Numbing Hand and Arm

Carpal Tunnel was my first guess....I suffer with it....have had the surgery on one hand but still deal with it on the other. It will basically effect the thumb,index and middle finger if it is true Carpal Tunnel. I find that mine acts up if I am holding anything in that hand, or if I lay on that side when I am in bed. Ask your doctor is a "cock up brace" might not help...you can buy them over the counter in most drug stores or grocery stores....they cost about $20. There are some simple exercises that you can do to help alleviate the problem....you should be able to find examples online or get suggestions from your doctor.
Good luck!!

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Hi A.,

I had the same problem with my last pregnancy, and pre-eclampsia as well. I know how uncomfortable can be, it is very hard to find any good position to make yourself feel better. I had the problem in both of my arms, and when I woke up every morning, my arms and hands were numb and "full of pins" and all you described here. My doctor suggested me to wear those wrist elastic bands (I don't remember the right name, they go into your hand and part of the arm) at night, and during the day most of the time. It was not very nice either, but I did not woke up with the problem anymore.I just wore them overnight. It does not look nice, but the important thing is that will make you feel better! You can find them in the pharmacy area, where the elastic bands are (there are for elbows, knees, hands, etc..).These things keep your hands straight, you won't be able to move them or bend them like I used to do when I was pregnant. I wore them the last 3 months of my pregnancy. They are easy to take them off if you need to do it overnight.....
Drink plenty of water and have as much rest as you can. I know it is hard when you have another child, but yours is still young, and you can nap or sleep with the little one.Rest, rest and drink, drink lots of fluids....
Take care,
A.

1 mom found this helpful

I had this problem too. My doctor told me it was pregnancy induced carpal tunnel, from fluid retention. It's different than regular carpal tunnel in that it goes away when you have the baby, and it's not caused by typing or anything. The swelling causes it. Anyways, I have no good advice on how to deal with it, but it does go away as soon as the baby is born.

Hi A.,
I read what is going on with you. yes this is carpal tunnel. It comes with pregnancy alot. It is cause by fluid retention in your body. I had this with my pregnancy and it will go away after you have the baby. There is not a lot you can do with it right now. If you have a hand brace wear it off and on to take some pressure off the tendon. I know it is very painful for now. I got it really bad and towards the end of my pregnancy I was not sleeping. It will go away though after you deliver. If it gets to bad talk to your dr. I work with OB drs. and we see alot of this.
Good luck,
J.

I had carpal tunnel in both of my hands about the same time. But my hands did not turn purple. There were just numb all the time.I would get that checked out.If they are turning purple. My doctor had me wear the carpel tunnel braces. It went away after my son was born. PLEASE be careful good luck

The same thing happened to me at about the same time, it did go away once i had my daughter, there was nothing that I could do to help it. I sometimes would drop things so be careful what you pick up.

I had that with my daughter. The doctor told me it was pregnancy induced carpotunnel. It eventually went away, but I think my daughter was close to 3 months old by the time it did. You might want to talk to your dr to see if there is anything that they can do to make it more comfortable. I even had trouble picking her up for awhile. Good luck! Hope this helps.

I had the same thing with both of my pregnancies. Pregnancy induced Carpal Tunnels. It was worse with my second and did not fully go away inbetween the pregnancies. I was not overly swollen either but had the tingle and numbness off and on through out the day and especially at night. My Dr. suggested I get a hand/wrist brace from the drug store and it worked great. I wore it for the last 3 months of my pregnancy mostly all day and night. It got so much better about 3 months after the babies were born but mine is still lingering. I did do a lot of typing/mouse clicking in my pre-mom job so that may be why mine is still here at times.
Go get a brace that keeps your wrist stable and you should feel relief!

Hi A.,
I had my first baby in June, and I had pregnancy induced carpel tunnel to the EXTREME!! I had it so bad, that I ended up getting cortisone shots in my right hand at about 34 weeks. I was in so much pain ~ it was affecting my every day activities, and I do sit at a desk and type all day, so I had to do something about it. I'm telling you, I would go through labor again and again before I want to experience that again!!! I wore wrist splints on both hands at night from about 30 weeks until I had my baby, and that seemed to help, but didn't take away the pain. The cortisone shots definitely did the trick though. But the shot itsself was AWFUL!! They didn't numb my wrist before they gave the shot to me, and it literally brought tears to my eyes. (the nurse actually commented that she couldn't believe the dr. didn't numb it first!) The day after I had the shot, my wrist was actually worse, but the day after that, it was like a miracle! Anyway, your symptoms sound like what mine started out as, and I truly hope you can get relief somehow. They were reluctant to give me the shot, since I was pregnant, but I had to have something! It wasn't just numb, but extremely painful! Anyway, good luck! And by the way, I'm 14 weeks pregnant again now, and I'm praying that I don't have this happen again!

Definitely get the wrist braces, and be careful not to do anything that causes you to bend your wrists or put pressure on them for long periods of time. Annoying when you are taking care of a kid, but it will get worse with a baby because there are so many things (nursing if you have to hold onto your boob, holding the baby, holding your head up while you cry ;)) that will exacerbate it. Mine is off and on as I head into my third pregnancy. It started from typing at a writing desk (instead of a computer desk), and then painting, taking care of my baby, holding the phone to my head, holding the steering wheel in the car, riding a bike, etc. all added to it.

Good Morning A., First I am not Preggers and Haven't been for almost 32 yrs. Thank you Lord!!!
I have what you described to some extent. I do type a lot on my PC. Plus change diapers and stuff with our gr children.
I find my hand going numb at different times, sometimes while moving the mouse or even picking up a cup of coffee NOT a good time to go numb.

I do have some braces i use at times, they can be comfortable and other times not if I get the seam placed on the thumb nerve. I use the type that are like a sports glove with the finger holes. They only come up to the wrist and can be tightened with Velcro. These work very well for me.

My Doctor prescribed a bigger brace that I did use at night but in the mornings My hands hurt something awful as they did lay right on the nerve on the thumbs. These were a stiffer type with the metal brace on the underside of the wrist and palm. I was to use them during the day also, but Could NOT do even the smallest of tasks with them.

I would suggest trying the sports type they are a lot more comfortable.

One other thing while I am at it. Our daughter in law, had tingling and numbness during the last month of her last pregnancy. Plus blurry vision, head ache. Ended up taking her to ER as she was at work and started experiencing slurred speech. Well she could think of the word but couldn't make it come out. By the time I ran to get her, her speech had improved, but she still have spotty vision, headache etc.. This lasted about an hour or so. They found she had gestational diabetes. I am not saying at all this is what is causing you problems but it would be worth checking with your OB.
She is fine now, she had to check her blood sugar several times a day until Zane was born. He so far is ok also. They said it was possible Zane could develop diabetes later on. We are Praying Against That diagnoses In JESUS Name.

God Bless you A., Will be praying everything turns out Wonderful for you and your little ones.
K. Nana of 5

I had this with pregnancy #1 and #3. With both of those pregnancies I retained A LOT of water (pre-eclampsia). My Doctor told me exactly what you wrote, that it is a result of the band of tissue putting pressure on nerves, etc. It is very debilitating and frustrating. I was never able to find anything to help combat it other than to rest my arms a certain way down at my side, and that would only work momentarily. My suggestion would be to try to avoid doing anything that requires fine motor. It will only frustrate you and cause it to bother you more. Also, don't expect it to go away as soon as the baby is born, either. I forgot that it hung around for a while and was disappointed when it took a few weeks for it to go away completely. Makes holding your newborn a little difficult. I wouldn't pick up my baby for the first week or so without someone there 'just in case'. Since you aren't retaining that much, it may go away sooner for you. I wish you luck. I know how terrible this is...

Chris

Sounds like carpel tunnel. I had it really bad for last 3 months of my pregnancy and it was so bad I couldn't enjoy my last time to be pregnant. Nothing could be done during the pregnancy except to wear a (brace especially at night).
After my daughter was born it still did not go away and I finally had to go and get cortizone shots for it and they gave me better braces to wear. You notice a change within a couple of days and it took about 3 weeks to fully go away and today (2.5 years later) I haven't had any problems. No matter how much water I drank it didn't work. I went for the shots because I was unable to hold my daughter for long periods of time and I was also afraid I would drop her because my hands were numb.

Good luck and enjoy your pregnancy.

J.

Hey A.. I had the same thing when I was pregnant. My doctor told me it was temporary carpal tunnel. Mine set in before I was diagnosed with my getsational diabets and the doctor did not make any mention of the two being related. It went away after the baby was born and I have been fine ever since. Don't worry about it too much it is more annoying then it is serious. Good luck to you

Been there, done that. I talked to doctor and yes, it was pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome. It was worse in my right arm, because I already had it there. Really light case..... I had a wrist brace, you can get them at any medical supply store or Wal-mart, Walgreens, etc. Slept on left side anyway (because of Acid Reflux), with my body pillow, so I could try to keep hips semi-level (problems with that too from a work injury), and laid with right arm on top of pillow to keep it level with heart. It helps. But definately talk to doctor because it can be a symptom of something more serious. I had to have a couple of tests done to make sure it wasn't more that carpal tunnel.

Best of luck and Congratulations!!!!

Please do not stop...Go to the docotor or E.R. Make an appointment today. Or if your hand turns turns purple go to the E.R. I would not play with this.
It could be carpal tunnel and it could be a something else.
Please get it checked out.
I work for with stroke survivors... how I got in to this career, My best friend from high school had a stroke having her first child.
Just don't take a chance.

Talk to your doctor. It could be your blood pressure causing it. Good luck and God Bless.

I had the same problem with my 3rd pregnancy, my hands and lower arm would go completely numb sometimes. My dr suggested a carpel tunnel brace. Mine did not go away until about a month after I had the baby when my fluid retention went away. So do anything you can get the fluid retention down--stay away from caffine, salt and drink plenty of water and tea flushes stuff out good too. Good luck, I know it's uncomfortable!

A.-

In my experience, these symptoms can be reduced or alleviated with a combination of increased water intake, drinking 3 cups/day of organic pregnancy tea (can reduce swelling), and gentle chiropractic adjustments. There are a handful of DCs in KC who specialize in pregnancy care, and you can find them on this website: www.icpa4kids.org.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Yours in health,
Dr. Alyssa
www.dralyssaonline.com