Why I Started Knitting Because of My Chronic Pain

I’m fairly new at knitting, but it has already made positive changes in my life.

First, a little back story. I’ve been struggling with chronic pain for around six years, but 2017 has been by far the worst year yet. It’s been worse than the year I had back-to-back surgeries, the year I had to quit a job I liked because I was no longer capable. My pain levels have been out of control, I had a bad run in with a doctor while searching for answers. I did finally get a diagnosis, but it came with the obvious side effect of “we can’t do anything for you.”

During all of this, I was looking for something positive to do with my life. It felt like the whole world was against me and I didn’t want to be in that place. Someone suggested that I try knitting. I laughed at first, it sounded way-y-y too hard to learn. However, I started looking into it and realized it wasn’t too hard, there’s lots of tutorials online. As I started learning to knit I realized that knitting isn’t just a pastime, there’s actually a lot of ways to give back with this particular craft. Hospitals can use baby hats and blankets, hats for cancer patients, afghans for homeless shelters. The possibilities are endless.

This isn’t all that I found about knitting, I also discovered that it works as a pain management tool for me.

When the pain is so bad that I can’t concentrate, I can still knit. In return it calms my anxiety about the pain because I have something else to focus on. On days where I’m must rest and recover, I can knit, and I don’t feel quite as useless. I take my knitting to doctor’s offices and therapy, two places that wait times can be long and can sent off a panic attack if the pain is bad. It gives me something to look forward to and something to talk about since my world has whittled down to nothing.

I’m not saying it will work for everyone, but if even one of you fellow pain warriors gets some relief from this post, it will be worth it. Hang in there, all of you!

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Thinkstock Image By: djedzura