Confession time: I only started sewing seriously when my Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) from knitting got so painful I had to stop. Yup, there but by the grace of RSI, Sewcialists could have been a knitting community!
My Experience:
My RSI started back in 2007 and continues to this day. If I’m careful, I can sew, blog, and do my day job, but it doesn’t take much to throw me into a spiral and hobbies are the first thing I have to cut. When my wrists were at their worst, I couldn’t hold a cup without intense pain. I spent almost a decade sleeping in arm braces and eventually (repeatedly) found physiotherapists who could help. I even filmed a video of my physio exercises back in 2013, and shared some of the strategies that my blog followers use to manage their chronic arm pain too. After a car accident a few years ago, I was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, which is a catchall diagnosis saying that my nerves are pinched in my upper chest and neck. It’s rather depressing that so many years later I’m still in pain as I type this.
I’m not the only one on the Sewcialists team with chronic pain in my arms, so here’s another perspective from Renee!
Renee’s Experience:
Hi! I’m a sewer, needlepointer, and machine knitter with chronic pain through my wrists and thumbs from tendinitis due to repetitive stress. I’m also a writer professionally and have to take care of my hands at every turn. Like Gillian, when my pain is at its worst, I can’t turn a doorknob or hold on to a pen. I used to lift weights and had to give up some of the bigger Olympic lifts and gymnastic moves because I couldn’t risk agitating my tendinitis.
So what have I done to help? I ice my hand/wrists after hand manipulating stitches on my knitting machine or hand sewing a garment. I limit hand sewing to 15 minutes sewing, 15 minutes icing. I wear a wrist support that isolates my thumb for working out and sewing at my machine. I use a rotary cutter to eliminate the repetition of open and closing scissors. I’ve really just learned to listen to my body.
I’m so very careful with my hands because sewing is my primary hobby and the thought of *not* being able to sew brings me to tears. Once, during a bad flare up, I couldn’t sew for weeks! It led me to seek physical therapy where I learned exercises to strengthen the tendons in my thumb and wrist. So, definitely seek professional help when needed and protect your wrists!
Ergonomic Sewing Tools and Tips:
I often see people in the crafting community saying that they have pain in their fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders and elsewhere. I’m here to say: PLEASE TAKE IT SERIOUSLY! Put that project down and take some time to heal. And while you heal, consider if some of these tools and tips could help you craft pain-free.
Ergonomic Rotary Cutter: A life saver for my fingers and wrists! Lots of brands make these, but the one pictured above can be found here. Make sure you keep your blades sharp to reduce the amount of force needed.
Ergonomic Stitch Ripper: A chunky handle with some grip makes this much easier to hold. Again, lots of brands make them but this one can be found here.
Quality (Sharp) Scissors: If every movement hurts, you want to make sure that you make life as easy as possible. Find some scissors that fit your hand and cut smoothly and easily. If you are a leftie, make sure you get a left-hand pair! (We have two posts on sewing left-handed, if you are curious: here and here!) This beautiful pair is from Ernest Wright.
Quilting Gloves: These gloves have a grippy coating so that it is easier to maneuver a bulky quilt through your sewing machine. I’ve heard gardening gloves can work just as well! My friend also swears by compression gloves to reduce arthritis pain.
Easy-grip Pins: Dritz makes these easy-grip pins which seem pretty cool! For years I used the flower-head quilting pins because they were easier to maneuver.
Well-sized Table, Chair, and Cutting Area: This image comes from the U.S. Department of Labor! It’s crucial to have a workspace that encourages you to sit or stand properly. I’m pretty sure we all end up hunched over and squinting at the machine sometimes, but don’t make that your default!
Choose how to spend your energy (a.k.a. Spoon Theory): Chronic pain limits how much you can do in a day, as can chronic illness, disability, and so many other factors. I love lots of crafts, like embroidery, knitting, and needle felting, but I’ve given them all up because sewing offers more reward for less pain. (And you know what? It’s crappy and makes me sad. I’m sorry if you too are giving up things you love because your body can’t handle it.) The key is to first cut the parts you enjoy less―maybe get your PDF patterns printed, ask someone to help you cut out fabric, skip ironing, or don’t bother changing your thread to match. I also save spoons by voice typing, having a good ergonomic set up for work, sleeping in certain positions, and so on. Save the spoons for sewing when you can!
Your Turn!
We would love to hear your experiences and suggestions for crafting with chronic pain! Renee and I are sharing our stories of arm pain to start the conversation, but it isn’t limited to any particular condition or pain location.
If you enjoyed this post, check our previous post on sewing with chronic pain.
Gillian is cofounder of the Sewcialists. She loves cats, bright colours, and sewing! You can find her at craftingarainbow.com and @craftingarainbow.
Wow… what a great blog and a relief to know I’m not the only one..I have suffered from tendinitis and carpal tunnel since having my first born 33 years ago… exacerbated by embroidering cute little pictures for his bedroom. Knitting became a non-starter. I wasn’t into sewing any more at that point – I painted and that seemed to be ok. Fast forward 30 years and I’m in my 60s – two hand surgeries later and it just keeps getting worse, and I have taken up sewing with a vengeance… quilting, thread painting by machine, making bags.. I can’t get enough of it. Add to that writing and working on the computer…. and making sourdough bread… the hands get a workout. I love these suggestions! I have the grippy gloves ( I can’t quilt without them) and have ordered a new foot for my machine that could make the actual quilting part a lot easier (the roller foot for the bernina? Maybe it will work?) and have learned to chunk my time at the machine and hand binding quilts…. but the pins?!what a great idea! I can hardly pick up mine…. very frustrating. I have looked at the various so called therapeutic gloves on line and wondered if it was worth taking a chance… and my least favourite part of it all is cutting. I don’t have a lot of room, have taken over our dining room and have a lovely little sewing table but do my cutting at the dining room table… not the best height for that kind of work. But it’s my only option… so maybe the ergonomic cutter would help me out!
Thanks for posting this!
I hope you find some new tricks that work for you! Sounds like nothing will stop you!!! <3
This is a great topic since it affects so many people!! I saw an occupational therapist two years ago. She was a hand specialist and immensely helpful. I have hypermobility plus nerve atrophy from pulmonary embolisms so I had to relearn how to use my hands. She showed me how to make my own adaptive tools (like foam grips!) and gave me ideas on how to deal with pain or completely locked hands. Mostly I learned to cut myself more slack, only do things for short periods of time and avoid a lot of repetitive things.
That’s so interesting! Making foam grips is so clever. I”m glad you are looking after yourself and rebuilding your strength and mobility!
I have chronic pain in my wrists and fingers too! I had to give up a lot of things, but one thing I do to make things easier is to pretty much just not use pins at all. That and also caring about accuracy less lol.
SOunds like we are twins!!!! I have no time for pins or perfection. Enjoying the sewing and being pain-free after is much more important!
I too have been a chronic pain person w fibro as well for years. The flares are hard and recently had an elbow issue that was quite pain ful. I try and pace myself so I can hand sew and knit as well. However that being said I still have a hard time dealing at times!
Pacing is so much easier said than done, isn’t it? And it’s so depressing (literally) to sit there unable to read a book, cook, sew, or pretty much anything else when the pain is bad. I’m sending you hugs!
I identify with this so much! I too switched from knitting to sewing after my hands went numb. At first the numbness was just overnight, and it would wake me up several times a night. Then it started to affect me when I would grasp objects during the day. I have brace type gloves I wear overnight with a curved metal strip that I was given after I finally went to the doctor and was diagnosed with carpal tunnel. Now that I’m older I also have arthritis in several joints of my hands which causes me pain occasionally.The joints affected are on the fingers I used to hold the knitting needles. Sewing is much easier on my hands. The machine does most of the work. I also love it because it’s not only creative but more practical living in a warm climate. I don’t use any special equipment to sew. I don’t overdo and I switch between activities during the day.
Have you tried compression gloves for the arthritis pain? My friend swears by them for knitting. I hope they might help!
My chiropractor was able to give me relief from thoracic outlet syndrome and ultimately corrected it for me.
My shoulder would get sore by doing hours long sessions of cross stitch, crewel, needlepoint almost every night while watching TV. I taught group exercise classes that aggravated my shoulder. I took ballet classes and couldn’t move that shoulder/arm gracefully. I was a school teacher and could barely write on the board. But I ignored it all… Until I was driving my manual transmission car, shifted hard and partially tore the rotator cuff and ended up with a frozen shoulder.
My life changed. Physical therapy and a acupuncture to unfreeze the shoulder. Started driving an automatic transmission car. No more embroidery. Switched from weight lifting and high impact aerobics to gentle yoga and walking. Had to use an overhead projector instead of a chalkboard. Became a one armed ballerina.
Happy to report that my shoulder is much stronger and mobile now. I’ve resumed most prior activities in limited amounts. Garment and craft sewing are the bulk of my creativity now. If I get a twinge I listen and go back to ice and specific exercises.
Oh Fern, I feel your pain. I had frozen shoulder twice (once on each side) and until then I had no idea how much I use my shoulders. Even breathing and walking can be excruciating. I am glad your shoulder is stronger and you’re able to do some of the things you enjoy.
Fern and Katerina, thank you for sharing! My very athletic dad tore a bunch of stuff in his shoulder this winter and he is waiting for surgery… and you helped me understand better what his experience is like. Fern, I was just like you when the pain started. I”m so sorry that your consequences were so serious! Huge kuddos to you for finding ways to continue your work, exercise and crafting. That takes resilience and grit!
Great info! My wrist pain has ebbed since I stopped working at a fabric store, but my day job has the potential for a lot of repetitive strain injuries so I am pretty protective of them. Mainly I try to train myself to do certain activities with my non-dominant hand, and lots of breaks for stretching. I did give myself nerve damage from metal-handled scissors, many years ago, and while it eventually healed, I still try not to use them too much. I do have a rotary cutter now and it’s great for certain things but I can’t quite give up my scissor-using ways! 😂
I didn’t know you were in the wrist pain club too! Fabricland seems to by the blunt scissors possible for staff. It’s absurd!
To be clear, it wasn’t Fabricland scissors. The ones they supply for staff are super cheap and dull quickly but the plastic grips are nicely shaped and we just grabbed new ones when they got dull—I actually like them better than most of the other scissors we sold. I killed my hand over-using teeny metal surgical scissors when I had a job that involved animal dissection for multiple hours a day. The pain in my wrists from working at Fabricland had more to do with strain from lifting and carrying fabric bolts (and it didn’t help that my day job at the time was intensively clerical—lots of typing and note-taking by hand)
This is very helpful, thank you Gillian and Renee! I do not have RSI or chronic pain in my hands and wrists, but if I overdo activities with my hands and arms it inflames all my old injuries – broken wrist, torn shoulder tendons, pinched nerve in the neck. I have to put myself on a timer, because once I get into the sewing room I completely lose track of time.
Setting a timer is so clever! DO you have any tips of managing the pinch nerves in the neck? I would dearly love to not have nerve pain headaches once a week!
I wish I had the ultimate answer for that! The only thing I’ve been able to do so far is change my postural habits, specifically using a standing desk while working, and holding my phone up in front of me rather than the natural position at the waist or in the lap, where it forces the head down and pulls the neck. Of course holding it up in that unnatural position can also inflame my shoulder joints, so it’s a catch-22. Ideally, I would just stay off the phone!
I took painkillers daily for 10 years until a brilliant hospital physiotherapist sorted out my pinched nerves. Changed everything!
I occasionally have a painful flair up of psoriasis on the palm of my dominant hand. Other than using a moisturizing cream that anesthetizes the area a little bit, I have changed my diet, and over time that seems to be helping, not only with the psoriasis but also with a tendency for arthritis and numbness in the hands. And while the moisturizing cream works great, I can’t handle tools and fabric for a while until it sinks in, so that can get a little depressing. The best ergonomic tool I use regularly is a pair of spring loaded Fiskars sheers. They work great.
Thank you for sharing! I hadn’t considered that experience, and it’s so good to know how you manage the psoriasis. Spring loaded scissors are brilliant too!
I am such a junk food junkie but I cannot deny that cleaner diet has meant less inflammation!
I was first diagnosed with carpal tunnel at age 19 and it’s been an ongoing battle. I’ve had CT release surgery, I’ve gotten a gazillion cortisone shots, I have a WARDROBE of hand braces (LOL!), and on top of that, I’ve fractured my right hand.
Sometimes I am downright depressed about my lack of hand functionality and how it impacts life in general and especially my sewing. There are things I realize that I can’t do, no matter how much I want to (like pad stitching by hand or hand sewing coat linings).
I’ve had a few friends and relatives mention casual hand tingling or pain and I’m like, STOP what you’re doing NOW and handle it!
Great tips here!!