How'd carpal tunnel syndrome start?

Hi All,

I'm not too sure if I have carpal tunnel syndrome as I am booked in to see my doc tomorrow for a checkup but just wondering how'd it start for other people??

Over the past week I have noticed that my hands and wrists were swelling and on Saturday it got bad that I had to take my rings and watch off. Sunday it was OK but I was drinking a lot more water. On Sunday I also had a pretty busy day and was using my hands pretty much all day.

Monday morning I woke up to my right wrist aching. I thought that I might have done something to it while sleeping or from all my work on sunday. During the day it eased off a little bit but still hurt a teeny bit.

This morning I woke up to both my wrists hurting, right wrist more than left. They both have a slight ache to them and feel tight. Could this be the start of carpal tunnel syndrome or did I just work my hands to hard over the weekend??

Yeah - mine was me waking up at night with a dead, aching arm/wrist. I had to shake it to get feeling back. It was also mainly in my 3rd & 4th fingers. Towards the end of the pregnancy, I actually had constant numbness/tingling in those fingers.. to the point I had to be careful not to burn them! coz I couldn't feel the heat properly with those fingertips! I noticed it when I was driving with a burning hot steering wheel.. my right hand fingers weren't feeling the burning like my left hand was.

And yeah - my hands would feel like I'd overdone something - like I'd spent the last day unscrewing jars or something hehe, but I hadn't!

My doc got me to soak my rings off and not wear them once I started to swell, coz he said it can be a problem during labour (not really sure why??).

Veronica, I have only ever had it with Paige and it was terrible. I don't even really remember the way it started, I just noticed that at night when I was in bed my right wrist would ache like the blazes and mainly the 3rd and 4th fingers, but as it got worse it was my whole hand for the last few weeks. I never had any swelling though and it only ever pained me at night, but during the day it would get stiff if I didn't move it for a while.

Liz, maybe they were thinking that if you ended up needing a c/s they would have to cut them off?

Veronica, mine was always like pins and neddles at night and they where also painful during the day. When i was pg with Alexander i wasn't even able to write it was so bad.
I was given braces to help with the pain and it worked well and i only had to use them a couple of times when pg with Eleanor.

Tingling fingers here, then painful numbness of my hands and arms at night, needing me to either hold them straight above my head, with shaking to get the feeling to go again. Got so bad, i could only drive using one hand,, with the other held down , then swap when the numbness took over the one on the wheel. I even had to sleep upright on a loungechair in the end as the pain was shocking, and went right up to my shoulders. My gp had me on constant penedeine forte, heat packs, and had splints molded for both arms at the hospital physio dept,,, and then took my bubba 2 weeks early via c-section to end the pain, as i was crying up all night, and had to alternate with putting my arms into VERY hot water, then putting them straight into cold water, and back into hot again etc. (sounds strange,, but it does kinda stop the nreve pain from it slightly)
I didnt have it with this last one at all badly though,, just a slight numbness at night, no pain,,,, so just shows it does not necessarily effect you with every pregnancy

Lil Aussie - that sounds so bad!!

Well I dont have any tingling fingers or pins and needles.. just the sore wrists and really tight feeling. I am going to see my doctor tomorrow after work so I will ask him about this. I better right it down or I will forget..

Try this easy exercise to stretch the tendons and ease the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.

1. Extend your wrists and fingers outward, ahead of your body, positioning your hands and fingers toward the ceiling, like you are signaling someone to "stop".

2. Wait five seconds in this position, then relax and straighten both wrists in front of the torso.

3. Keeping the arms straight out front, clench both hands in a fist.

4. Rotate the wrists down to the floor while maintaining a fist and then hold for five seconds.

5. Relax and straighten both wrists and hands into their normal position and repeat the above steps for as many as five to seven more times.