Painful hands / joints

[Minkyjj]

DD is now 4 months old and wonderful - mummy is experiencing some problems though! In the last two weeks I have woken every morning with very painful hands. My fingers and joints feel like they belong to someone else and its very painful to move said fingers for a good half and hour. It also is quite tender on occasion to walk on feet. I never had a problem before I was pregnant so why is it that having given birth it seems to be starting. I am still breastfeeding and otherwise in good health following a c-section. Anyone else faced similar issues ?

Minkyjj, I had (and still have) painful feet when I get up in the morning - lasts about half an hour. DD is 9 months old now. I chatted with someone else on mumsnet about this, and it seems that it is from water retention or weight gain during pregnancy, and possibly readjusting feet afterwards. I'm hoping the pain will go away soon. I also had painful wrists (not fingers) while I was breastfeeding. I tried not to use the painful wrists, and eventually the pain went away. You might want to try using nursing pillows (to rest baby on), so that you are not using your arms/wrists/hands as much while breastfeeding. I believe the pain in your hands should go away soon. Be kind to your painful joints, if possible. Hopefully you have a helpful partner who can also assist so you are not using the painful joints constantly. Good luck!

Forgot to mention that a friend of mine got carpel tunnel syndrome from breastfeeding. Her doctor gave her a wrist brace, which she had to wear for nearly 1 month while her ds was only a few months old. If the pain is severe, you should get it checked out by your doctor.

Could this in fact be carpal tunnel syndrome? When you say painful minkyjj do you mean tingling like pins and needles? I had this very badly when 3-4 mo pg with DD - which is very early. Usually it is a feature of late pregnancy but I also know people who have had it after delivery. If it is this, go and badger your GP - you can get splints, physiotherapy or more invasive treatment (steroid injections etc) if that's needed. As you're not pg they should be able to deal with it if that is what the problem is. Good luck.

I had exactly that - was scared I'd got rheumatism - turned out to be Carpal tunnel - the GP offered to give Cortisone injections which apparenly is the first treatment - surgery is possible if this doesn't work - but in the end it went away entirely of its own accord and I never even had the injection. Do see you GP tho' and talk it thru.

I had the same when I had Dd, Carpel tunnel syndrome. I didn't have it with Ds (no idea why not) and it just got better on its own. I also had 2 C sections, so that shouldn't affect it.

Had exactly the same thing after ds - it's all linked to oedema (think that's the right word) basically fluid retention. This presses down on a nerve in your arm thus reducing sensation in your hand and fingers. I found it was particularly bad at night, first thing in the morning. Had to really concentrate to pick up a glass of water etc. Ended up wearing a barace on my hand for a while which helped - but eventually as the fluid reduced so did the symptoms. Did/do you have very swollen ankles too?

Thanks for the feedback, I had wandered about carpel tunnel syndrome but had thought it was only during pregnancy. Today my wrist is really painful, so I'm going to drink loads of water as that seemed to help when I has swelling during pregnancy (no swolen wirsts now tho). If its not better in the new year I will go and see the doctor. In the mean time thanks for all your help, and Happy Christmas to you all.

You can get Repetitive strain injury from all the lifting carrying holding etc you do with a new baby, especially as they start to get bigger and gain weight. Rest is the best thing for it, but thats not always possible.

Oh I am so happy to read this thread!! I thought I was coming down with MS or something. I have painful wrists, fingers an feet. I can relax now. Love mumsnet!!! Thanks.