Wrist pain?

mamatotwins0812 · July 2013

I've been suffering with awful wrist pain since the boys were newborns. I googled it a while back and *think* I have what's called "mommy thumb" which is the common name for the type of tendinitis it is. Apparently it is caused by "incorrectly" picking up your child (which is basically the only way I know how- btwn thumb and pointer finger under the babies arms). Anyway the pain is horrific and it feels as if my wrist snaps and locks in an incorrect position momentarily until it snaps back again. I wear a carpel tunnel brace at night and it helps ever so slightly but I can't wear it while taking care of them. From what I hear the only remedies are cortisone shots or surgery, neither of which I'm very excited about doing anytime soon, so was just curious if any fellow MoM's have experienced this and had any successful tips? It's kinda hard to have a bum wrist when taking care of 2 babies all day

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ShopperKristi · July 2013

Yes! It's also called tenosynovitis and I actually started getting it before my guys were born but once they were here it got a lot worse. It is excruciating if it gets bumped, turning a doorknob, at night, etc. basically it hurt ALL the time and I finally got cortisone shots four months post-partum. That worked for about a month or two and it came back. I was so worried I would have to have surgery but I ignored it for a while and now it is gone...almost 10 months after delivering the boys. The shots weren't bad, they spray sometching cold on your wrist while they give it to minimize the feeling and honestly it didn't hurt any worse than the pain that made me recoil every time my wrist got bumped! Go to the ortho, ESP if your insurance covers it since you've probably hit your OOP max for the year anyway. You won't regret it and once you get those shots you'll wonder why you lived with it for so long!

LISAF1197 · July 2013

I had it with my first pregnany. and it is very painful. It was especially bad during the night when I was sleeping..it would always twist and lock. The brace definitely helped me, and after a few weeks of wearing it, it went away.

jessibel00 · July 2013

Yep! I got it too. I've been wearingwrist support wraps and I can wear them while I take care of them. They are only like $8 at Walgreens. I know I need to go to the dr, but they are helping quite a bit for now.

Rachel Goldstein · July 2013

I have it as well. It started in my right hand when I was about 6 months pregnant, then as compensation for not using my right hand as much my left hand developed it even worse. It got worse after they were born and I talked to my OB about it. She said it's common for breastfeeding mothers because you body keeps the relaxin hormone in full swing which is causing the laxity in your tendon which is why it "locks" up. It's actually your tendon getting stuck on your wrist bones in a position it shouldn't because the tendons are loose from hormones.

I actually just today called my PT who treated my SPD during pregnancy and she told me she will give me some exercises to strengthen the wrist but that it wont go away until after I stop BF and my hormones regulate back to normal.

I wear thumb spica splints every night and as much as I can during the day and try not to pick the boys up with my thumbs but full hands. My PT told me that Cortisone injections aren't going to actually correct the problem, they just make it tolerable and she doesn't recommend them because you can actually make it worse by the false sense of "healing" they cause... I'm still debating getting them anyway. Just thought I'd chime in with what I learned from her today though! Sorry you're dealing with the same pain!

PumpkinAndThePeanut · July 2013

I have it too and am seeing a hand surgeon next week for an initial consultation. I had bad carpal tunnel during my pregnancy and assumed it was still that, but only recently learned it was actually this tenosynovitus. I got a thumb brace at Target over the weekend and it has helped a lot [the wrist guards I wore when pg didn't help with this at all].

ppants · July 2013

I had horrible tendonitis in my elbow from carrying kids. Dr gave me a prescription anti-inflammatory to take for several months. It did go away after that.

Corleyrae · July 2013

3 weeks pp here and I am no help but so glad to know Im not crazy. I feel like nobody on my BMB had this problem.
I wore braces the last half of my pregnancy and sometimes now night or day. I have good and bad days.

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