Dear Fibernetters, Like many of us, I am starting to have some problems with my hands. Since I have been trying to heal the most acute problems, I have completely avoided knitting, spinning, and fiber preparation. (gardening too). I hope to go back to it soon, though I will now have to be thoughtful about preserving my hands. Grasping is my problem. Thumb joints are the most chronic painful areas.
Some ideas I have thought of are to learn to hold things loosely, avoid fine knitting needles, indulge in prepared fibers, pad the handles of tools, use two hands together when possible, experiment with various supports, ice, Traumeel gel, arnica, Salonpas, frequent breaks. Anti-inflammatories are out of the question. Does anyone have any ideas that have worked for you to baby the hands? Are there any fiber arts that are easier on the hands than others? I wondered about various types of weaving. Thanks! Merry Luskin, Oakland CA Reference librarian and handspinner Great site: Librarians' Index to the Internet http://lii.org Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
