Have you heard of DeQuervain’s tenosynovitis?

Last week, my right wrist and elbow started hurting.  I told Ryan that I thought was getting tennis elbow from carrying Katherine around.  I wondered whether others had experienced this.

Then I read an article from a daily newsletter from the WhatToExpect website which gave this pain a name and explained it:

“Many new moms note pain in the inner part of their wrist (thumb side), which gets worse when picking up a baby under her arms. It’s not carpal tunnel (which you may have experienced during pregnancy), but a condition called DeQuervain’s tenosynovitis (a fancy name for an inflamed thumb tendon). It’s caused by the excessive use of the wrist (such as when picking up the baby, because the wrist and thumb are shouldering most of her weight).”

The article suggests various methods to relieve or prevent the pain, including weightlifting to strengthen arms and shoulders, carrying the baby and baby paraphernalia with the other arm, and using a heating pad.

My arm did not hurt when she was this small.