Treatment for Carpal Tunnel & De Quervain’s Syndrome in pregnant and new moms
I had a relatively easy pregnancy. I ate happily, only had minor nausea in the first few weeks and didn’t start waddling until the very end. I stayed active doing prenatal yoga, walking and swimming regularly. At around 7 months, I started to feel a little pain in both of my thumbs and wrists. Within a couple of days, the pain was debilitating. I couldn’t use my hands for anything: holding the steering wheel while driving, brushing my teeth, washing my hair and don’t talk to me about going to the bathroom. I felt crippled. The only thing I could do was sit on the sofa resting my hands on top of a pillow on my lap.
Sporting wristguards at my baby shower
I attended my own baby shower wearing bulky wristguards and I couldn’t even open the presents myself because it was too painful to rip the wrapping paper. My husband is a pain specialist and I never sympathized with his patients who were in chronic pain. I thought that pain is for the weak and it was all in their minds. But then I felt pain, and it was real. I can totally relate to his patients now. My husband diagnosed the pain in my hands as de Quervain’s tenosynovitis, which is similar to carpal tunnel syndrome. I read that some pregnant women developed carpal tunnel syndrome in their hands as swelling occurs during pregnancy. Carpal tunnel syndrome is usually associated with numbness in the middle fingers. I had a sharp pain in the area where the thumb meets the wrist, along the tendon. After suffering for a week, I couldn’t take it anymore. My husband suggested that he give me cortisone shots in my wrists. I was reluctant and afraid that any kind of medication would harm the baby. My husband explained, “Would I do anything to harm you or my baby?” True. His reasoning made sense. I still consulted with my OB to double-check that it was safe during pregnancy and I got the okay from my doc. Turns out that cortisone shots are sometimes given during pregnancy to encourage lung development in babies.
As my husband got the needles ready to give me the injection, I became very nervous. I normally don’t flinch when I get shots but since it was my husband sticking me with a needle, I panicked like a wuss. I had to turn away, close my eyes, and bury my face into a pillow to muffle my screams. It really didn’t hurt that much. But since it was my husband, I could let all my defenses down and wail like a baby. After he gave me the shots, he said I was his worst patient ever. I was just giving him some practice in dealing with a really difficult patient 😉
Five days after the cortisone shots, the pain in my wrists completely disappeared. Some women can develop this pain in the first couple of months after the baby is born. It can be caused by swelling again, or from constantly putting our hands in awkward positions to nurse and hold the baby, or even from repeatedly lifting the car seat. I felt the pain creep back into my wrists about a month after my son was born and I immediately told my husband to give me another round of cortisone shots before the pain got so bad that I wouldn’t be able to carry my son. I was nursing, so I was concerned that cortisone would be bad for my breastmilk, but again, my husband said he wouldn’t do anything to harm his own baby. He gave me the shots again and the pain immediately went away and never came back. I have a new appreciation for people suffering from chronic pain. Pain is real, but relief is available.
-Catherine Lo
poche de maman 