So I went to the ER this morning. I was fixing to change my daughters diaper. I had just set her on the changing table, but my fingers felt tight. ( My fingers feel tight alot esp. after I wake up) I put them together and popped them and instantly I had excruciating pain shoot down both arms to my finger tips. I fell to the ground and had to use labor breathing it was the worst pain I have ever had and I had both kids with no meds. After about 5 minutes the pain started to ebb to a dull ache, but my right hand woulndn't open all the way. Every 2-3 minutes my fingers started to unlock one by one ending with my pinky. I went to the er and that dr. spend about 2 minutes looking at me and he said I probably had carpal tunnel and I needed to go to a neurlogist. He said after you have a baby you can sometimes devolp it. I am a stay at home mom so its not like I am typing or writing all day. My left arm still has a dull ache and all of the joints in both of my hands are aching. Now my sister in law had carpal tunnel and it did not present itself like this. Has anyone had these symptoms? and did it turn out to be carpal tunnel? I have an app. with my regular dr. Fri so I can get a referral to a neurlogist, I am just kind of feeling lost and a little scared. :)
Thank you all So much! I went to my family dr. and told her what happened. The night after I wrote my request I went to lay down and moved my neck wrong and pain shot down my left arm. I am pretty convinced it is a pinched nerve. My dr. agreed, but sent me for x-rays of my neck to check for compression and arthritis before giving me any referral (stupid insurance) I got a call back this morning letting me know there was no arthritis or compressions a regular dr. could see. I have an app. next Friday and I will ask for a referral to a chiropractor. :) I just want to thank you all for writing me back, I am hoping that this is something a few trips to the chiropractor will fix and not some life long problem.
flax seed oil.. not pills take it 3 times a day for two weeks and you you will notice that it really helps as carpel tunnel is an inflamtion.
if you continue to take it even though the flavor stinks you should notice a difference asap
G.
It's called trapped tendon. I had it while I was pregnant and for about a year after my first son was born. It can be a terrible pain!! It gradually went away, but did take a long time. I was told it is one of those things that can sometimes happen with pregnancy. It didn't happen with my second pregnancy, though. Good luck!
after having a baby you can develop thyroid problems which can show itself in similar symptoms as you describe. But I don't know for sure what's wrong, you will have to look into it further.
I'm so sorry!
S., mom to 4 girls and 5 angel babies
I had carpal tunnel syndrome several years ago and what you are describing is not the same symptoms I had. my hands ached and felt like they were asleep all the time.
There was no pain up the arm....it stopped at the wrist. I wore braces at night on both hands to relieve the pressure on the tendon in the flat part of the wrist, didn't work. I ended up having surgery on both hands at the same time (don't reccomend this :) ). I am now pain free. BTW I type on a computer all day long and have for over 25 years.
I wish you luck in getting rid of your pain!!
I have carpal tunnel and that is not at all how it goes and I do not know of anyone else that had it like that. Going to your family doctor is best. Good Luck.
Hi A.. I have a 4.5 month old daughter and I developed horrible wrist pain . Whenever I moved my thumb or twisted my wrist to grab something the pain was excruciating. I asked two close friends who had recently had babies and they said they had developed wrist pain too. Are you nursing? I found an article that says pregnancy hormones and nursing cause the ligaments to relax and thus causes problems at the joints. Here is the article I found...
http://www.gather.comviewArticle.action?articleId=2814749...
it is exactly what I have. Have you tried wearing a brace on your hand/wrist. I sometimes wear them on both hands and it has helped alot. Also icing the painful areas help as well. I was scared too, but relieved when I found out it was common and that it should subside soon. Best of luck to you.
hello A. i my self have carpal tunnel in both of my hands in my left hand it just started with alot of drawing up tight and pains in my fingers now when my right hand got it i did have pain all up my arm down in to my hand and right above my palm on my right hand i have like a little bump when i bend my hand back i feel it,but i would see what ur doctor says.good luck
Hello A., I wasn't planning on writing in this AM but I went through this and it was one of the scariest things! I had just had my 2nd child but at the time didn't know that had anything to do with it, I worked in a restaurant and went from being the girl who could load 10+ plates on her arm and carry it out to being scared in order to continue to work I would have to subcontract out my food delivery. Thankfully one of the regular tables, that I regularly got stuck with ( messy rude and annoying and they took the table up for a long time and didn't tip accordingly) was talking to me the dad was a Dr. which we all knew but this day I found out he was an orthopedic hand surgeon, so I told him what was going on, Sometimes just turning the turn signal in the car or changing a diaper left me with so much pain I was afraid if it continued that I would be able to do nothing!He told me what it was, it has a big long name that I (thankfully don't remember)Basically it is similar to Carpal tunnel but it affects the tendons in your wrist or going down to your wrist and up your lower arm its like the tendons have arthritis or something like that, can you tell it's been a awhile since I have been affected? I went to a Dr, orthopedic hand surgeon, he started by giving me a steroid shot in my worst hand ()the right one and said if it worked we would do the other hand a few weeks later, he prescribed some ortho hand braces to sleep in, not the kind you can buy in a store, I had tried those and they did nothing! He gave me the shot and within a day the difference was unbelievable! Within a few days it was like nothing had ever been wrong and after sleeping with those hand braces I never had to return to get the other shot and within a few weeks I haven't had to use the braces again either. I don't think seeing a neurologist is necessary and if you are able to skip your GP (depends on your insurance) I would go straight to the ortho hand DR!
Just know it's possible to regain your previous state, they said if the shots didn't work the next step would possibly be surgery and I have heard mixed things about that But hopefully like me it won't come to that! Good luck and I would like to know how things turn out!
Hi A.
I, too, had what was originally diagnosed as carpal tunnel while I was pregnant. My Dr told me that pregnant women tend to retain more water (surprisingly :0) and therefore are more prone to carpal tunnel. I was told that it would most likely go down w/in 6 months after giving birth.
My right wrist did get better but my left one only got worse – in fact, I developed a lump on the thumb side at the wrist. The numbness and pain got progressively worse – to the point of not being able to pick up my baby with my left arm. I was referred to an orthopedic surgeon and he ended up doing a surgical procedure to reduce the pressure and open the tendon where the fluid was building up. I am so glad that I had it taken care of!!! I had nerve issues for a few weeks – I could send tingles up my thumb simply by tapping the incision area. That has since gone away and I am no longer in pain or experience numbing!
I am so glad that I had it taken care of! I tried to tough it out but when it started impacting my ability to care for and enjoy my daughter, I knew I had to act quickly. Go to your Dr – there may be something other than carpal tunnel. (it’s an ‘easy’ diagnosis that sometimes gets thrown out there without taking the time to find out if it’s actually the case)
Good luck to you!
I have had the same issues off and on for the last 18 months. The doctor suggested the cortizone shot, which I did not want since I'm breastfeeding. Being a massage therapist I knew there were other options available especially since it's pretty much all muscle related. You are using so much of your arms, forearms mainly than before. Wendy at the Texas Healing Arts Institute is great at working with Moms with this issue. In fact, I just saw her last week and I haven't had much issue all week - this after 18 months of build up. I'm planning to see her about once a month for my wrists and neck/shoulder issues. Those too, stem from being a new Mom =)
This sounds so much like problems I had after my 1st baby. I was diagnosed w/ carpal tunnel and surgery was recommended. I wasn't convinced surgery was needed, so I went to a chiropractor and had deep neuromuscular massages, which focused on my neck, upper back, shoulders, and arms. About 3 months of that did the trick and I've never had a problem again.
I had similar symptons begin when my baby girl was a few weeks old. It was always worse in the morning. My dr wanted me to sleep in braces, but they only made it worse. I ended up doing physical/occupational therapy for a couple of months. They gave me exercises to do with my hands each day and alternating heat and ice. Mine was never called carpal tunnel, it was more like tendonitis. It also began to get better as my baby began to be a hip baby and held onto me and as she began to crawl and walk. I still have a week grip and sometimes still have pain in my left hand, but it's much better than it was.
Best of luck to you. I know it's aweful to have such pain when you're trying to care for your baby.
I don't think you have carpal tunnel. It sounds to me like you trapped a nerve when you "popped" your fingers. Like when you hit your elbow just the right way, only you hit nerves with your own bones. You might need a neurologist but I would think this is related to why your hands are tight each morning. You are too young to have degenerative arthritis. You might want to start with some blood tests for arthritis with your primary care doc and then branch out from there.
Good luck,
It is scary, but likely fixable.
K.
Both my thumbs, pointer fingers, and the part connecting the two went numb while I was pregnant until shortly thereafter. Then a few year later I had the same problem in my right hand only, out of the blue. I thought/figured it was carpal tunnel. I work at a computer at least half a day, so I wasn't surprised by it.
HOWEVER, I upon my next appointment with my thyroid specialist (have been seeing him for 27 years for thyroid problems), he said it was not carpal tunnel. A blood test showed my hormone levels were all out of whack, because my thyroid meds were not working right. With a change of meds and a couple of weeks on them the numbness went away.
Since you have just had a baby your hormones are all out of whack. I would suggest you ask the doc about it and request that he run a check. When they check mine they check the TSH and the T3.
I have had surgery on both hands. The neurologist will perform some nerve tests to see how your nerves are responding. This will determine if you need surgery. It was the best thing that happened to me after years of sufferng, however, you could try some of the acupuncture and/or chiropractic treatments if you just DON"T want to have surgery. Just make sure you go to a reputable doctor. I was back to normal within a week and I type all day. Good luck.
Hi A. --- I don't know much about carpal tunnel syndrome - but I think you should really consider seeing a chiropractor! You may be suffering from a pinched nerve in your upper spinal cord that controls the movements to your arms and hands. I see a chiropractor once every two months just to get adjusted due to lower back lumbar getting twisted from a fall i had years ago! But around 3 months ago I also noticed that I had my pointing finger feeling numb and twitching at times almost as if it were "asleep". I mentioned that to my chiropractor at the next visit and he "manipulated and opened up all my joints from my neck, shoulder, clavical joint, elbows and wrist - down to my fingers! And Thank GOD --- the numbness and twitching completely disappeared! :) Good luck and God bless! (PS - Chiropractors are both MDs and bone and nerve specialist!)
