Carpel tunnel in pregnancy

[bunbabybun]

For a couple of weeks now I have had an increasing sensation of tingling and numbness down my left arm and hand. It seems to be localised below the elbow, however it is starting to hurt a bit now and again, particularly in the evenings and sometimes waking me.

I have read about carpel tunnel being more common during pregnancy and I am wondering if this is what I am experiencing.

I am 12+4 and work at a computer all day.

I am also wondering at what point I should be seeking expert help. It is annoying, but I can live with it, however it seems to be getting more frequent and painful.

Are there any other sufferers or ex sufferers out there with any useful advise?

I developed carpal tunnel in the last few weeks of both my pgs, it displayed as numbness and stiffness in both my hands, particularly first thing in the morning. This sounds quite different from what you're experiencing- I would talk to your GP if I were you.

I'm suffering from cp, but it didn't really start until about 30 weeks, and my symptoms are pins and needles in my fingersin my right hand (although not my little finger) and if I don't keep them moving, they go like dead sausage fingers.

I also worked at a PC all day, and have noticed much improvement since being on mat leave.

It doesnt really sound the same as your symptoms, so I'd pop along to your gp and get yourself checked out.

Hope all goes ok.

Damn, I was convinced it was carpel tunnel.
I have my 1st scan later today, will see if anyone there can advise and if not head to see my GP.
Thanks ladies.

I had carpal tunnel syndrome in the last trimester of DS' pregnancy. I would wake up with my hands frozen in claws, and it would take a good 10 mins for my fingers to be functional again.

The only piece of advice I can give is to wear braces to bed but I don't think you have carpal tunnel because you are only 12 weeks pregnancy and nowhere near the level of water retention and swollen limbs necessary for carpal tunnel to develop.

I had cp from really early on in my pregancy and I definitely mentioned it at my second mw appt which was at 16 weeks. I've had it all the way through and its gradually getting worse - I wake up pretty much every night with no feeling in my hands at all and during the day my hands are just not really there, I have so far lightly pranged my car 3 times and broken loads of crockery and randomly four jars of mayonnaise that I dropped (they were on offer so I was stocking up). At my last mw appt which was 24 weeks I bought it up with my mw again and got referred to the physio dept at the hospital to have some splints fitted to wear at night - to be honest they are so uncomfortable to wear at night that they tend to stop me sleeping so I would rather wake up with the dead hands. I'm hoping it will go after i've had the baby otherwise I'll try to get referred for injections - genuinely quite worried I will keep dropping the baby!!!

Hi bunbabybin,

I also had carpel tunnel in my last trimester, but only in my left hand little finger and one next to it. I also used a computer all day.

As soon as i had my ds it just disappeared, must admit though whilst i had it, it felt pretty peculiar not being able to feel my fingers or use them, lol. Xx

I have this too - am currently 20 weeks and probably since about week 10 or so I've been getting pins and needles / tingly-ness in my arms and hands and fingers. Mainly down my right arm but can be both.
I too work on a PC most of the day and have noticed when I have days off / its the weekend, that it does get better so Im presuming its linked to that.
I just try to have breaks away from the keyboard when I can and do little exercises to move my hands / arms in different positions etc.
I dont think its anything to worry about for me and its not extreme - I just heard it was common in pregnancy.
Annoying though!!

I have had carpal tunnel in all 3 pgs. Mine tingles like pins & needles, especially after a lot of use (knitting especially!), as well as sometimes getting a dead hand in bed.

I got splints from our local physio dept. that can be worn in bed, which helped a bit, though they were really uncomfortably hot on warm nights (so I only wore them when it was cooler). The physio also gave me a few tips on exercises (like just circling your wrists, for example) that can help.

For some reason it has been better in this pg than the previous 2, and I found it did go away fairly promptly after the birth each time.