Blerg. Wrist Pain. What To Do???

After making a pair of slippers my right wrist decided to rebel against me.

It hurts.

And I know EXACTLY why... but I just can't do what I'm supposed to until the middle of November.

It's because I'm using a small crochet hook to make slippers with bulky yarn. Does your wrist hurt just thinking about it? Because mine sure does...

My only problem is that I LIKE the pattern, I could totally use a different, less bulky yarn (which I think I will do in the future!), but I don't want to. So I'm rebelling against my wrist which in turn, is rebelling against me.

I'm not a huge fan of taking pain killers (ok, that's not true all of the time because I got Oxy when I had my C-section and that shit was AMAZING...), I don't like taking painkillers like Tylenol or Ibuprofen daily - it's a huge hit to your liver and I KNOW there are other better-for-me alternatives.

Last night I layered lavender oil over peppermint oil which felt really good for about an hour and a half while I finished a slipper, but then once it wore off, well, the pain was there.

I should also mention - this isn't about bones, it's just about using muscles in my wrist, hand, lower forearm, and fingers that I don't normally use this much and the repetitive motion of crochet.

I'M JUST SO EXCITED TO FINISH THESE THINGS BECAUSE THEY ARE FREAKING AWESOME. I'm the one causing myself this pain - this doesn't usually happen.

Overnight I used Tiger Balm (I found a recipe that I can make myself, but I have to order Camphor and Menthol, which I'm hoping I won't end up on a no-fly list for because they're really hard to find...). Tiger Balm worked really well - no pain this morning, just a little muscle-soreness.

Which brings me to the next thing - strong wrists. My wrists are so much better after I exercise them (I know, super weird!), but if you google "wrist exercises" a whole bunch of them will come up - I also stretch my wrists every few minutes of crocheting, make sure I get a break, etc...

But I still have three slippers left. So I need to resort to forcing myself to rest.

But I probably won't do that.

Do you do any repetitive motions like crochet that cause you pain or discomfort? What works for you?