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. However, 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! However, 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 and 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
Of course, 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. Again, 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?!
Oh wow I hadn’t thought about the dangers of crochet before! I’ve had to stop from bruises and tender spots, and once with a very small crochet hook I turned my finger into raw meat with too many little punctures. I never thought about death by crochet though!
@mostlynerdycrochet … I can see getting some punctures from the smaller and sharper crochet hooks. It can be scary – gotta be careful!!!
Some of the hooks used in 1876 were tiny and very sharp, so it would be like an ice pick driven into the childs head (shudder!!!!) Many of the hooks actually had caps to be placed over them when they were not in use.
I have callouses on my fingers from many years of the hook and thread rubbing against them, but I still get blisters from time to time.
@Annwhite … That sounds so scary! I’m glad that they’ve changed since then!
I got not only tennis elbow (on the outside of the arm) but golfers elbow (on the inside). It was so bad I couldn’t turn a doorknob. I got cortisone shots & orders of “No crochet until I clear you” from the Dr. Sad time for me. Still took 3 rounds of acupuncture to fix it, but it’s good now. I do stretches now to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
@Cyndie – Never thought of those particular injuries. Ouch! I’m glad that you’re doing better now!!
I stepped on a size 1 dpn, about 4″ of it went into my foot & ankle. It happened on easter sunday a few years ago, I was out of work for a week but thank goodness the needle missed anything important.
@AnastaciaKnits – Ouch!!!
of course I’ve got a story about this one! How funny that they have an actual code from the ER!
@danidoesdoilies Yeah, I found that so interesting!
I have actually had a steel crochet hook stuck in my finger to the bone. Still haven’t figured out I did it!
especially the hook inside the…bodily orifice! YUCK!
You might also want to Google “Crochet Hook in Lung” and “Crochet hook through both orbits” ;)
@CrochetVids EEEK!
I have been diagnosed with De Quervain’s tendonitis {a painful inflammation of the tendons that control the movement of the thumb} due to crocheting without taking frequent breaks. I can’t stress enough the importance of taking frequent breaks coupled with hand/wrist exercises. Ergonomic crochet hooks can also ease the stress on your hands.
When I was about ten had crochet hook in my mouth was in a rocking chair my brother pushed chair over hook lodged in the back of my mouth. Had to go to hospital to have it taken out . It was a J size hook
Eek!
On Saturday night I stepped on a crochet hook that was in a ball of wool on the floor. It went straight into my foot about 4 cm (pointy end) and only just missed my bone. It was so painful!! It was in a total of 8 hours before the nurse used local anaesthetic to get it out. I won’t be leaving hooks on the floor again! Abby