This isn't the first time that has happened, but I didn't want the problem to get worse. After all, I love knitting! What if it got so bad that I'd have to totally give up this creative pleasure?!
After googling "wrist pain from knitting" and "sore thumb from knitting" - I found several sites that had hand exercises specifically for knitters. My favorites are these exercises on the "dummies" website: 10 Hand and Shoulder Exercises for Knitters and seven hand exercises on the "We are Knitters" blog.
(Click on the bold type above to find the sites.)
I purchased it from a Canadian online yarn shop and have begun to read it.
Not far into the book, I've realized that there are different types of yarns - some softer than others - and there are different types of needles, some slipperier than others. I've never really connected the two - yarn that doesn't have a lot of give knits up more easily on slippery (plastic or metal) needles... Slippery, silky yarn knits up more easily on needles that don't have slippery surfaces... like the wooden needles I'm currently using.
Perhaps part of my problem is that I'm knitting stiff yarn on non-slippery wooden needles... and that is putting a lot of pressure on my wrists...
This realization has been a real eye-opener...
So now, I've stopped knitting for a few weeks - to give my wrists a chance to heal - while I read more. I would be so thrilled if I could manage my pain and perhaps even get rid of my wrist ailment for good. It has been plaguing me for several years now, and physiotherapy only helps until I start knitting again. Not a good solution for someone who loves to knit!
As an aside, when I showed the book to my daughter, she commented: So you're not the only one who has this problem...
No, I guess I'm not!
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