Hand Pain from Carrying Baby

I definitely had tendinitis from carrying my baby around when he was first born. I also used a wrist brace, and it helped a lot. Also, I'd have my husband massage the area to try to keep it loose.

I had the same problem. I went to Dr. Stripling and he did a cortizone shot in my wrist. SO much better SO fast. He said it was from overuse. http://www.northtexashand.com/

You can use a wrist brace. My pain was so bad that it felt like someone was wripping my wrist apart. It went away after I stopped breastfeeding. I only had it when I had my first baby and not my second. It has a lot to do with the hormones and your ligaments just being loose. It will get better, but a brace helps a lot. You can also go see a chiropractor who may be able to help you.

I had it too. There actually is a name for it. It's called Mother's wrist. It's cause from carrying that little baby all day long. Lots of mom's get it. The best thing to do is buy a wrist brace. I had to wear mine for a couple of months but then your wrist will get strong again and you will be fine. And although I got it really bad with my first I didn't get it at all with my second. So you will be fine but it will just take some time to heal.

Yes, try a splint you can get them at the pharmacy or Wal-Mart or a medical supply store. Try to get one that would give you some support. I have many different splints from my 3 hand/elbow surgeries. There's one that has a metal plate/bar inside the split that probably will be your best best. That will help your wrist for sure.

Here's some other things that might help you, that I've learned over the years thru occupational therapy:

1.) Get some lotion (any kind will do) and massage your fingers, wrist arm several times a day. You can do this or you can get someone else to do this for you. With your fingers, rub your fingers up and down type motion. With your wrist and arm you can do more of deep pressure type massage where you really dig in and really rub and work out some of the tight muscles.

2.) Use heat and ice. My therapist told me to alternate them. Use ice for 15-20 minutes take a break for 10-15 minutes, then use the heating pad. This helps a lot. I have the special ice from the surgery center that is really soft. I would recommend this kind. Pharmacies might have something similiar. The kind I use is able to wrap around my wrist or my arm and it will stay on its own. I've seen at CVS they have some kind of small beads that looks like the same type of concept.

3.) Use a paraffin wax machine. These are great. They have home models that you can use. You dip your hand in this several times, usually about 6-7 times and then wrap in the plastic bag and then wrap a towel over it. Let it stay on there for about 10-15 minutes. It will help your hands be really soft also. They use it in the spas and at therapy centers.

4.) Get 2 bowls or containers and fill up one bowl with cold water and the other with warm water. Soak your hand in the cold one first for 10 minutes then switch to the warm water for 10 minutes. Go back to the cold water for 10 minutes and then to the warm water for 10 minutes. This helps a lot also. It is time consuming, so I usually do it at night before I am going to bed when my child is asleep.

5. Do stretches, open and close your hand, shake out your hands.

6.) Get some putty to exercise your hand. They sell putty usually at the sports stores for strenghthening. Or you can use play doh or silly putty. This is if you are feeling weak, losing strength in your hands. However, this will help you with the pain and get your hand moving and stretching it also.

7.) Ibuprofin is anti-imflammatory, so I use that. I get the 800 mg strength from the Dr. But you could use over the counter and do a 500 mg strength.

8.) For the computer, you might want to switch to a different mouse, the roller ball kind and the ergonomic type of keyboard.

9. Use a carrier for your baby so you can be hands free. Or use one of those wraps to wrap your child in so you won't have to carry your baby a lot. I have a wrap if you are interested in wanting one of those. I'll be glad to donate it to you, if you want to do that.

10. Occupational/Physical Therapy does help a lot, cause they different machines that can help relieve the pain. So, if all the above doesn't help any, then go get Occupational therapy. I've got some good places to recommend for a therapist, if you need recommendations and for a hand surgeon, if that is needed. Hope you don't go that route, like I did.

That's all I can think of right now. Hope this helps.

I had some severe shoulder pain with my first... and it turned out I pulled some muscles from holding her while feeding (new territory for my body). I went to a massage therapist - who located the muscles and releived the pain! Might be worth a try. Good luck!

I had carpal tunnel like symptoms as well and bought a wrist brace at cvs for @10.00 and it worked wonders! I wore it at night to keep it still and get rest and when really bad wore it during day when I was holding him taking it off when he napped. Hope this helps!

Imagine hefting around twins! When I did, my arms & hands finally got so bad that I couldn't even use my right hand anymore, even to zip up my pants! The left wasn't much better. It was tendinitis. Physical therapy definitely helped. A physical therapist can show you excercises you can do at home, although it's best if you both do it at home and go through the therapy at the location. I have found some of them (back in Iowa) to be very kid friendly. At least you can get a consult from a physical therapist and some exercises; he or she can verify if it's tendinitis or what and show you better ways to hold your child. It turned out that my tendinitis was the result of an underlying condition, psoriatic arthritis, which was diagnosed by an excellent rheumatologist. Good luck! Oh, anti-inflammatories are helpful (e.g. naproxyn) and icing for 20 min. at a time.

I had this for the first year with my son, the brace didn't help me. I ended up getting the shot...

I would do 3 things before I paid for physical therapy
#1 take a B-Complex vitamin. this will help with your joints, carpal tunnel etc.
#2 buy a wrist brace (with velcro straps). You cna get these at Walgreens
#3 put that baby of yours in a wring sling (Maya wrap or similar). This will allow you to cary your baby around without any pressure on yoru arm or wrist. They are made to wear over yoru shoulder, cross ways over your body. It is as easy on and off as your purse and easy in and out for your baby.

I had it too and agree with all the other responses. I mentioned it to my chiropractor one day when I was in severe pain and he "popped" my thumb - almost instant relief!! I also wore a brace at night. It did get better! Good luck!

You might want to look into some babywearing products that will allow you to carry your son close to you without using your hands or arms. I run Babies Bottoms and More in Farmers Branch (www.babiesbottomsandmore.com) and we carry several different kind of slings, wraps, and carriers. You are welcome to bring your son in and try on the different carriers with him to see which one works best for the two of you. We're open Saturdays from 1-4 and then Tu/Th by appointment. Feel free to call me at ###-###-####.

Get a good carrier, one that is good on the hips, like an Ergo or Beco, then you can have your child close and not strain your wrist/hands.

Sounds like what my chiropractor jokingly calls "mommyitis." I am so much better with adjustments. I can also easily take my 3 young children snce visits are normally only about 15 min. I suggest finding a good chiropractor and trying that out, they can usually recommend at home exercises as well that a physical therapist would probably suggest for you.

I actually had this same thing. I went to the doctor because the pain was so severe! I used a brace for about a month to keep me from bending my wrist and to help remind me to not hold my daughter on that side if possible. I would ice it several times a day as well. I did go away but wll flare up once-in-awhile!

This sounds very much like deQuervain's tendonitis, which I was diagnosed with shortly after having my son. There is a lot of info out there about it, but here is one: http://www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/deQuervai...

I ended up getting a series of two steroid shots over several months and wearing a wrist brace that immobilized my thumb. I am much better these days (that was about 3.5 years ago), but I still need to wear my brace from time to time. I also type on a computer all day at work, so that makes a difference, but either way, it's very common for mothers of young babies.

GL!

Have you tried wearing a wrist brace? It keeps your wrist stable so you can not over-extend it. At first it drove me crazy but when I learned to work with it it helped.