Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Can Complicate Pregnancies

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a condition which causes pain, tingling effect or numbness in the fingers or complete hand particularly the thumb, middle finger, index finger and the ring finger.

There is some kind of loss of sensation in the finger. You feel some kind of weakness in your hands.

While most cases of CTS is attributed to work, several other cases too trigger carpal tunnel syndrome.

They are – pregnancy, obesity, diabetes and weight gain. It is important for working women who are pregnant and suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome to understand the implications of pregnancy on carpal tunnel syndrome.

What is the impact of carpal tunnel syndrome on a pregnant woman?

Carpal tunnel syndrome in pregnant women tends to attribute pain, numbness, weakness, tingling of fingers, swollen wrists and overall immobility of hand.

If the condition remains unattended without any treatment it may worsen over the time. Carpal tunnel syndrome in pregnant women needs immediate treatment to avoid pain and further deterioration.

It can result in total loss of mobility of both the hands due to significant reduction of grip strength on their hands.

But, pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome is not permanent. There is nothing to worry about it. The CTS will automatically resolve post delivery of the baby.

Such carpal tunnel syndrome in pregnant women is likely to occur during the second trimester of pregnancy when the body of a woman tends to retain more fluid. The symptoms gradually worsen while the trimester follows.

Due to this water retention there is edema. The edema usually leads to nerve impairment. The edema not only affects the wrists, but also ankle joints of feet.

The swelling and pain subsides after the birth of the child. But you need treatment of CTS while you are still pregnant provided that you cannot use your hand to eat food, do normal activities like writing, cutting or others.

What you can do to relieve the pain during pregnancy carpal tunnel syndrome?

You cannot afford to take any sort of painkiller or analgesic because they can cause harm to the fetus.

Therefore you should not try those activities which trigger the pain and perform some simple exercises to keep the dismay of carpal tunnel syndrome under control.

1. Avoid any sort of activity which requires forceful or repetitive hand movements with increased pressure on wrists. [Wrist Pain]
2. If your job demands using your hand too much like on computers or writing, use wrist bands or hand braces to make sure that your wrist is not twisted and turned unnecessarily.
3. Always adjust the height of desk and chair for comfortable sitting and resting your hand without putting stress on your hands.
4. Avoid sleeping on your hands which most of us love to do.
5. Practice Yoga or other kind of simple exercise to reduce the inflammation and pain of carpal tunnel syndrome during pregnancy.