I am writing a book about the health benefits of crochet. (Have a related story to share? Email me on gmail at kathryn.vercillo!) Because of this, I do daily research into all of the wonderful ways in which crochet can help and heal us. Tuttavia, there’s an opposite end to that spectrum – sometimes crochet can hurt us! I was surprised to find out recently (thanks to posts on Crochet Spot and Craft Gossip) that there’s actually a medical code that is used by health professionals to note when an injury has been caused by crocheting.
Code Y93D1
That’s the medical code that you’re going to have on your paperwork if you receive medical care due to injuries sustained from crocheting or knitting. CraftGossip has a good post about what exactly this medical code is all about. I was surprised to learn that there’s a specific code for these needlework injuries as well as for all types of other weird injuries!
Crazy Crochet Injuries
Not sure quite what harm your crochet hook can do to you? Here are some crazy crochet injuries that I know about:
- Child’s Death from Puncture of the Brain by Crochet Hook. A google search turned up The Lancet on Google Books and that has an 1876 news report in it about a two and a half year old who somehow got a crochet hook lodged into her head. It was pulled out and there was no bleeding but she subsequently died from the hook penetrating the brain. This one sounds crazy. It seems like it would take an awful lot of force to get a crochet hook through the skull! Tuttavia, crochet hooks are also mentioned in a study about brain-penetrating wounds. Yuck.
- Child Falls on Crochet Hook and It Pierces Heart. The four year old girl needed to have surgery to repair her heart damage after the injury. Scary!
- Emergency Room Visit for Crochet Hook Inside Urethra. This has actually happened to both men e women!
- Woman Gets Shot Because of Crochet Hook. The police thought it was an ice pick and fatally shot her in their own defense.
- Woman Mugged for her Crochet Bag. Of course the teenager actually thought there was probably something else inside but nope, just crochet. The woman had some scrapes and bruises because of the encounter.
Putting a Crochet Hook Through Your Thumb
More Common Crochet Injuries
Naturalmente, these crazy crochet injuries aren’t very common. Some of the things that are more likely to happen to you because of crocheting include:
- Hand and Wrist Pain. This is common although it can sometimes get serious. Tina Dean Designs, who does great crochet plarn work, had this type of crochet injury confirmed by a doctor.
- Finger Pain. I’ve seen several crochet bloggers post over the past year that they had a finger injury due to crocheting too fast or accidentally jamming their finger somehow while working. Ouch.
- Bruising. I’ve gotten bruises on my hands before when improperly holding my crochet work. I have no idea if this is common or not.
- Paper Cuts. I’ve also gotten what are basically paper cuts when not being careful while crocheting with wire thread and thin thread. Ancora una volta, I don’t know if this is common, but it’s happened to me!
- Carpal Tunnel. There is some possibility of creating long term strain and getting carpal tunnel from frequent repetitive actions like crochet. However this is preventable and treatable. Use the right crochet hooks, take breaks when crocheting and pay attention to what your body is telling you!
Has crochet ever hurt you? Was it worth it?!
[...] Hewer is best known as the runner who knits while she’s doing her marathons. According to her blog, Extreme Knitting Redhead, she has run the London marathon half a dozen times and half of those times she was knitting the hole way. She holds the Guinness World Record for creating the longest scarf knit while running a marathon. I can’t believe there is more than one person that does that! They had better be careful or they’re going to need medical code Y93D1. [...]
[...] Eek! Gross! Pazzo Crochet Lesioni Hook! [...]
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