de Quervain’s Tendonitis

For those of you that know me.... know that I am a bit of a hypochondriac. I do not think so though... I REALLY think that I can self-diagnose many of my medical problems. :) For instance, I am fully convinced that I have Diabetes Insipidus. This is not the diabetes that most people know of that affects blood sugars... the main component in D.I. is always being thirsty, drinking a TON of water, and peeing ALL the time. I "thought" I had D.I. when I first learned about it in Anatomy class at Metro... Then I "knew" I had it when I learned even more in nursing school... a couple more signs of D.I. is high heart rate and low blood pressure... Do you think I can fib about my blood pressure & heart rate? Nope. I have it. I'm convinced. I actually have convinced many people that know me that I have D.I. too... because they see how water-obsessed I am. It was the WORST when my OB doctor limited my water intake (actually said NO WATER) after 6pm... (due to my severe heartburn). Every morning I woke up feeling like I had many alcoholic beverages the night before.... What I really wanted was pure and simple:

Just a nice tall glass of H2O.

So... As you can imagine... when I woke up about a week ago with bilateral wrist pain... I was convinced I had Carpal Tunnel. It wasn't until today that I really researched Carpal Tunnel and realized that I had no numbness or tingling... so I couldn't possibly have Carpal Tunnel... Good thing... because it sounds dreadful!

So, what DO I have? de Quervain's Tendonitis AKA "Mother's Thumb." This affects JUST the thumb, and hurts when I move my wrist or thumb a certain way, "catches" much like trigger finger, and hurts like a "b" when I snap my fingers. It is prevalent in new mothers and grandmothers from picking up their child/grandchild the same way over and over. The Internet (which is ALWAYS correct) says to diagnose "Mother's Thumb" you make a fist over your thumb & then move your wrist out. This is very painful for someone with de Quervain's Tendonitis... Is it painful for me? HOLY COW YES!



Breast-feeding moms are even more prevalent due to the positioning of the baby & boob for feeding. WELL... for those that don't just know me, but have SEEN me since given birth, you know that my boobs are as big as basketballs...


When I feed little Brady I must really squeeze and squish my boob into his mouth so that he can get milk. Such things I didn't realize before pregnancy.....

So, what are the next steps? I am hoping that I can treat it with some ibuprofen & changing the way I pick up the little stinker... and hopefully I will figure out a different way to get my boob into his mouth still... otherwise my wrists are just gong to continue to hurt. :) The next step is wrist splints, therapy, steroid injections... and even surgery! Luckily... they say if you figure it out early and change things that you have a better outcome. Good thing I am such a good investigator! :)

Who would have known that I would get something called "Mother's Thumb" from taking care of my beautiful baby!