Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - from breastfeeding?

[islingtongirl]

I think I have this - numbness and tingling in hands at night, getting worse and hand feeling weaker, especially left hand side. I think its from the hold when I bf 10 week old DD and she often has a nap on me when out and we seem to favour the left hand side. Another reason I think its carpal tunnel is my mum had it badly after having me and had to have an op in the end on the nerves in the wrist does anyone have/had similat symptoms? What worked for you to relieve it? I don't want it to get worse and its driving me mad already and affecting my sleep (annoying as DD has just started sleeping much better but now something else is keeping me up!). I could try other bf positions but the cradle type hold I do works well and DD is used to it....

[AnythingNotEverything]

I was thinking about starting a thread on this. I had mild carpal tunnel towards the end of pregnancy and it has gotten worse in my thumb/wrist since DD was born 6 weeks ago.

I find rest helps - I lift her with the fingers of my bad hand rather than with her armpit on the bit between my thumb and forefinger, which helps, but I seem to catch it accidentally, like when tucking her blankets under her mattress.

I have my six week check this week so am going to mention it. I haven't done any exercises but ice sounds like a good idea if it is inflammation.

This feels like a good thread for mutual support - I'll feed back if I learn anything interesting.

[BraveLilBear]

Sounds like this is quite common. Anyone with thumb pain though it might be mother's thumb rather than carpal tunnel - it's generally caused by lifting babies from under their armpits.

I qas suffering from this a few weeks ago and managed to splint my thumb with some strapping (have needed spicas twice in the past due to sports injuries so worked out how to immobilise it in the right position) for a couple of days.

It helped a lot as it forced me to get more creative with how I lift and hold DS (19 weeks) to vary the strain.

However, I did find that he often gives me pins and needles/tingling in wrists if his head rests on my wrist while feeding.

I definitely think it's a good idea to see GP though if you're suffering with carpal tunnel or mother's thumb symptoms - besides anything else, carpal tunnel can be a symptom of thyroid problems which aee apparently common after birth. They might b able to check for that,too.

[BraveLilBear]

Sorry for spelling - on phone... another cause of strain lol!

[catellington]

I have wrist pain, sounds like tendonitis others have.

I'm bf dd who us 9.5 months

I haven't found a solution, I tried a sports massage which helped temporarily. She told me the thumb / wrist joint is vulnerable as it's the only example of a saddle joint in the body, which has a full range of motion. Not sure if that's right or not but I thought interesting.

[Bellini28]

Another one here. Had carpel during pregnancy and post delivery pain in left hand. Saw an orthopaedic surgeon who diagnosed de Quervain syndrome. Was told first stage to wear support glove (am on first stage) second topical medicine. Third injections and if all else fails, surgery.

I pray this goes away. In fact this has been far worse than my c section recovery. Damn annoying too! I sympathise ladies!

[Sleepyfergus]

I don't think I had carpel tunnel - in fact doctors said I didn't, but I did have pains that were akin to arthritis in my hands after dd1 was born. My fingers became very stiff and sore, especially if I knocked them. Te mornings were the worse as they so stiff I could hardly move them. I used to massage them gently under a warm rubbing tap until they eased up a bit

It was all very strange and nobody really knew what it was but tended to link it to breastfeeding and hormones. It cleared up by itself after a few months (I bf exclusively til 6 months and then gradually dropped feeds over the next 6 months) and just went away.

Didn't get it at all with dd2!

[scrivette]

I had it too, it went away when DS was about a year (and feeding less). I used to find that laying on my back to sleep with my palms facing upwards helped as it meant they weren't bent during the night.

[LilPeasMama]

Hi all,
I have this too, it started a month after LO was born.
I have been referred to orthopaedic dept after Christmas so hopefully something will be done.
It started in my right hand, tips of fingers being numb to the pain radiating up my arm when feeding the baby but now seems to have eased on my right hand and moved to my left.
Now the tips of my left fingers are now permanently numb