Carpal Tunnel in Wrist While Pregnant

I have a friend who pregnant and experiencing carpal tunnel in her right wrist/hand (due to the pregnancy). Looking for any suggestions from someone who might have had this and has some ideas to alleviate the pain. She does have a wrist brace but she is a hair stylist so her work does compromise the amount of time she can rest her wrist.

Ugh, I really feel for her. I had carpal tunnel from about the seventh month on and it took about a month for it to completely clear up after the baby arrived. I can share the things I did to help reduce the discomfort but nothing really made it better until all the swelling and excess water I was retaining finally went away after the delivery.

Since the swelling is really the root cause of pregnancy carpal tunnel most of the things I did were aimed at trying to reduce it. I tried to avoid sodium, upped my water in take as much as I could (I also added lemon juice to my water which I think is supposedly a natural diuretic), and when it was really uncomfortable I elevated my wrist so it was higher than my heart to try to help the fluid drain. If she can find time to get any light exercising in that also helped reduce my overall swelling and the discomfort in my hands (I used the Tracy Anderson pregnancy DVDs). Figuring out a comfortable sleeping position where I was not on my hands and my wrists were straight also made a difference, for me that meant wearing the brace at night and laying on my side with my fingertips resting on the nightstand next to the bed.

It might also help for her to remember that it is temporary, and its going to go away. My daughter will be 4 months old at the end of this week and I've had absolutely no lasting signs or symptoms of the carpal tunnel since the weeks after she was born.

Thanks @kpeanut, I'll pass all your ideas on to my friend. She has been drinking chamomile tea and lots of water but the lemon added in is a great idea. Did you find any specific foods helped that helped with the water retention/inflammation?

Keeping the wrist straight as much as possible, and in particular always having it straight when gripping or bearing weight, has been a life saver for me. For your friend, for now, that probably means wearing the brace as much as possible, esp. overnight. The brace should be one that keeps the wrist straight, not flexed. An occupational therapist or orthopedist (or in my case, the ortho's nurse) may be of help. One steroid injection also helped.

This really really hurts, and in my case it made me feel uneasy about carrying the baby after he was born, since every once in a while the wrist just locked up in a lot of pain, so it's worth doing whatever she can to remedy it.

And happy pregnancy, delivery, and baby to her!

I am going through the same thing right now at 8 months and went through it with my first. I wear the brace at night and find that it's better during the day and I sleep better with it on. I have mostly numbness and wearing the brace during the day doesn't allow me the movement I need. It's incredibly frustrating to deal with as so much else is going on with your body in the third trimester.

I've found getting down on all fours and stretching my wrists out in the yoga cat / cow helps some. I also ice my wrist when it's really bad and try to keep it in a neutral position for awhile to get at least a little feeling in my fingers.

I felt a difference right after delivery but still had twinges and locking up occasionally years later. Hope she hangs in there! There's no support group for things like this, but she's not alone.

Totally sympathize. I had something similar (De Quervain's tenosynovitis) for the first year after delivery. It's painful and can be aggravated by lifting the baby. I used wrist splints when I could, along with ice packs, Advil or Motrin and stretches. It faded with time, but the pain (on top of everything else going on) can really be overwhelming.

(mine was actually De Quervain's also: no numbness, "just" the pain, swelling and locking)

I had it too. What worked better for me than the wrist braces was placing my palms together, fingers out straight in a prayer position and sliding it under my pillow. I crazy swelled and ended up with preg induced hypertension. Def lower sodium, increase water and add lemon. Take heart, it'll go away but if your digits are very sore, you must exercise them! I didn't and ever since baby #1, my beautiful handwriting has gone to sh*t A physicial therapist told me I should have been doing fine motor exercises throughout. Since this is key for a stylist, it might be wise to consult with a phys therapist to mitigate any long term issues.