A couple weeks ago I shared how I gave myself tennis elbow by knitting.
It still hurts. And if I’m not warmed up I have trouble lifting my arm by hinging at the elbow.
I was talking to my friend Jess and she gently teased me.
“Have you told Emily?”
Me: “noooooo”
Jess: “You know she will give you a silly little exercise and it will get better.”
I did know. The brilliance of a skilled physiotherapist is dialing in to exactly what is wrong. More than that, they then find the precise movement that will address the root cause of the injury.
I’m in the maintenance phase of addressing my wobbliness on the bike so already had an appointment coming up.
At my appointment yesterday, I mentioned that I had tendinitis on my right elbow before. It took about 9 months to heal. I knew that this bout on the left side was definitely a result of knitting more than 30 hours in one weekend.
I’m super stressed these days. Knitting serves as a focus for nervous energy. The rhythmic movements are soothing. Understanding how to execute the pattern is cognitively absorbing. There’s no opportunities for my worries to find me.
Did I just describe a kind of dissociation? Absolutely.
Am I happy I that I hurt myself?
Nope. Kind of embarrassed, actually.
So I recounted all of this to Emily, who reassured me that they had helped many a knitter with this exact problem. Even better, it will be resolved in a couple weeks!
So after exploring the extent of my injury, Emily broke out the ultrasound.
I then got treated to a series of whole arm manipulations and some intense forearm, uh, let’s call it “massage”. Lots of adhesions and bumps in there. Owie!
My homework is 3 sets of 12 of palm down wrist curls… with a twist.
On my injured side I’m using my other hand to help raise the weight. I then let my injured arm do the downward movement under control on its’ own.
It’s a silly little exercise but I was surprised how weak both arms were.
Emily laughed. “You get to do the gym bro pose!”
As a desk jockey, cyclist, gardener, knitter, crocheter, bead worker and bread maker I had assumed my forearms were getting enough variety of movement to be strong and resilient. Nope!
So 5lb assisted wrist curls it is. All hail the gym bro move!
Oh and I need to stay off the knitting until I build up my strength.
I’m so thankful for Jess nudging me.
I’m thankful for access to Emily’s expertise.
It’s easy for me to fall into thinking each injury is the one that signals an inevitable spiral of decrepitude. The slow moves of death stealing ability away from me. Ya. My mind goes to dark places. It’s why I knit so much!
