7 Reasons Why Your Thumb Pain Keeps Coming Back When You Knit (And How One Splint Fixes It)

Margaret Whitmore

Margaret Whitmore

Summary: Nobody told you the joint at the base of your thumb is sliding, not failing. That's not your fault.

Read on to find the solution.

1. It clicks when you knit and goes quiet when you stop. Age doesn't do that.

1. It clicks when you knit and goes quiet when you stop. Age doesn't do that.

Arthritis from age doesn't come and go with the stitching. A loose joint does. The joint is the CMC, at the base of your thumb, and years of gripping the needle have worn the ligament that holds it steady. Every stitch shifts it past itself. That's why it flares twenty minutes in, and why you say one more row anyway.

2. Resting it doesn't tighten it back up

Your body swells the tissue to protect the joint, and the swelling stiffens it, so the next stitch hurts more. So you stop. Two weeks in the drawer and it settles, but nothing else does. It isn't a hobby. It's your sanity, your therapy, the thing that gets you through the day. Then you pick them up and within the hour it's back, usually worse.

3. Every other brace holds the wrong thing

3. Every other brace holds the wrong thing

Compression gloves squeeze the swelling. Rigid splints lock the whole thumb. Neither one holds the joint that's actually moving. The Knitter's Adjustable Thumb Splint is moulded to sit over that one joint and hold it steady while your thumb still bends — and the strap lets you set exactly how much hold you want. Not a squeeze. Not a cast. A stop.

4. The Knitter's Adjustable Thumb Splint

4. The Knitter's Adjustable Thumb Splint

Every splint that holds the joint also takes your hand out of the game. This one leaves all four fingers free, so you grip and tension the yarn exactly as you always have. Knitters, crocheters, quilters, hand-sewers: the grip stays yours.

5. Built by a hand therapist, not a marketing team

5. Built by a hand therapist, not a marketing team

Designed with Dr. Simmons, a hand therapist with 7 years treating knitters and crocheters. These were the patients she watched get handed a golfer's brace and sent home. She shaped the support around how a knitter's thumb actually moves.

6. The advice you keep getting doesn't hold the joint

"Rest it." "Switch to Continental." "Find another hobby." Rest doesn't hold the joint, and plenty of lifelong Continental knitters click anyway. A cortisone shot buys a few months, then less, then the talk turns to surgery.

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[Most knitters order two, since they are hand wash only]

7. Your thumb doesn't take days off, so this doesn't either

Soft, lightweight, vented so your hand doesn't get hot and sweaty. One low-profile strap that sits back at the wrist, well clear of your working fingers. Comfortable enough to stay on for a whole afternoon, not twenty minutes at a stretch.

8. The simpler it is, the more you'll use it

8. The simpler it is, the more you'll use it

Strap it on. Cast on. Take it off at night. Your thumb isn't the same size at nine in the morning as it is after three hours of stitching, so snug it up to cast on and ease it off for a long sitting. One strap, one second, no fighting it. No referral, no waiting list, no learning to knit again at seventy.

9. Over 30,000 people stopped putting their wool away

Less clicking. Longer sittings. Finishing the blanket they'd told the grandchildren wouldn't be finished. Not miracles. Just what happens when the joint stops sliding.

10. If the click doesn't stop, you lose nothing

10. If the click doesn't stop, you lose nothing

60-day money-back guarantee. Wear it through a full afternoon of knitting. Still clicking? Send it back, return postage covered, no questions.

SUMMER SALE
Limited time sale

50% Off

While stocks last

Sell-Out Risk: VERY HIGH

60-Day Money-Back Guarantee

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17 comments
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Olivia Wilson
Can anybody vouch for these?
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Emily Lewis
Yes, the Knitter's Adjustable Thumb Splint is the only thing that helps. It provides firm, stable support right at the base of the thumb without limiting your movement. Before, the pain at the base of my thumb got so bad I had to stop knitting after twenty minutes. With this splint, I'm back to knitting most evenings again.
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Annie Jones
Crocheting is my life line. Yes, arthritic pain. I am not stupid enough to go near a doctor. Knitting for 61 years and crocheting for 33 years.
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Zoe Cummings
Mine just arrived today, thank you! I'm knitting again. I had to stop for a while but the suppopry works beautifully which is why I have ordered more. (I don't want to wear one out and have to shelve my needles again) Thank you for developing this.
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Dawn Taylor
Thanks for putting this on, I am having problems with recovering from a trigger finger op , after previous successful ops on other fingers in the past. You inspired me to be proactive and have an appointment with a hand remedial clinic so hopefully this will ease my problem.
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Sheila Simmons
I stopped knitting due to arthritis in my index fingers. I’ve now started felting, it’s just as satisfying.
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Shirley Baker
I am 71 and in the last 2 years had both thumb joints replaced and was told by my physio that the best exercise was knitting which has helped me get the movement back in my hands.
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Margaret Summers
Has anyone actually tried this? My thumbs have been getting worse for years and my doctor just keeps offering me cortisone shots. I'm 64 and frankly terrified of surgery.
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Susan White
Margaret I bought one in February. Wear this every time I sit down to knit and the deep ache has definitely reduced.
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Kathie Jackson
Switching from English style throwing to European style scooping helped me over a period of thumb problems, as did adopting shorter (the bit you hold) circular needles help my wrists.
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Pauline Smith
Ok but is it actually different from the $30 ones on Amazon?? I've bought about five of those over the years and every single one broke at the seam or lost its shape within a week.
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Janet Bailey
Pauline, I had the exact same thought. The Amazon ones fall apart or are so thick you can't hold your yarn. This splint gives firm support right at the joint while keeping your other fingers completely free. Two months in and the structure hasn't budged.
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Thelma Davies
Embroiders, Crocheters, have the same, problem with Arthritis. Painful, but, what else is there, when you love it so much, plus if you’re in a group , it’s extra special. We have to keep our fingers and, brain active. I have been hand sewing for over seventy years, and, don’t intend to stop now. Just adapt.
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Jennifer Bale
It doesn't say whether it's for the left or right hand. I need it for my right hand.
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Julie McGrann
Jennifer, it's fully adjustable and fits either hand comfortably! It targets the base of the thumb securely on either side.
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Avery Jackson
Does anyone know how long the shipping takes? Want to buy some for the girls at knit n natter
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Linda Wright
Hey Avery, mine arrived after about a week
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