Wrist tendonitis / De quervains?

[HannahDav122]

Hi, I've just been diagnosed with de quervains tendonitis in my left thumb. Doctor has given me some painkillers and a splint for my wrist/thumb. Never heard of this before and its really quite painful! Anyone have any experiences of this or any tips for how to make it go away?!

I got this when I was feeding babies. Apparently it’s also known as nursing mother’s thumb. It did last quite a long time and my thumbs are still less flexible than they should be (that baby is 16 now!)

the splints did help a lot.

I've been told to wear the splint continuously for 4 weeks currently and then maybe after that as well. Very fetching beige NHS issue one :(

I also had it when DS was a baby. He’s 17 now. I had a steroid injection in the joint the day before his first birthday. It’s been free of pain ever since.

Has this post birth. I couldn't use my thumb properly without worrying for about 8 months or so. I had UV light therapy on it up at the hospital a few times which I think was meant to help the muscles mend. It was explained to me that the muscle inside was effectively back-combed like velcro rather than silk, so it needed to reform correctly and to imagine that using it was rubbing the velcro up and down, causing damage. Keeping it still and resting would let it heal. Obviously it took ages as I was a new mum and there's no way to avoid using your thumbs with a newborn!