CARPAL TUNNEL AND TENDONITIS

[mailbox_10022]

hi! are any post-partum women having serious hand problems that were not present pre-natally? Doctors were telling me, don't worry - the swelling and numbness will go away, however it had not so I went to a hand specialist.

I've been diagnosed with serious carpal tunnel & tendonitis of the thumb) dequervain's syndrome). I'm in custom-made splints - but as you can imagine, it's not convenient when you need to hold a baby. I can only wear them when I sleep.

My sister also has this (she has a 15 month old) and she's now left with the options of hand surgery or ongoing physical therapy (helps - but does not alleviate pain).

Any info on this for future prevention and ideas to help manage the pain?

[tingzon72]

Get a sling and/or a My Brest Friend Pillow. These items will help you feed and hold the baby w/o putting additional pressure on the hands. I will elaborate more on Mommy's Milk & More, please tune in.

Veronica Tingzon

[mailbox_10022]

i use a my brest friend - but the fact that a new mom has to carry the baby all the time gives no time for healing. i've tried to baby bjorn my son at home but he doesn't enjoy it. would a sling be better?

[tingzon72]

Perhaps a sling would be better. Also, get a neck massage. Hand and neck are very interconnected!

~Vernica

[annie-oxidant]

Don't do the surgery! I'm a massage therapist with certification in neuromuscular therapy. Active trigger points in your muscles and connective tissue (activated by doing new things with new weight for new amounts of time) can create symptoms that mimic carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitus. Some doctors don't think of this and send their clients off to the surgeon when a couple of sessions with a good massage therapist with NMT certification will solve the problem. See the massage therapist to release those trigger points in your muscles and fascia first!

[hathor]

Thank God someone else has experienced this. I don't mean that I'm glad you have it, just that I am SO tired of feeling like I'm the only one with Dequervain's disease. I had to tell my doctor about it after I did my own research online. I had pregnancy induced carpal tunnel that went away after I gave birth... but changed into that excruciating pain when I bent my wrist afterwards. It took me about a month post-partum to figure out that it only hurt when I bent it a particular way- and God forbid if I accidently touch the side of my wrist!! Dequervain's sucks.

I refuse to have surgery. What we've been able to find out is that there is a theory that prolactin causes the symptoms, so I've been told that if I stop breastfeeding, I should get better. And I say no, I think I'd rather just deal with the pain and inconvenience for a year or two than to not give my baby the benefits of breast milk.

My baby is 15 weeks old now. I don't use splints because of the way my symptoms manifest. Sometimes the pain is so much that I can't help but cry when I have to use my hands for anything, sometimes I feel almost normal again. It's those time when I feel almost normal that trick me, because I'm not as careful. I bumped my wrist against a doorway last week at work and dissolved into tears of pain, gulping of air and all. It hurts to the point where I can't breathe. I think the pain is worse than childbirth.

I've tried massage, I've tried hot and cold therapy, I've tried Motrin, I've tried everything I can think of. The only thing that works for me is to not touch anywhere near the inside of my wrist, to keep them immobile when I can (which I hate, anyway), and the OCCASIONAL Motrin for the really, really bad days.

If you find anything else that works (other than surgery), PLEASE let me know!

[hathor]

....and now I see when this post was made. Darnit!
Well, mailbox_10022, if you ever come back to this post, please update us. Namely, me. :)

[kiernan]

That's ok, hathor. I'm with you on this too. My carpal tunnel started at about 30 weeks, and my doctor diagnosed me with Dequervains about 3 months post-partum. I wore the brace for a while, but realized that I too could only wear it during sleep, which made the brace useless. They told me that only immobilization of the tendon will allow it to heal, but there's no way I can wear a brace and care for a baby. Not even considering the fact that I wash my hands 20 times a day, the metal bar in the brace hurts my baby, and I'd rather be in pain than that.

I've had a shot of cortisone, which seems like it would have been great, if I had actually been able to immobilize the wrist. So far, I have no hope in sight.

I have about 50% of normal usage in my hand/wrist and my right thumb. I can't grab anything firmly with my right hand, so I drop things a lot. My left hand is beginning to show similar symptoms, and I'm pregnant again, so I won't be surprised to see tendinitis in my left hand this year as well.

I'm still looking for healing options, and will keep an eye on this thread to see if anyone else finds any success along the way.

[mailbox_10022]

Hi all,

I just happened to look here and so many people wrote. Well, the update is - I had cortisone shots in both wrists. The left one twice and once in the right.

WHile they took the pain away for months - I fear that it's coming back. For the most part it is due to picking up my baby under his arms. I try to carry him with my forearms now (his butt rests on my forearms - I carry him like a bundle). But as he gets heavier, my arms hurt and I think the wrists/dequervains get activated. But, how can you not carry your baby?

The doctor (hand specialist) said ice it 2x a day with a cold can of soda (easiest thing) and wear the splints. However, I have not been disciplined in doing either.

I would like to try massage - or acupuncture. I have had great results with acupuncture for other things - but at $80-$85/session - it's a bit expensive for me right now.

No surgery yet....we'll see. In Mass. you cannot get more than 3 shots per location of cortisone so I"m near my max.