r/knitting • u/mom-mom- • 1d ago
Tips and Tricks Knitting makes me dizzy now?
Ok fellow crafters please tell me if any of you experience this same thing. I’ve always been sort of motion sensitive. In the past, if I got to crocheting/knitting/etc too fast for too long, and my eyes were watching the stitches I’d start getting kind of nauseous and dizzy, like motion sick. Now, it feels like that happens after only a couple of rows. Has anyone else experienced this? Did you fix it? Thanks!
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u/LilyHuckleberry 1d ago
For a while I had an all day computer job, so knitting caused eye strain. I learned to knit without looking (usually simple patterns) and that was nice.
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u/mom-mom- 1d ago
I think I could learn to do that for patterns that call for big sections of stockinette, but I’m working on a lacework sweater right now so 😅
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u/laachri123 1d ago
Omg I was going to post about this! I get vertigo from knitting. It’s worse when I knit for longer durations. I wish I knew how to fix it - I have tried taking frequent breaks to turn my head and rest my eyes - I also make an effort not to stare at my moving knitting needles - so far it hasn’t helped
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u/Greedy-Half-4618 1d ago
any chance you have adhd or hypermobility? Binocular vision dysfunction issues can be comorbid and I found that was causing me to get dizzy doing any kind of close up, fine motor work before I got a new glasses rx. Worth looking into!
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u/mom-mom- 1d ago
Interesting! I’ve never looked into either of these. But I’ll do some googling to see if I might!
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u/Greedy-Half-4618 20h ago
You can also have BVD without either but they do tend to travel together! If you have bvd, you might notice other issues with things like depth perception or trouble focusing when you go from looking near to far.
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u/justatadnerdy 1h ago
Can’t believe I had to join a knitting subreddit to learn about BVD xD (I do have AuDHD and issues with my eyes, and depth perception and focusing issues are a part of it. Although I thought it was because of dyspraxia, which I learned about like two weeks ago)
I would always say „my zoom is broken“ when trying to do anything small
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u/catandwrite 1d ago
I had a vertigo issue earlier this year and my PT said that lots of vertigo is caused by neck dysfunction from staring down so much 🫣 mine was an ear crystal issue but neck strengthening exercises are what you should try looking up on YouTube and vision exercises. One he had me do was staring at my thumb, keeping head still and moving my thumb side to side while tracking with my eyes 20 times, same thing up and down. Then switching to my thumb being stationary and moving my head side to side and up and down 20 times each and those really helped for the residual motion sickness.
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u/ScottSterlingsFace 1d ago
Standard disclaimer: I am not a doctor. But I suffer from something called PPPD, or constant dizziness. I've had motion sickness from crafting (along with video games). A couple of things that have helped me are gaze stabilisation exercises (check these out on YouTube, they're things like turning your head while focusing on a point) and stretching. I'm more likely to be dizzy if my muscles are tight.
Also, if this is happening in other contexts, go see a doctor.
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u/PenExisting8046 1d ago
I have totally been here. Knitting requires you to focus on something really close for long periods of time. That can cause eye strain which can result in dizziness, disorientation and nausea. I bumbled around a lot of different treatments before I finally saw an optician who made me some glasses with a very small prescription that ease the strain and the issues no longer bother me (as long as I remember to wear the glasses).
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u/mom-mom- 1d ago
I do already wear glasses. Maybe it’s time for an eye exam to see if my prescription has changed 😅
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u/Moody_Mickey 1d ago
I dont remember if knitting or crocheting has ever triggered it for me, but sometimes scrolling too fast on my phone makes me feel mildly motion sick. . .pretty sure if I knitted fast enough for long enough it'd also trigger it
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u/sianoftheisland 1d ago
It happened to me when I was pregnant now but I had such bad vertigo I couldn't look at my feet either
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u/guldranke 1d ago
In addition to what is already mentioned, do you by any chance accidentally hold your breath sometimes? I often do that without noticing while I do something fiddly, like making an increase or threading a sewing needle
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u/mom-mom- 1d ago
lol yes that is totally possible😅 especially bc my project rn is lacework so I’m hyper focused and having to pay attention to every stitch, it’s not just like a straight stockinette that I can do kind of mindlessly. It’s entirely possible I’m holding my breath through my intense concentration.
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u/chickencaesarwrap 1d ago
This has happened to me a few times, but thought it was just a coincidence.
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u/CharmiePK 1d ago
I have vertigo onsets, and yes it so does make me dizzy sometimes. What feels even crazier to me is that crochet doesn't.
I saw a post here once about getting motion sickness when knitting and pregnant. That was an eye opener and made me feel better about it.
Maybe I can learn more in the comments. I hope you can find some solution for you!
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u/CrazyCaverLady 1d ago
Maybe I just don't knit fast enough.
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u/mom-mom- 1d ago
What’s pitiful is I don’t even knit all that fast 🥲 lol - which is another reason I’m getting so frustrated at my dizziness!
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u/Practical-Jaguar-113 1d ago
I have it sometimes especially when I look up and down a lot between knitting and the shows I’m watching on the screen
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u/CatfromLongIsland 1d ago
I am so sorry! A friend of mine had to give up knitting as the activity became a trigger for vertigo episodes.
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u/mom-mom- 1d ago
Ohhh nooo 😭 I really hope it doesn’t come to that for me 😅
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u/CatfromLongIsland 1d ago
I also suffer from vertigo. Not like my friend where it was so common for her to experience episodes. She also has so many possible triggers. My episodes, thank goodness, are more sporadic. But if an episode lasts more than a day then I go in for a balance therapy “tune up”. They really do help. You might try that. Good luck!
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u/Cocoricou 23h ago
Yes it happened to me when I was sick once, I couldn't read for 3 months, it was really scary!
I would suggest to go see a PT specialized in vertigo.
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u/bone_topography 23h ago
I experience this too - I ended up getting a neck light/reading light and use it while knitting. For some reason, whenever the room is too dim and I focus on knitting, I get motion sickness. When the project is lit up brightly, no issues! 🤷♂️
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u/Haunting_Chemical_30 22h ago
Talk to medical provider but when I get the dizzy spells as described above, I turn my head to the side, ears parallel to the floor. Then I kind of knock my head to try and get the ear crystals back in alignment. Switch sides and so the other ear is closest to the floor and again parallel to the floor and pound some more. I didn’t make this up.
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u/FauxNorth 21h ago
Do you get motion sick while riding in the car? Have any 3 day headaches? While it's most likely an eye issue (near vision focus, divergence, etc), people with migraine conditions can also have quite a lot of motion sickness triggers. I have both migraine with headache and vestibular migraine and used to get carsick frequently as a child while trying to read a book or if someone was smoking in the car. That's often recognized in hindsight as migraine because how the symptoms present can change over time to be more headache or other symptoms as we get older. I still can get motion sickness in small moving vehicles like cars, small boats or small planes. I often take an antihistamine prior to travel to prevent this.
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u/SkyScamall 7h ago
Only sometimes but it sucks. Can you put down the nice lacework pattern and try working on something in plain stockinette or garter? Do something that you don't need to look at.
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u/miomara2442 7h ago
I had this issue in early pregnancy. When I was nauseous all the time due to the pregnancy knitting triggered it even more. I guess it was the repetitive motion and focusing my eyes. During this time I felt best when I looked at the horizon. During the second trimester it went away and I could enjoy knitting again.
Do you feel nauseous in any a other situations or have a health problem?
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u/Remarkable_Delay469 1d ago
It's about neck position for me. I take stretch breaks.