Pregnant with carpal tunnel
Hello
I've been to Canterbury twice before during my last pregnancy and following it. I have had steroid injections at a clinic in Faversham which have resulted in my symptoms disappearing. I am pregnant with my second child and the symptoms have returned quite severely in my right hand (and did from an early point in the pregnancy). I'm wearing a splint at night which is helping me to sleep better but it does seem to be getting worse. I'd like another steroid injection as soon as possible if I can. I am 23 weeks pregnant. Help!
Hello Dr Bland
Hope you are well. Following the last steroid injection, I've been pretty pain free but in the last few months my symptoms have been returning quite rapidly (especially in the last few weeks). I know we have spoken about the possibility of surgery at some point in the future (its always been difficult with two small children), however, I would like to discuss this option again. I have just completed a severity test - what shoud be my next step?
Kind regards
HIgher scores than previously I see. I presume that we are clear of the pregnancy now - did it improve at all after delivery or was it hard to tell having had it injected? Given the previous history I think we probably should be planning to get it operated but we can use injections to delay that until it is reasonably convenient provided nerve function is not deteriorating - that means I need to check it from time time so I'll look for a space when I can slot you in to a clinic. JB
Yes, it's been over a year since I was pregnant, and about a year and a half since the injection. Couldn't tell after delivery as the injection had cleared it. I'm happy to consider operating as my circumstances have changed slightly and so I would have more support at home with the children. I have started to wear my splint again at night and this has helped a bit.
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.
OK we'll be putting an appointment with me in the post and we can then discuss the options based on some up to date nerve conduction studies. JB
I think it is probably desirable to avoid steroids in the first trimester of pregnancy but by 23 weeks you are well past this and it should not be a problem to inject. We should also re-test your nerves so that we know what we are dealing with as the last set of tests are quite old now and your 'biological circumstances' have obviously changed somewhat since then anyway! We do not need to wait for test results to re-inject however and you can call the SIPC office to set this in motion tomorrow just give me a few hours in the morning to update your records and send them an email. I will send out an appointment to se me at the same time - hopefully before the end of the month.