Then, the next day, I noticed something strange. Holding my toothbrush was excruciating. My hands had the strength of a paper doll. At first I wasn't worried. I played drums in percussion ensemble at school, typed a lot on the yearbook staff, I was learning sign language and I'd just kicked that crochet blanket pattern's booty in a single day. Maybe my hands really were just tired.
But it didn't go away. For two weeks I ignored the numbing in my pinkies and ring fingers. Sometimes they got so numb I couldn't even feel them. Then the aching came; this was the tipping point. I could hardly do anything without first consciously asking myself whether it was worth the pain of flexing my hands.
Friends, this is called two things: overdoing it and severe tendonitis. By the time I got to physical therapy for treatment the scar tissue around my ulnar nerves ("funny bones") was so bad it sounded like crackling paper when touched.
Don't let this happen to you.
That was ten years ago. I still suffer from numbness and tingling sometimes. When tendonitis of this nature happens so frequently it is medically referred to as Ulnar Nerve Entrapment, also called "Funny Bone Syndrome".
My message: pace yourself. Educate yourself. Learn the risks of overuse and listen to your body when it tells you to slow down. If it's happening to you now, get treatment! I had to give up crochet because I didn't know my limits. If it someday means I have to give up sewing too...I don't know what could possibly take it's place.
Don't let it happen to you.
Got a cautionary tale of your own? I'd love to hear about it. Please comment below.
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