bf has caused carpal tunnel, anu suggestions?

[pamelat]

my baby is 13 weeks old, since she was born i have had discomfort in my hands, predominantly my right hand (am right handed) - it has got worse and my gp has said its carpal tunnel caused by breast feeding. Apparently some people get a lot of water retention whilst breast feeding and this causes it.
She said it will get better once I stop.
It really is quite uncomfortable and more importantly I cant now strap the car seat in, or do up bodysuits etc
My little girl already has 2 bottles of formula a day as I couldnt keep up with her (very hungry) demands and about 8 breast feeds
I didnt mind cutting down on the breast feeds but I dont want to stop altogether?
Anyone in a similar situation or know any hand exercises that could allievate it?

I have had this with all 3 of mine. I found that a hand splint in bed at night helps no end. it does ease - I can't say when as as soon as I had it I got the splints out.

I had this in the last two months of pregnancy. I would wake up with claw hands (literally, fingers frozen like claws & wouldn't move).

The only thing that worked for me was using hand splints while sleeping. They fix your hands/wrists in the resting position so the carpal tunnel stays open through the night. You take them off in the morning.

I hope it works for you. Good luck.

X-posts

I had this in both pregnancies... I really empathise.

I found splints did no good, but my last pregnancy I found a good chiropractor.. luckily had a friend I asked out of curiousity, and I got a good 4-6 weeks MASSIVE improvement until the symptoms returned and I paid them a visit again, well worth my DH driving an hour or so to see them!!

I have this (had it at work years ago and it has now reoccurred). I lose the feeling in my hands when I'm sleeping and whilst feeding and get very sharp pains if I put pressure on them.

I see a Mctimoney chiropractor (I had SPD during this pregnancy and she treated it) and she gives my wrists a good work over every 8 wks and this keeps it from being too painful.

There are exercises too - wrist rolling and flexing that help unblock the tunnels, I got taught most of them by a yoga teacher but you could probably google some suggestions. I think the important thing is to keep your wrists mobile but straight when putting them under pressure AND I'd recommend getting a good sling (I have found a hotsling or rebozo good for getting baby in and out) so that as she gets heavier, you are not putting even more pressure on your wrists.

Just tried this myslef and came up with the following
www.efuse.com/yoga/

and this
www.will-harris.com/yoga/rsi10.html

Hope that helps

have you heard of ulnar impingement? i think it may be what you have. i cannot get to the link from this computer but if it is then it will get better and you don't need to stop bf unless you want to.

Are you using your arms to breast feed?

I have similiar problems permenantly and have found that he physical act of supporting dd very painful. Try to position then free your arms....

I had what I thought was carpal tunnel, but was then diagnosed as tendonitis, which was again linked to water retention. The difference was it really hurt when I moved my thumbs outwards. (the basic position for b/f, nappy changing, picking baby up...)
At 8 weeks the doctor referred me to a physio, who basically said to rest them as much as possible and gave me splints to wear all day. They did say it would get better when i stopped b/f - which was pretty depressing at the time. It did go by about 3 / 4 months, but I did have to do very little for a month - no hoovering (!) and made dad do as many nappy changes as possible. And I didn't stop b/f as I really wanted to continue - rest was the main cure.

Anyway - my advice is to go back to doctor and see if they can get you some physio or a splint.
And hope it gets better soon.

I have a joint condition (Ehlers Danlos Syndrome) that affects all my joints. My DS is now 19 weeks, and my hands and wrists have been just horrid. It's not just breast feeding that causes it, it's all the picking up and carrying the baby, doing up the fasteners on clothing, lifting car seats and buggies... everything to do with looking after babies seems to be hard on the joints. I have been known to just sit there at the end of the day staring at my hands and weeping in pain . And when I get up in the night, or first thing in the morning and everything has stiffened up, I have to stand there psyching myself up to pick up the baby for the first time.

A couple of things I have found helpful:
-A sling for carrying the baby to give my hands a rest
-A wrist splint as described by others by night, simple tubigrip by day (because trying to look after a baby with wrist splints on is just ridiculous, and the strain just transfers itself to your fingers and elbows IME)
-decent anti-inflammatories from the doc
-A breast feeding cushion to take the weight of the baby
-switching to elasticated baby clothes instead of ones with poppers
-leave the car seat in the car (it's easier if yours has a base that it can click into instead of having to strap it in with the seatbelt) and just carry the baby
-Look at other things in your life that may be aggravating things. You can ask your doctor for a referral to an occupational therapist, they are complete life savers and can really help you to minimise the pain. In some places you can also self-refer to OT, that's what I did, there's one at our hospital who actually specialises in helping parents with disabilities, she was superb.

I have to say, while your GP may be right about water retention, the actual cause of the problem is the repetitive strain the wrists are under. I don't think that stopping bf will actually get rid of the problem (although the swelling may reduce) because of all the other repetitive strains involved in baby care. I'd try eliminating as many other aggravating factors as you can before you drop breastfeeding.

You have my complete sympathy, it's really horrid, and so frustrating (((pamelat))). but it really does get better. For me, the turning point has been now that my DS can sit happily on my knee with minimal support, instead of me having to support his weight with my hands all the time.

Let us know how you get on hun x

Thank you to all of you, haven't been able to log on for a few days

Am going to check out the links and take your advice.

Yes, I do hold my baby to feed her, initially I thought that her weight was straining my wrists/hands but it was the doctor saying that it was breast feeding hormones and water retention. I do have a feeding cushion but have never got on with it, will give it another try.

Will take a look now at the exercise link

Thanks once again to all of you

x

Do try the futura splints as they keep your wrists in a good neutral position. My sister had CTS when she was preg and found sleeping in a 'crucifixtion' position (we called her sleeping Jesus!) with her arlms propped up on either side helped. Mind you she had to go in the spare bed to do it as it tends to infringe on DH!

Could you get your GP to refer you to a physio? I had carpal tunnel with both pregnancies - quite severe with first one due to hot weather, water retention etc. My midwife referred me to a physio at the local hospital who provided me with splints, acupuncture and also recommended exercises. One thing I do remember was sleeping on my side made it much worse as it limited the blood flow to my hands.

Poor you, it's painful and really limits what you can do. I hope you get some help soon.