There's something about a hook and a ball of yarn that makes a person happy. I love seeing what Palestine's crafters make, whether it's a baby blanket, a scarf or a granny square that's halfway to something wonderful. As a massage therapist, I can't help noticing the hands doing all that work.
If you're looking for good company while you stitch, the Palestine Public Library hosts a crochet group called Stitched with Love. According to the City of Palestine calendar, it meets Tuesdays from 10 AM to noon for ages 18 and up, and the listing says: "Learn to crochet or knit or bring your project to work on or need help with. Everyone loves to share their knowledge." The calendar currently lists the group at the library's Redlands Annex, though it's met in the main library building at times this year, so check the calendar before you head over. The library also has a Beginner Crochet Workshop for ages 15 and up on Thursday evenings.
Crochet and knitting are relaxing, but they're also repetitive. You're pinching a hook or needles, keeping tension on the yarn and holding your wrists in one position, sometimes for hours. Mayo Clinic notes that repeated hand motions may play a part in carpal tunnel syndrome, and it suggests relaxing your grip, taking short, frequent breaks and gently stretching and bending your hands and wrists from time to time. It even says that a break of a few minutes each hour can make a difference.
Here's a simple routine to try between rows. Start with a gentle fist. The Arthritis Foundation describes slowly curling your hand into a loose fist with your thumb on the outside, without squeezing, then opening your fingers straight again. Mayo Clinic's hand exercise guide adds a fingertip touch, where you touch your thumb to each fingertip to make a circle and hold each one for five seconds. They come from arthritis guides, but they're gentle moves that suit a crafting break. Mayo's advice is that they shouldn't cause pain, and if they do, stop and relax.
Your forearms deserve some love, too. An occupational therapist and certified hand therapist at Cleveland Clinic recommends two stretches. For the wrist flexor stretch, hold your arm out with your palm up, bend your wrist so your fingers point toward the floor and use your other hand to gently deepen the stretch. For the extensor stretch, turn your palm down and bend your wrist down the same way. Hold each one for 10 to 20 seconds. It shouldn't hurt, so ease off if it does.
A little setup helps, too. Mayo Clinic Health System points out that you're more likely to develop hand pain and stiffness in a cold environment and suggests fingerless gloves, which is a fun excuse to crochet yourself a pair. When you can, keep your wrists in a relaxed middle position rather than bent all the way up or down.
Stiffness after a long session is one thing, but numbness and tingling are another. Mayo Clinic lists tingling and numbness in the thumb, index, middle and ring fingers, symptoms that wake you from sleep and weakness or dropping things as possible signs of carpal tunnel syndrome. It advises seeing a healthcare professional if symptoms get in the way of your usual activities or sleep, since lasting nerve and muscle damage can happen without treatment. MedlinePlus adds that early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent lasting damage. I'm not a doctor, so if that sounds familiar, please get it checked.
So where does massage fit? The research is encouraging, if small. In a 2011 study of 46 adults with hand pain, people who got a weekly hand massage from a therapist for four weeks, plus daily self-massage at home, reported less pain and greater grip strength than a standard-treatment group. An earlier study of 22 adults with wrist or hand arthritis found similar results.
Those studies were small and were led by the same researcher, so I treat them as a hopeful sign, not a promise. When it comes to carpal tunnel syndrome, a Cochrane review of exercise and mobilisation treatments found only limited, very low quality evidence of benefit. Massage won't replace care from a doctor or hand therapist. What it can offer is a calm hour off from the hook and a chance for hardworking hands and forearms to relax.
I don't offer a hand-only service, but your hands and forearms can get attention during a full massage, so let me know they've been busy. My 60-minute massage is $80 and includes hot stones and aromatherapy, and your first visit is $72. If you'd rather keep it short, there's a 30-minute scalp and shoulder massage for $45. I'm open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 AM to 6 PM, so there's room to fit a visit around your stitching. Book on MassageBook.
Here's to every hook, needle and skein in Palestine, and to the hardworking hands that turn them into something lovely.
Featured photo: Miriam Alonso on Pexels (Pexels License).