Anyone else experiencing this?

Sarendipity · April 2012

I am 23 weeks pregnant. In the last week or so, I have been having some intermittant elbow pain. Now I have wrist pain. The wrist pain feels almost like a soreness, and sometimes my fingers feel sore too. I am also having some similar pain in my ankles occasionally.

Is this related to pregnancy, or not? I have heard of pregnancy related carpal tunnel, and hand/foot swelling due to water retention or higher BP.

I thought I'd bring it up at my next OB appt just in case. What do you mamas think?

LilTexasPeanut · April 2012

I don't have any experience with this, but I did read about this on the earlier month boards for the moms who were closer to delivery dates. It seemed fairly common for them to be experiencing some sort of carpal tunnel. If I were going through this...I'd go lurking, just to see some feedback/stories....

RachMHB · April 2012

It sounds like potential pregnancy-related carpal tunnel. I work in safety/ergonomics, and it's common with pregnant women. Do you have a job where you are at a computer all day?

MrsWhipple · April 2012

I have pain/numbness/swelling in my hands/wrist and have started wearing wrist guards at night. It makes it bearable enough to sleep, but hasn't made it go away. I plan on talking to my doctor about it at my next appt next week.

Andreabks · April 2012

i know what you're feeling, but i had it long before pregnancy so i'm not much help on that part.

i'm thankfull that so far the tendonitis in my hands/wrists hasn't flared up yet (it will when i start hand quilting in a month or so). I hope you can find relief. ice doesn't feel good at the moment, but may help in the long run. also, if you've started sleeping on your side, you may be sleeping on your hands funny (i've done it for years and its part of my tendon issue) so i would sugest maybe geting a support brace for sleeping. the ones at wallmart/target with the metal rods have helped me out a bunch.

Sarendipity · April 2012

I sure do. I am an attorney, so I sit at the desk all day and am on the computer a lot. Are there any remedies or things I can do to make my workspace more ergonomic?

I work for a non profit, so it'd have to be low budget. It'll come out of my own pocket.

Maybelle10 · April 2012

I started having this problem a few weeks ago. It started off as soreness. Now its tingly numbness in my fingertips, and wrist pain. Mostly through the night, and into the morning. But it tends to wear off as the day goes on. I mentioned it to my doctor and she pretty much blew it off and just told me to get wrist braces. She said it usually subsides within a few weeks after delivery. Just more run of the mill discomfort! Haha.

RachMHB · April 2012

Sarendipity:

I sure do. I am an attorney, so I sit at the desk all day and am on the computer a lot. Are there any remedies or things I can do to make my workspace more ergonomic?

I work for a non profit, so it'd have to be low budget. It'll come out of my own pocket.

Start by looking at your desk height. When you sit with your arms in typing position, your desk should be approximately ~1 inch lower than your elbow height. If you have an adjustable desk, then you can raise or lower it appropriately. If you need to lower it but it's not adjustable, try raising your chair instead. If you do have to raise your chair (and even if you don't), look at the angle of your legs. Are your knees bent at around 90 degrees? If not, then try a foot rest (you can also use a box, reams of paper, etc. Stuff lying around that you can't get your feet tangled in will work).

You will also want to look at your wrist position while you are typing. The key is to have your wrists neutral, or fairly straight. Are your wrists bending in toward your thumb, or out toward your pinky? If it's the latter, you may need a smaller keyboard. If they are bending in, you may want to consider an ergonomic keyboard. They can be expensive if you are paying out of pocket, but I have one and will never, ever go back. Alternatively, if this has only come on during pregnancy, you could try wrist braces like pps have suggested as an interim fix.

Make sure your monitor screen is right in front of you, roughly an arm's length away. It should be positioned so that when you look straight ahead, you're looking directly about 1/4-1/3 of the way from the top of the screen. Good tip - if you have Outlook or Word open, your line of sight should be just where you would start typing your email or document, below all the menus.

The best thing you can do for yourself is remember to take breaks and get up, walk around, and stretch. It really will help.

If you need more tips, try googling ergonomic assessments and look for how-tos. Good luck!

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