We are having a bit of a baby boom with our practitioners here at the clinic, so we thought we'd do a post on a relevant injury. "Baby wrist" as it is commonly known, can refer to a couple of different wrist problems that occur as a result of sitting your newborn on your hand while holding them for a long period.
See the picture below - this is a lovely safe way to hold your baby but be aware of how long you have the baby sat on your hand for - as it can lead to the following problems...
"De Quervain's Stenosing Tenosynovitis" - this is the inflammation of the synovial sheath which surrounds the tendons of some of the thumb muscles. You'll know if you have this problem as you can confirm it by gripping your thumb and pulling it down and forwards away from you (Google 'Finklestein's test'). If this causes pain, there is a good chance that this is the type of 'Baby wrist' you are suffering with.
The second type is a classic wrist ligament sprain, there are 8 wrist bones called 'carpals', any one of these could be sprained if they are overstretched for a long period of time.
To overcome this problem, one big change can be made. Rather than holding the baby under the bum using your hand, try sitting the baby on your forearm. By sitting them on your forearm, they'll be just as safe and there is no chance of overstretching and injuring the ligaments and tendons in your hand and wrist. Get in touch with one of our chiropractors if this is something you think you may be suffering from as we can help you overcome it even quicker using some hands on therapy.