Conference moira::parenting

Could it be work-related rather than child-related?  Wrist pain is a common
ailment among people who work at computer keyboards a lot.  It could be
coincidental timing.

						Brian

    
    re .0
    
    I don't know offhand the right exercise, but I would think
    there are exercises to stengthen the muscles. I don't blame
    you for not wanting to take the painkiller. Maybe a physical
    therapist can help.
    
    
    Eva
    
    
    

    Did you get wrist supports from the doctor.  I had tendonitis flare up
    while I was pregnant with Aaron (it's also common in pregnant women
    because of all the body changes) and I was given wrist supports that
    were supposed to keep my wrists in the correct position.  The doctor
    said that I should even wear them to bed since we seem to put our hands
    in stange positions while we sleep (and it's true in my case, I make a
    point of making sure my wrists are straighter at least before I go to
    sleep!).
    
    I don't know if it will help or not, but it's what I had when I was
    pregnant and could only take tylenol for the pain.  
    
    sandy

    It _can_ be caused by picking your child up incorrectly -- I had this
    first when my son was ~11 months old -- I picked him up and bounced him
    all the time!  When you go to pick your daughter up, try to keep your
    fingers and thumbs together -- don't have your thumb sticking up --
    argh! hard to explain...ok. pretend you're swimming; you want all your
    fingers together so the water will be pushed away, right?  then, once
    you have her lifted, THEN you can pull your thumb away from the rest of
    the fingers.  Another example -- when you pull a book off the shelf,
    your thumb goes on one side and your fingers on the other, right? 
    Don't hold your hand this way when you pick her up.  It takes practice
    but is very doable -- you just have to remember.
    
    I learned this the hard way -- had to wear a very uncomfortable brace
    for 1 month, 23 hours a day -- right when he got his first pair of
    shoes [now, THAT was fun, trying to tie those suckers a zillion times a
    day when you had limited finger mobility!]  Also had cortisone shots in
    both thumbs.
    
    When my daughter came along, you'd better believe I picked her up
    differently!  I'm a librarian, and therefore am always lifting books,
    and that doesn't help either.  Carpal tunnel did finally rear its ugly
    head a year or so ago, not sure how much the earlier tendonitis
    contributed to it, but it hit me hard.
    
    The first thing you have to do is ease the pain -- try lifting her
    differently. There are exercises, the dr should be able to give you
    some, PT is an option but try the above way of lifting first plus the
    pain killers -- you may actually find better relief with aspirin, its
    anti-imflammatory properties work better for me than ibuprofen, but you
    have to be really careful to take with food -- and REST your
    wrists/hands as much as possible -- teach her how to climb into and out
    of her car seat by herself, she's old enough.  Heat works [20 min on,
    20 off] too.
    
    Call me if you want -- dtn 226-2917.
    
    Sandy

    I had tendonitis when my son was around 6 months.  I kept putting off
    going to the doctor until it was so bad I couldn't write, turn a key,
    or twist my right hand at all.  He suggested I take Advil everyday for
    three weeks, not so much for the pain, but to keep the swelling down.
    He also gave me a wrist brace which kept my wrist from twisting and
    allowed me to be able to pick up my son without being in pain.  I had
    to wear the brace day and night, only taking it off to shower.  Within
    three weeks my wrist was much better.  I highly recommend the brace
    because it takes the stress off your wrist and gives it time to heal.
    
    I guess it is quite common.  All three of my friends that had babies
    after me ended up getting tendonitis. 

    
    Thanks for the responses, the pain is at the base of my thumb and not
    across my wrist so the doctor didn't think it was carpal tunnel or 
    related to a lot of typing at the keyboard although it may add to it.
    
    I'll try to work on picking up my daughter differently.  The doctor
    didn't give me a brace because he thought it would be too cumbersome
    and suggested that I try the anti-inflammatory pain killer first but
    I think a brace can be pretty helpful.  Is it something I could get
    in a drugstore myself or do I need to get one from the doctor?
                                                                         

    You should certainly be able to get a hand/wrist support in any decent
    drugstore.
    
    Last summer I "snapped" my wrist, and it hurt for weeks and weeks.  I
    didn't want to hear anything LIKE "carpal tunnel", so I avoided the Dr
    until I couldn't stand the pain anymore (it was keeping me awake at
    night, and waking me up it was so sharp!!).
    
    I have skinny-miniature wrists (kid-stuff is sometimes too large), so
    the "standard" brace was much too large for my wrise, so they molded a
    plaster splint, wrapped an ace around it, said LEAVE IT ON (except to
    shower) for 4-5 days, and then leave it on most of the time for a few
    more days, and gradually take it off.  WIthin a week I felt almost as
    good as new.  They also gave me some other "drug" for the inflammation,
    but I don't remember the name (something you only take 2xday.)
    
    My only regret is that I didn't get the brace MUCH sooner!!
    
    Good Luck!

    I hurt my wrist in the exact spot you are mentioning.  You brought
    back some memories, I'll tell you!  The last two months of my
    pregnancy were torture (no drugs..), then carrying the newborn made
    it worse.  It got to the point where I was in risk of dropping her.
    And I let myself suffer too long because I was nursing and thought
    I couldn't take ANYTHING!
    
    Well, as Angeline grew so did the pain.  I went to the doctor and
    he gave me anti-inflammatory I could take and had me fitted for a
    brace that was absolutely impossible.   I couldn't even care for my
    daughter enough with it on to leave his office!
    
    I went and got a good thumb and wrist brace at the store and the
    drugs did the rest.  It did take a while though.
    
    						cj *->

    
    	If you buy a wrist brace at the store, you might want to 
    	have someone check it before you start wearing it.  I was
    	told to buy a brace, but no one told me (until I'd worn it
    	a month) that the metal rod that holds the wrists steady should
    	have been straightened out (not curved up as when purchased).
    
    	This was for carpal tunnel.  I don't know if the position should
    	be different for your problem, but your doctor or your site nurse
    	should know.
    
    	Karen
    

I once got a pain in my thumb from repetitive motion.  My doctor told me to
go out and get a certain type of brace.  It didn't get better.  Two specialists
later, I found out that the brace had exacerbated the pain.  I should have just
let it alone, and it would have gone away.  Moral: don't trust a generalist
on this kind of thing, and definitely don't trust a notesfile diagnosis.

    Do you have difficulty moving your thumb and hand and do you have pain
    radiating up your wrist and arm too?
    
    I'm somewhat of an expert on this subject because I have been battling
    with tendonitis in the first tendon (the one running up the thumb) of my
    left hand since the fall of 1994. I went through the ibuprofen, a stronger
    prescription anti-inflammatory, plaster splints (three different times),
    and three cortisone shots for more than a year before my hand surgeon said
    my only option left was surgery (meanwhile, I also developed carpal tunnel
    syndrome and was starting to develop tendonitis in the second tendon --
    both of which the doctor said were being aggravated by my tendonitis in
    the first tendon -- plus I had a lot of swelling in my hand and wrist that
    didn't change the whole time). I had the surgery in December 1995 and I'm 90
    percent improved.
    
    The bottom line is that I too developed the tendonitis from lifting my
    children (mostly my second child), and that if I didn't cause further
    injury to the tendon by helping a friend move, I probably could've
    controlled the pain and swelling with ibuprofen, the splints, and maybe
    a cortisone shot or two. It sounds like that is the situation that
    you're facing now, so if the ibuprofen alone doesn't work, perhaps you
    could ask your ortho about the splints and cortisone shots (there are
    also cortisone patches that you could use, which didn't work for me but
    might be helpful in your case).
    
    Please contact me offline is you want any additional info. Good luck!
    
    Nancy-
    
    

    The brace that I had was a type of elasticized ace bandage.  It hooked
    on the thumb then wrapped down the back of the hand and around the 
    wrist a revolution or two.  This gave my hand some support, not a whole
    lot, but enough to rest the thumb long enough to heal.  It gave me some
    freedom to use my hand otherwise.
    
    I had the kind with the metal support, and just pulled the metal part
    out.  That worked well too, but I liked the wrap better.
    
    							cj *->

    For anti-inflammatory effects and pain, some people have better results 
    with Naproxen sodium (over the counter, it's Aleve).  This is the longer
    lasting dosing medication, so you only have to take it twice a day,
    with food or milk.  
    
    The only problem with Aleve, which is used most for sport-type injuries 
    and arthritis, is that you can ONLY take Tylenol in conjunction with
    it, no aspirin, ibuprofen, etc.
    
    My Jake, at 9 months, is starting to get pretty heavy, and I'm starting
    to feel that tendonitis myself, plus a *knot* of pain in the middle of
    my back, up the spine and neck and across the same shoulder.  Sigh,
    been there, done that, not much helps except the chiropractor and
    complete rest. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  Whoever heard of a working parent who
    could get complete rest?!  And I haven't found a decent chiropractor in
    my (new) area yet...and I probably couldn't afford it if I did find
    one...-:)!
    
    I'm going to try a wrist support and some Advil (naproxen having never
    worked for me personally; my Mom's been taking it for arthritis for
    years...), though, and see what happens.  NO use going to a doctor. 
    Our HMO here covers something above nothing but below what I am used to
    with other HMOs.
    
    M.
    
    
    M.