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Infants, Toddlers, & Preschoolers
Any sort-of-new Moms with Carpal Tunnel
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Anonymous
| I realize this is a bit off-topic, but I have a 4-month old and suddenly both of my wrists are really bothering me. It hurts when I have the heavy carseat carrier and kills me at random times (this morning was making a peanut butter sandwich and was holding a butter knife in the peanut butter jar and got this shotting/electrical like pain shooting down my forearm). It has happened in both wrists and it can hurt to hold the baby at times. I know you can have carpal tunnel DURING pregnancy, but post-partum carpal tunnel? Have any other new Moms had this AFTER pregnancy? It is bad enough that I am going to have to make a doctor's appt and if DH can't leave work, will have to take DS with me! |
Anonymous
| YES! One of my wrists (dominant hand) has been KILLING me for a month or so now. DS is almost 6 months. I don't know what the heck it is but thought it could be related to lifting and carrying my huge baby! I don't have any advice but just sympathizing ... |
Anonymous
| get those carpel tunnel braces and wear them at night or when wrists are really hurting. This helped tremendously for me. Another mom recommended it and my doc approved. |
IansRecovery
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I started having these tingly sensations in my hands and fingers as well. Holding certain things will make the tingling worse. I find that holding my hands up relieves the situation, but it's only temporary. It, from what I can remember, started after my first pregnancy. That was almost 12 years ago, and I assumed that the symptoms were related to water retention or extra weight.
Fast forward, 9 more years.....symptoms have gotten worse. Tingly sensations while holding the steering wheel and hands throbbing in pain at night in certain positions. I finally figured out that it WASN'T what I thought it was. It was compression in my spine affecting the nerves going in to my arms and into my hands. For the past year, I've been working with a special kind of massage therapist who is able work these kinks out. It has made a huge difference in my life. The tinglies are down by 80%, I'd say, which is a drastic improvement, considering that I was ready to seek out a surgeon to fuse my spine. If you seek out an osteopath, you can probably get the same type of therapy done...it's called OMM (Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine). I hope this helps. |
Anonymous
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I went to the doctor for this. Its probably not carpal tunnel, its this thing called "new mothers syndrome" or " de Quervain’s Tendonitis"
http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00007 |
Anonymous
| I had the same thing from between about 2mo pp to around 6mo, when it cleared up. I tried doing some arm stretches and rotations to keep blood flowing and to keep from getting too stiff, but it really went away on its own. |
Anonymous
21:10 here. Thanks PP! This is DEFINITELY what I have. My wrist wasn't hurting right now and I did the test they recommend for diagnosis and it KILLED. When you went to the doctor, what did they do? Will this go away on its own eventually if I don't do anything? OP, does this sound like your problem, too?? |
Anonymous
| Oh, thank you. This is OP. I'm glad to see I am not alone in this. I have been wondering what the heck is going on! Both thumbs hurt, both wrists, and it is random - like putting dishes away tonight was quite painful. I will google the websites you suggested, PPs. Also will look into splints. I hate the idea of yet another doctor (postpartum OB visits, frequent visits to the pediatrician's office for check-ups vaccines, but if I need to see someone, will make an appointment). BTW, what kind of doctor would you see for wrist/forearm pain?! |
Anonymous
| OP again. Just did the "new mothers syndrome" or " de Quervain’s Tendonitis" and no pain at all. I think I'm doing it right. Sorry it hurts 21:10 but at least you sort of have a diagnosis thanks to 21:26. |
Anonymous
| OP, when you breastfeed, do you use one hand to position your breast? I'm full-breasted and always felt that I had to hold my breast back the entire time while my baby nursed so that it wouldn't smother him! I started having terrible pain in my hands and wrists. The doctor said it was probably just from holding the baby and that he had lots of patients with similar complaints, but I noticed that it went away about 6 weeks after I stopped nursing. |
Anonymous
21:16 Here. Doc suggested and I did a week of advil and it helped a ton. I also tried to use the Ergo a bit more than usual so I wasn't carrying the baby around quite as much. It disappeared around 8 months but oh my god, before that it was awful. I used to wake up i the morning with a clicking wrist, couldn't write or use scissors and opening jars with lids was agony. Take comfort in knowing it wil go away. |
Anonymous
| I have the same...DD is 6 months. I thought it was Blackberry thumb (always on my phone when the baby is napping on me). Glad to know that I'm not alone! |
Anonymous
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Yes, I had it. It was so, so, so, SOOO painful. There were times I was scared I would drop DS because my wrist would suddenly seize up.
I bought a brace from CVS. That helped a little, but it was a pain in the butt because I had to constantly take it off when I washed my hands. Then, like magic, the pain just disappeared around 5 months. It went away all on its own. Weird! But I'm not complaining! |
Anonymous
| I had it in both wrists from late in my 3rd trimester until DD was about 4-5 months. I had to wear braces on both wrists and in the middle of the night it would take me about 5 minutes to shake out my wrists before I could pick my screaming, hungry baby up. I had no idea CT was so painful! It did go away though. My Dr. recommended surgery but I just waited it out. |
Anonymous
| NP to add something about DeQuervain's for those who have it. It will go away with treatment like braces and anti-inflammatories for some people but not for others. I had to have surgery. I tried a brace, anti-inflammatories, oral cortisone and two cortisone shots (over an 8 month period). The surgery is highly effective. I'd say as a first step you must get a brace--not just a wrist support brace, you need a spica brace. Some pharmacies carry them (the Rexall in Vienna does) or order online. |