When you’re pregnant, you’re more susceptible to additional medical problems like gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, and mood swings, thanks to the changes in your body.
One of the more painful and irritating problems is when you will get a sense of numbness and tingling in your fingers and a pain in your wrist. This generally happens during your second and third trimester.
These symptoms are indicative of carpal tunnel syndrome, which is relatively common during pregnancies. Though it’s kind of painful, it is the sort of disease that will go away with time, after your pregnancy is over and if you take proper care. CTS (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) is not a serious disease, but it can make you very uncomfortable.
Here are a few strategies for relief:
Sit Upright
One of the best ways to relieve the pain of carpal tunnel is to improve your posture. The more you hunch your shoulders and chest, the more likely you are to feel the carpal tunnel pain.
Sit upright, and try and line your shoulders with your ear holes. You need to be constantly mindful that you are sitting with an upright posture. Do this when you are sitting in a meeting, reading a book, and even when you are standing up and working. This will also help you deal with any lower back pain you might experience because of your pregnancy.
Wear a Compression Glove
A compression glove can help give you relief to your carpal tunnel pain, especially if the pain is focused on the hand. A copper compression glove will help by putting adequate pressure on your hand and wrist and still give you a full range of motion. Since these gloves are infused with copper and copper has the properties to reduce inflammation and promote healing, these gloves are extra beneficial. Carpal tunnel gloves can be worn till there is relief from the pain, or can even be worn 24*7.
Massage
Massage your whole hand, beginning from your palm to your forearm and upper arm on the side where you have carpal tunnel.
Exercise
Here are some easy exercises for you to relieve the symptoms of your carpal tunnel pain. Hold one wrist with your other hand and massage it in a circular movement. This will ease the congestion in your muscles. Also, try gently stretching your hands and arms.
Sleep Position
Sleeping in the wrong sleeping position can also worsen the pain of your carpal tunnel. Sleep on your back when you have pain in your wrists due to carpal tunnel. This can help because your shoulders are well rested on the bed, and the median nerve, which can cause painful carpal tunnel syndromes, will not be compressed.
Yoga
Yoga has also proven beneficial to reduce carpal tunnel pain. Prenatal yoga also has countless other benefits.
Last Resort: Surgery
If strategies like using carpal tunnel gloves, or changing your sleeping position, doesn’t help indealing with the symptoms of carpal tunnel, then it is a serious problem. You can wait till your pregnancy is over and a few months after your baby is older to have surgery for carpal tunnel.
This outpatient surgery generally involves severing a ligament that surrounds your wrist to reduce the pressure being exerted on the median nerve. It only requires local anaesthesia and doesn’t even require you to stay overnight at the hospital.
There are two types of surgeries:
- Open release surgery that requires an incision into your skin
- Endoscopic surgery that requires two half-inch incisions — one to insert the camera and other to cut the carpal ligament.
Endoscopic surgery is preferred since it requires less post-operative care.
Though carpal tunnel seems daunting and troublesome, it might go away with proper care, and might fade away completely after your pregnancy, once your baby is a few months old.
Author Bio
Kunal is a passionate entrepreneur, fascinated by the workings of the human body and natural solutions for common health problems. He’s single-minded in his aim to make Copper Clothing a brand that’s recognized across the globe, by partnering with global brands to make these high-tech materials easily accessible for everyone.
