Terrible PP joint pain started 8 weeks after baby arrived

[WTF475878237NC]

Hi mums,

Please can you share your tips or wisdom on this subject. In a nutshell I gave birth recently and had several weeks of stitches healing well down below and my SPD disappeared immediately after delivery.

But all of a sudden, 8 weeks down the line I started getting sore thumbs. This progressed to sore wrists, and this week sore hips too.

Is this normal? What can I do? It's starting to impact on my ability to care for my baby.

Speak to the dr they might run some bloods?

Speak to the doctor. You use your hands differently after having a baby (I bet you hold baby up with your thumbs on the front and the rest of your fingers on the back, for example). I have the same issue. It goes away eventually for me (4DC) but I'd always recommend getting it checked out if it's the first time it's happened.

Thank you. I will try the doctors.

Yes I do hold baby with thumb at the front

It could be an immune system response triggered by your changing hormones.

@WTF475878237NC I have something similar. I got a sore joint pain on the finger, I was given antibiotics .

Thanks all. I have arranged a GP phone call next week to discuss it.

Go to GP and get bloods done, after my last pregnancy I had this in my hands they were so stiff every morning couldn’t do anything ended up I had an overactive thyroid

I couldn’t not answer this thread. I’m 13 months pp and have been on steroids twice for pp auto immune issues. Mild raised bloods, ref to rheumatology and diagnoses with suspected rheumatoid/inflam arthritis triggered by birth. Tools months to get referred and taken seriously. Couldn’t hold my baby or bend my knees/wrists. Don’t be afraid to kick off if you don’t get answers. It’s been hell xx

In the interim you could try osteopathy. I had joint pain, incredibly stiff and painful neck, shoulder, hips etc after last baby. A couple of sessions were life changing.

Ok just a thought - does this correlate at all to changes in breastfeeding ? When I stopped bf I had the weirdest joint aches just like what you described. I thought I was getting the flu but it went on and on. I did a lot of reading and I found that the hormonal changes can cause this. Even if you are not changing anything with breastfeeding I do think it’s entirely possible this is hormonal. Maybe to do with relaxin leaving your system. I also read relaxin levels take about two months to drop off after pregnancy so maybe this explains it too. Relaxin caused those joints to loosen so maybe the reduction in relaxin levels causes a corresponding tightening back of those joints. I’m no doctor so I would say raise it with your gp for peace of mind. But these things would seem plausible to me.

I had terrible joint pain starting about 10 weeks after birth, maybe a bit sooner.

Not just in my hands, but all my joints. It got progressively worse until around 4-5 months postpartum and then magically went away to by itself. It was horrible though, used to wake up feeling like I'd been hit by a bus most days everything ached so much.

Im not sure what caused it or why it got better but I think it might have been hormonal.

Hi all, just to update. The GP said I have something known as mother's thumb - I can't remember the medical term. I have been wearing wrist and thumb supports and once it settles a bit I have some exercises to do. She has also referred me to women's physio and I have an appointment this week. Apparently my general joint ache is likely to be hormonal as you say and at this stage she doesn't think it is severe enough to be anything worse. She said for most people it clears up by six months.

As to changes in breastfeeding, I was exclusively pumping for a while due to latch issues and then was able to feed baby directly. Perhaps I've had a surge of hormones due to that.

But I'm hoping things improve this week with some physio advice.