Pregnancy Carpal Tunnel...

I have carpal tunnel all the time (mild) and it got TONS worse with my 1st pregnancy, but not too bad with my second. I went and saw my family dr (my OB's suggestion) he gave me a shot into each wrist, it took a couple days for it to take effect, but after that it was so much better. And yes, this is safe to do while preggo. I would absolutly recommend it. (sorry for typos, I'm typing with one hand holding my daughter with the other :)

Hi, so sad that her doctor didn't help more. There ARE things she can do. Carpal tunnel in pregnancy is caused by extra fluid/swelling. Your wrist is a small space and the extra fluid presses on the nerves, causing pain and weakness. It usually does go away after the fluid does when the baby is born. In the meantime, sleeping in the wrist splints will help, as suggested by others. They sell them everywhere at drug stores or Walmart, etc. If she can't stand both of her wrists splinted at night, she can alternate. It also helps to elevate her arms on a pillow, if possible, while sleeping. She can't really take anti-inflammatory medicines, but she can put ice on her wrists when they get very sore. This may help too. By the way, the best ice packs around are a cheap bag of frozen peas or corn (just don't eat that bag if you allow it to thaw and freeze repeatedly). 8-)

Wrist braces and if the pain is unbearable, she can get a cortizone shot in each wrist.

I had that and my answer was wrist braces; kind of pricey but worth it in the end. I especially wore them at night.

I had this w/ my first pregnancy. Mine was so bad I could not even drive w/out my hands going completely numb! I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but my doc told me mine would go away when I had the baby, but it did not. It took about a year after the baby was born for it to completely go away. What helped for me was: go to the chiropractor. A good chiropractor has techniques they can use that will lessen the pain. Here's the good news: I did not have carpal tunnel w/ my 2nd pregnancy, so hopefully she'll just have it this once! PS she may want to try Tylenol PM at night - it is safe to take while pregnant.

I feel your sister-in-laws pain! I just had my baby 4 weeks ago, and I dealt with this throughout my pregnancy. It got so bad the last couple of months. I could barely brush my teeth or write! I agree with PP, wrist braces do help some and elevation. It does get better after delivery, but mine is not completely gone yet! Makes it hard to hold a newborn!

I got tendonitis and carpal tunnel last time I was pregnant and I just went to the pharmacy and got some braces. The doctor told me that it would go away after I delivered and it didn't so I went went and got a massage therapist to give me a massage up and down my arms. I know it hurts so so bad right now! Good luck!

Hannah's right, wrist supports are probably her best bet. I had horrible carpal tunnel after my second pregnancy and I had such a difficult time picking up and holding my baby. I went to the doctor and she said to take an anti-inflammatory (like Advil or Motrin) and wear wrist splints while I slept. Obviously your sister cannot take these medications while she is pregnant, but she could use the splints and see if they help. They worked well enough for me and I hardly have any pain now.

She can buy wrist splints at any pharmacy or drug store.

Good luck!

I had to deal with this primarily in early pregnancy so if she is still dealing with this now I feel bad for her and empathize. The best thing for me that helped was wearing wrist braces. I know it is no fun but it relieved the pain at least so it wasn't constant.

i am a nurse and before i got preggers in april - i thought my ob patients were crazy complaining of wrist pain while pregant- but lo and behold here i am 8 m prego and my right wrist is killing me- with all the 6x's blood volume we get during pregnancy- its bound to aggravate things and carpal tunnel is one of them. I use my right hand to pump that BP cuff 30 times a day and it was going to happen sooner or later- but doc says it should go away when my blood volum is back to normal and there isnt as much inflamation. cant wait cuz it hurts- tylenol helps a little and wearing the brace at nite helps somewhat as well- good luck!

wrist braces helped me so much. I had this with my second and it was so bad I would wake up crying and the pain went up my arm and down my back.

There is a very easy solution. It is not going to fix things overnight, but it will definately help. Get two rigid wrist supports. She should sleep with them on, it will help a lot with the pain.

I hope this helps!!! (btw, her doctor sounds horrible...I hope there are some redeeming qualities there)

I got it near the end of each of my pregnancies. I couldn't shampoo my hair in the shower in the mornings very well. And I couldn't hold my tooth brush or hair brush for at least a half hour after getting up in the mornings.

My doctor suggested that I be careful about what I did with my hands when I slept. I normally put them under the pillow under my head. He said... noooooo... that makes it worse. Keep the hands out from under the pillow. It is very difficult if that is your normal sleeping position... but using a body pillow to "hug" (and keep between my knees to help my hip pain) seemed to help me keep my hands away from under my head. It did help.
Not a solution... but it was better. Running water seemed to help in the mornings too. Can't remember if it had to be hot or cold... (it was one or the other, lol).

Oh... mine went away completely after delivery. So tell her to hang in there.