I was wondering if anyone can tell me what are the best crochet hooks to use. My hands and wrist kill me even

after a few moments of crocheting. I use Susan bates hooks now and I have bought the soft sleeves to go over them and they do not work. Please help!! I love to crochet.

I was wondering if anyone can tell me what are the best crochet hooks to use. My hands and wrist kill me even
Try massaging and stretching your hands a few times a day ... it might help keep them from hurting so quickly well doing what you love.
Reply:Clover makes hooks with ergonomic handles which are wide and have a thumb rest. They look something like rug hooks. However, it sounds as though you may have some technique problems that have let to a repetitive stress injury like carpal tunnel. It could be that you are holding your hooks in a death grip or working too long at a stretch. You may want to try wearing a wrist splint at night, or something like Hand-Eze (R) gloves which are made out of lycra. I find that these help me when I knit too long at a stretch or spend too much time on the computer.





Yes, you'll feel a repetitive stress injury just below the thumb, it's in the tendons of the muscles that help control your thumb and the nerves coming through the bones of your wrists. If this is as serious a problem as you are making this sound, then you really need to see your doctor. Hand-Eze gloves may help ease the pain, as will ergonomic hooks, and wearing a wrist splint at night, but you can surely be developing arthritis and CTS that will require surgery.
Reply:I use hand-eze goves and you wouldn't believe how well they work. You might need ibuprofen at first along with the gloves. They sell the gloves in drugstores.





I had weakness along with the pain, and it turned out I had carpal tunnel syndrome, caused by folding my wrists over while I sleep. A wrist brace, also available at the drugstore, worn at night, stops me from bending my wrist while I sleep and made the pain go away in a few weeks.


.


.
Reply:Carpal tunnel syndrome is nothing to play around with!


Once it gets established, it may never go away (even with surgery).





If that's what you have (and it's fairly common), you should read up on it. Then try the things recommended (braces, special gloves, larger handles, exercises), but most importantly DON'T do the motions which accompany the pain for long stretches of time... this is not something you can just get through by ignoring the pain, and you may need a period of rest and inactivity for those motions to heal.


If those things don't work though, you really should see a doctor and possibly a specialist, to see what your options are and make sure you've tried all the simpler things you can.





It's possible that's not what you have, but as I said repetitive strain injuries and carpal tunnel syndrome are common problems for those who do things involving a lot of identical "repetitive motions".





Check out these links for more info:





http://www.google.com/search?gbv=2%26amp;hl=en...





http://www.google.com/search?gbv=2%26amp;hl=en...








Good luck!





Diane B.
Reply:Have you tried the arthritis gloves? They are supposed to help. Look on the notions counters of fabric stores for these. They cover mostly just the hands. My husband has a pair to wear for his fine leather carving and other things.
Reply:i think that your problem is probably how you hold the hook, especially since the pain starts right away, and not after a while. This means that it is not from your hands getting tired. Try the ergonomic crochet hook. It is nice because the actual hook interchangeable so it has a bunch of sizes.





http://store.knitting-warehouse.com/0740...





You could also try wooden hooks. They are actually more forgiving than plastic hooks and recommended for people with arthritis. Susan Bates is not the best quality.
Reply:I have been crocheting for over 50 years and always used Boye hooks. Recently though I switched to Clover Soft Touch hooks and my hands love them. JMF



tanning