Pregnancy Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

[Alexandrababy1]

Hi Everyone,
I was just wondering if anyone is going through the same thing as me. I’m 32 weeks pregnant and last 3 nights I’ve been waking up every hour with a dead hand and pins and needles which have turned into excruciating pain . I called the doctor and he said I’ve got pregnancy carpal tunnel syndrome (I didn’t even know you could get that when pregnant)!
He’s advised me to get a pregnancy pillow which I’ve done today and get some splits for my hands which I’ve also done but the only real treatment is to have the baby in 8 weeks time!
I can’t imagine being in this much pain with a lack of sleep for another 8 weeks, in the day time my hands are so tingly and I’ve lost the ability to grip things. Is anyone else going through the same thing?xx

Hi @Alexandrababy1 I feel your pain. I've had this in both of my pregnancies and it only resolved after I'd given birth. I did find that staying really hydrated helped though.

Yep I'm 34 weeks and same. I wear splints to bed and was told not to do any vigorous activities with my hands/wrist/fingers in the evening. Not much apart from that, only solution is birthing baby. I also had it in my first but not second pregnancy.

It’s the pits isn’t it. I had it with both pregnancies in both hands/wrists/arms. The pain is excruciating at times and fingers were either tingling or numb. I really feel for you. It was absolutely dreadful and I think others don’t quite understand how bad it can be unless they’ve experienced it. I couldn’t even drive or pick up the kettle with my right hand by the end of my second pregnancy. You probably don’t want to hear this, but mine just got worse and worse until the baby finally arrived. The pain went almost overnight but the numbness in my fingers remained for a week or so. I remember finding it difficult to do up the poppers on baby clothes. Hang in there, you will go back to normal eventually. Unfortunately the only thing you can really do is wear the splits all the time and wait.

Hi everyone,
It’s horrible isn’t it! I’m glad to hear people have been through the same thing, I think you’re right no one understands how painful it is unless they’ve experienced it. I felt like I was being a bit dramatic at first but each night it just gets worse, it’s the lack of sleep that’s really annoying me as well, as if it’s not hard enough to sleep when you’re pregnant! Oh well, 8 weeks to go! Hopefully the pregnancy pillow and splints help a little xx

Keep your hands elevated, and cold water on your wrists helps ease things for a while. I also got tubigrips (size c) from the pregnancy physio team which tries to compress your wrists to keep fluid away. Google for exercises to see if they help too but I have not found them particularly helpful.

I feel your pain - am 34 weeks now and have numb fingers all the time now would not wish this on anyone! Any other tips people have to improve this would be appreciated!

Ugh yes, this started around 25 weeks for me and there was a few weeks I was in so much pain I could barely sleep. I’m 37 weeks now and I have it under control enough that it doesn’t bother me at night, this is what I’ve been doing:

Ice both wrists for 20 min before bed
Then straight away put on compression gloves and bandages (I use the tubigrip as poster above says, but my wrists are small so I use size b)
I then wear wrist braces over the top of those to bed

Bit of a ridiculous routine (Especially as I have to strip everything off one wrist every time I get up to pee which is a lot) but the relief from the pain was worth it for me!

One of my hands is worse than the other and I still get a little pain in that one at night - when I do I hang it over the edge of the bed which seems counterintuitive but it does relieve it.

Still have tingly hands and trouble gripping things during the day but at least I’m not in pain and can sleep!

I had it.
It largely went post- pregnancy but I have been left with pins and needles when I do gripping actions for an extended period of time, such as a lot of sweeping, or writing.

Hi Everyone, just a little update...
So I don’t know if it’s that I’m just used to the pain but I’m managing to sleep through the night and only get up a couple of times, which is a massive improvement!
I have still lost sense of feeling in a few of my fingers throughout the day and get pins and needles a lot but it’s deffo a lot less painful.
I know it’s not a a great update but anyone experiencing this hopefully the same thing happens to you and you manage to get some sleep as this was the most frustrating part for me! 6 weeks and 4 days until my due date! xxx

Glad to hear things have ok improved @Alexandrababy1 - did you do anything different in particular?

I stopped using the tubigrips which were giving me skin irritation and it feels much more stable now in my hands. Only downside is that I have a fairly permanent loss of feeling in my fingertips and pins and needles generally.

@CardiganBlobby
I tried a splint but it didn’t help, I’ve just tried sleeping in different positions, like when I go to sleep now I lean my arm up against a pillow so it’s elevated which helps a lot!
I’m the same with the permanent loss in my fingers and pins and needles but I’m hoping that eases off after she’s born or I’m going to struggle to do up the baby grows! I struggle to do my bra now haha xx

Hello! Thought I might add my experience with carpal tunnel - I've had severe carpal tunnel in both hands confirmed with nerve conduction tests in the past and needed steroid injections (a year or two ago and prior to pregnancy!). I wasn't able to hold phone to my ear without hands going numb, waking up in severe pain in bed with complete numbness etc.

In my experience the splints take perseverance before you actually start noticing improvements, a few weeks dedicated wearing them in bed on both hands and I saw huge improvements. You are basically training your hands to a new position essentially which helps with the nerve compression. I also would wear my splints in the evening watching TV etc.

Cold compresses helped as well as dedicating time to doing physio exercises which you could ask to be referred for through midwife or GP.

I'm anticipating and already noticing the pins and needles coming back and I'm only 14 weeks so I'll be digging the splints out again in anticipation and hoping it doesn't get too bad! Good luck and I hope it eases for you post birth.

@biiirdy85 thank you so much for sharing your experience! When it first happened to me it was horrible and I felt like no one understood how painful it was but hearing everyone else’s experiences and knowing other people are going through/went through the same thing made me feel like I wasn’t alone!xx

@Alexandrababy1 - it's horrible I'm right there with you on that one! Although When it's bad I now end up getting out of all sorts of things around the house - things that can aggravate it is basically anything repetitive on the hands or wrists; DIY like painting, ironing, putting IKEA furniture together with a screw driver...! If it's repetitive whilst you have a flare up; either pace yourself and do things a bit at a time and ask for help!
My other half is a physio, so he has been very good at flagging up the splint wearing with hand and wrist exercises he's helped me with. There might be videos on YouTube you might find helpful. I raised Carpal Tunnel in my first midwife appointment having had it before, said they have women's health physios they'd refer me to straight away if it was flaring up so I'd request that in the first instance to get support to help! Good luck x