as to avoid getting it. Those who work at computers should heed this advice since knitters and computer users share the same hand strain characteristics. Coincidentally, they also have the same prevalence of RSI. Thus, some easy adjustments to your routine should result in happy hands while you work.

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