Post Baby Question

Sounds like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome to me. I know it can be exaggerated by pregnancy. But I know lots of non-pregnant people that have it. It seems to run in my family. Here's a good page for you to look at http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/carpal_tunnel/detail_c...

Hope this helps you find a solution.

I had this with my first and doc said it was carpal tunnel. Went away probably 6-8 weeks after. I am 21 weeks with second and it hasn't hit yet (thank goodness!). I remember sleeping with a brace on my hand. Doc said to keep hand outstretched is best which is why the brace helps.

Hi J.,
This is a little late, but I thought I would throw my two cents in. I had the same problem with my second as well. I am trying to remember... even though it was less than 18 months ago those early months are a bit of a blur. = ) I don't think it lasted more than 12 weeks. I know it was more than 4 weeks b/c I kept waiting for it to go away and it didn't go away as quickly as I wanted it to. After several weeks I too went to my chiropractor but it still took several more weeks before it disappeared completely. But thank heavens it did! I wish you much comfort, sleep and lots of happy memories with both of your little ones!

It may not actually be carpel tunnel but like it since we all know during pregnancy we retain a lot of water and our body swells... the muscles and nerves are swelling which causes more pressure on each other which you feel as tingling in hands & fingers... if you actually have it AND if it gets much worse you can not grab items & hold on to them and you may have sharp pains shooting up and down your arms. I have carpel tunnel, gone to the chiropractor for, gotten many massages but I saw little to no lasting effect (so I stopped spending the $50 dollars plus going to those places, well still get a full body messages which is a wonderful treat). Finally went to the doctor and he suggested the below because we are trying to prolong surgery to fixing it.

Anyway the thing that I found to work best from me (suggested by my doctor) is right before bed or even while sleeping is to take a heating pad or what I like to easy a cloth bag full of feed corn or rice and wrap it around your wrist/hand/forearm. This helps relax the muscles and I have found with doing it almost every night I have little to no symptoms through out the day.

I can not say how long it may last after because I actaully have carpel tunnel... but from what I remember friends saying it is a month or so.

It sounds like carpel tunnel. Which is common during pregnancy. It may or may not go away since it's something not 100% from pregnancy. If it's that bothersome see your family doctor. You could also try compression wraps like ace bandages too.

When I was pregnant, I had tendinitis in my left wrist and carpal tunnel in my right wrist. It took a couple months for the numbing/tingling to go away after I had my daughter. However, a few years later, it started up again and spread to my other joints.

I eventually discovered that I had severe heavy metal toxicity and after about four detoxifications, the numbing and tingling and pain went away. I've since switched over to an organic diet in hopes of staying as much away from toxins as possible and the joint pains and the numbness/tingling/pain in the wrists has pretty much stayed away as well. And they weren't constantly numb--it came and went, and was especially brutal after I awoke in the morning after sleeping.

All I can say is that detoxing my body and changing to organic foods (and what I ate) made a tremendous difference for me. (You might want to see a naturopathic doctor for a complete work up. He should be able to tell you what's wrong).

Also, many times people who have food allergies or food intolerances find that if they quit eating the foods that their bodies can't tolerate, the aches and pains and numbness and tingling go away. That was another issue for me; I am allergic to cow dairy (casein) and am intolerant to gluten, soy, beef, spinach, apples, bananas, certain fish/seafood, Baker's and Brewer's yeasts, among a few others. Not eating these foods has helped my body heal, and I rarely ever have any issues anymore (except for the cold. I have cold-iticaria, and swimming in a cool swimming pool will make my hands turn white and numb.).

One food group that seems to bother a lot of people with joint pains are foods from the nightshade family. Check out what foods are found in this family, and if you find that you consume a lot of them, you could try an elimination diet. Quit eating any of the foods from the nightshade family for about four weeks and see how you feel. Then reintroduce the foods you quit eating and see how you feel. A lot of people with arthritis find that if they quit eating foods from the nightshade family they can get rid of their pain or cut down drastically on how bad it is.

Hope this information was helpful. Before I'd take pharma pills or have surgery done, I'd check with a naturopath and see what might be causing your wrist numbness/tingling. It's relatively easy and simple to readjust your eating. It's more expensive and there are more lasting side effects of taking medicines and having surgery done. Good luck.

Have you been to a real doctor? If not, get that checked out pronto!

I had carpal tunnel with my first pregnancy 12 years ago, but it went away within days after I delivered. However, with my most recent pregnancy (and 10 years later), I developed it earlier in the pregnancy and it lasted about a month after I delivered. It was bad enough that I couldn't write, could barely apply mascara, etc. With my first, I thought it was because I had so much fluid retention. But, with my recent pregnancy, I didn't have that issue at all. Go figure. If you are already a couple weeks into your post partum, you should be seeing some, at least gradual, relief soon. I wish you the best of luck and congratulations!!

Yup- carpel tunnel. I had it, but interestingly enough it didn't show up until my son was much older. Symptoms exactly as you describe but mostly mine would only happen at night. I wear braces at night and this helps immensely. Good luck!

Numbness and tingling anywhere in your body is a remarkably common and *usually* benign symptom - unfortunately, you can't self-diagnose whether it's one of these "common and unexplainable" times or if it means something more serious. Go see your primary care doc, and that person can help you decide whether it's time to go see a neurologist. Don't let this freak you out - I was having numbness and tingling over a year that got worse (starting while I was pregnant, continuing 18 mos later) ended up having an MRI, and everything is fine, the eventual diagnosis from the neurologist was a systemic viral response. (I had a virus, my nervous system reacted to it, also surprisingly common.) But DO go to the doctor, as you really can't diagnose yourself on this one. Good luck!

Hello!

It took mine about 4 to 6 weeks to go away. It was longer on my second pregnancy then with my first.

i can't remember what I did different. I think I kept up on my vitamins.

Try and pick up some wrist braces similar to those that are used for carpel tunnel. I used these and had some great releif - I also used them during pregnancy per my doctors instructions. I found if I slept with them it really helped.

Good luck

I had that as well (my son is now 2)... My one-sided numbness was attributed to a new sign of migraines. If you're prone to migraine headaches, that could be the cause of the one-sided numbness... that symptom has yet to go away for me and rears it's head occasionally.

I developed carpal tunnel during both my pregnancies. It went away at 3 mos. postpartum the first and second time, but not completely. Pushing a stroller, doing thins with my hands a lot aggravates it.

Have you spoken with your OB/GYN about it in addition to your chiropractor?

Your OB can better explain why the left side of the body receives more of the pressure during pregnancy and why the nerves in that arm/hand are affected. I, too, am left handed, but I never experienced anything like that through either of my pregnancies. I don't know how common it is.

But, it could be a neurological (nerve-related) disorder that requires more intervention than a chiropractor can provide with manipulation techniques.

I'd start with your OB to understand what in pregnancy may have caused it, see if you can get referred elsewhere if needed, and hopefully get some relief soon.

I would suggest getting a massage and letting the massage therapist know what you are experiencing. I am a massage therapist (PT) and I went through the same before and after my first and started at around 16 wks with my second periodically - mainly at work when I keep my arm bent typing.

The massage therapist should work on your arms starting at the neck working their way down the shoulders, delts, upper and lower arms. Can you believe we have more muscles in our arms that any other part of our body as a muscle group! Anyhow, there is a nerve between your shoulders and arm (front part) that gets pinched quite easily of the muscles are overworked. Your muscles can be overworked for a variety of reasons including pregnancy and after and especially during the last few months of pregnancy if you have some swelling and are sleeping on your side.

If you can do some yoga which is beneficial in many ways - great for post pregnancy! Good Luck! Just a warning, if you get a good massage from someone you might get hooked =)

This happened to me with my first and even worse with my second....it was horrible to the point where I could not even pick things up not to mention sleeping was impossible so I know how that feels. Post baby both hands were tingly for about a month after with my first and with my second it took about 6 weeks to regain all normal feeling and every day I would get a little bit back each day. I know some women who have this problem too and they have had it come back around that 6 week mark too.
Good luck I know how annoying this is!!

This happened to me with my first son and eventually went away--though I don't remember when. It came on earlier with my second son, and 8 months later I still have tingling and numbness in (potentially) both hands while I drive, talk on the phone, etc. My doctor had said it would go away after the baby was born...I haven't checked in about it since my 6 week post partum checkup.

Let me know what you find out! :)