Ow ow ow ow OWWWWW!

 

No, that wasn't my impression of a werewolf, that was my impression of a nadgery old goat suffering from severe elbow pain. Though I'm of an age where arthritic pain is commonplace (even saying it in a sentence is making me groan) I've never really suffered with it before, but I think my years of gaming, mouse wrangling and generally using my right arm for anything I can to occupy my mind (matron) have finally taken their toll and that means no knitting and crocheting for a while. 

The pain is weird, and though I've had it for nearly a month (probably made worse by me cramming in a load of last-minute Amigurumi \makes' for Christmas) it's definitely been plaguing me more as the cold weather bites down. 

I've been trying to knit (slowly) over the last few days and I can manage a few rows of the thing I'm working on before I have to give up. Oh the irony of leaving crochet and knitting till this late in life eh? 

I did a bit of reading up on what other folk who suffer from this end up doing, and it's clear that the best advice comes from the "common sense" hat, and basically breaks down to the usual advice you're given if you get creaky old joints. 

• Ramp up your fish oil intake (I take cod liver oil already as I can't even eat oil thanks to my knackered gall bladder)
• Sit comfortably when you do anything involving micro-movements of your elbow or wrist (for knitting, the constant looping of yarn over, or for crocheting the twist of the hook in and out of stitches would do it)
• Quit when it hurts, not ten hours after it starts hurting!

I've always been fairly fit and active, but sometimes even that isn't enough to guarantee that pain like this won't strike you down. How annoying though, just as I felt like I was getting somewhere with all of this.