De Quervain's Tenosynovitis
>> Wednesday, August 19, 2009
In the last month or so of my pregnancy, I developed horrible pain in my right wrist. It was most intense first thing in the morning; I guess it got stiff while I slept. My OB said it was De Quervain's Syndrome, a type of tendonitis, and said it's common in pregnancy and would likely get worse after the baby arrived. She was right. (Apparently it's also more common in lactating women and it could go away when I stop breastfeeding, which seems to have happened for this mom, but that's still a long way off for me.)
Lifting my baby out of his crib or car seat hurts. Nursing him (holding his head and my breast) hurts. Dressing myself hurts!
But my initial research online didn't give me much hope. Limit use is the number one recommendation — yeah, right. Icing it and taking Ibuprofen might mask the pain but wouldn't cure it. Wearing a splint doesn't seem like a viable option — that would restrict movement and therefore make it difficult to care for the baby. Steroid shots and surgery seem to be the next steps. Ugh. I SO don't want to go there.
Today, three months post-partum, I finally went to see my doctor about it. She said to ice it and take Ibuprofen. I declined a referral to a physiotherapist for now, because it would be difficult for me to get to regular appointments with no one to watch the baby, so she said I could try to find some exercises on the Internet to do at home.
I found some to help rehabilitate the wrist once the pain eases — not helpful now. And then I saw this on YouTube. This guy claims a simple stretch, done in reps of 15 three times a day, cleared up his severe case of De Quervain's in just three weeks. Someone commented that he tried it and it worked for him too in just three DAYS! I'm going to give it a try. Why not? I'll report back to let you know if it helped.
Does anyone else have a De Quervain's experience to share?
2 comments:
Hope it works - report back!
Hi Jennifer!
Congrats on your baby boy!
I am sorry that you are having to deal with de quervain's. It is still one of the strangest things to me. I can understand why it would appear (swelling during pregnancy) but not why it would last the exact amount of time I breastfed.
The good news for me is that my wrist hurt the worst at three months post partum. So, hopefully what you're feeling now is the worst it will get, and it will improve. The bad news is that it was so slow and gradual. . .I really have no "for sure" reason mine went away in February (10 months post partum). I did the exercises off & on, but like you said they hurt. . .so I was never consistant.
I was skeptical when I read that the majority of women noticed an end when they ceased breastfeeding - but considering I stopped nursing at 9 months post partum, I have to put myself in that category. However, don't stop breastfeeding for that reason - a friend of mine who had a baby 10 months after me developed de quervains, too, and only breastfed for 5 weeks but still has it.
I am disappointed in the lack of info, especially by doctors, because I am amazed at how common de quervain's seems to be since I posted about it exactly a year ago. I have had more hits to that post than any other of mine. I receive several hits to it EVERY SINGLE DAY. But we never hear about it in every day life.
I'm sorry that your doctor wasn't more helpful. I completely relate to not knowing what to do with your baby as you try to find the time to deal with this. That is why I kept forcing myself to live with it. But, I reached the end of my rope after 10 months. . .by then I felt ready to look for a babysitter, however as you know it simply disappered at that time. I really hope you have the same situation. If not, those exercises definitely won't hurt your chances, and if they don't help then I would just go down the list (splint, icing, etc.) and hopefully you will find something that does work!!!!
Andrea
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