Intense left arm shoulder pain

[JennaW]

So the past few days I have been having some very minor pain in my left wrist. My friend who is a PT came over the other day to borrow some maternity clothes and I asked her to look at it. She said it didn't seem serious but to get a wrist brace just in case and try to wear it as much as possible, especially at night. Fine. So early this morning (3 am ish) when I got up to go pee my whole left arm was in awful pain. I took the brace off and that seemed to help, I was able to go back to sleep.

Well, about an hour ago I went to lay down and I was hit with sudden and excruciating pain in my left shoulder, down to my arm & wrist but with the most intense pain being in the shoulder.

I have been icing it and the extreme pain did subside after less then a minute but it was bad, it made me cry out in pain. My shoulder and wrist still hurt.

Is this related to the pregnancy? It is a sign of something serious (a google search doesn't seem to be pulling up anything that would suggest left shoulder pain is a symptom of something serious)?

It is just weird, nothing has happened that I would call an injury, there wasn't a moment when I did something and it started hurting, it has just came out of no where.

Thanks for any advice.

[huskermommy]

Oh no Jenna! I don't have any experience or advice on this but I hope someone else does.

[Emily12581]

Sounds like carpel tunnel. It's pretty common in pregnancy and should go away after giving birth. Sorry mama!

[goldingoddess]

I had the same exact pain. Went to the chiropractor, and it was gone the next day!

[Bad Horse]

Ugh. I've had this with all 3 pregnancies. It's terrible, but normal.

It'll go away once all that extra baby, blood, fluid goes away.

[JennaW]

Thank you so much for the responses. Thank you for the carpel tunnel tip Emily, I looked it up and that is exactly what it sounds like.

I have considered the chriopracter but I really can't afford it so I will see if I can wait it out, I'm 40 +5 so hopefully this baby will come out soon!

[Kidzaplenty]

It does sound like it could be carpel tunnel, but it depends on exactly where in your wrist it hurts.

I have delveloped tendonitis in my wrist due to prgcy. And they said it would go away with the birth. But my pain in on the thumb side of my wrist, right on the wrist bone (and then runs through my hand and arm). Extreemly painful if I twist it or use it, and especially if I put any sort of brace on it.

[AmyC]

I wonder if it (whatever it is, carpel tunnel, tendonitis, or something else) could be related to doing a lot of sleeping/lying on your left side? I know I had some serious hip stuff going on a few weeks back (I had that massage on Father's Day and the pain had reached its peak just before that, so I guess back in June...) and it was the left hip.

The crippling hip stuff started up after I had begun lying down a lot more during the day (always on my left side) and just resting or napping much more often. I also felt a lot more pelvic pressure and the twins had dropped much lower (I was obviously carrying lower), so I figured maybe I just was having the typical "increased difficulty getting around" or whatever as my pregnancy progressed.

But after getting the massage, the issue was appreciably better (not gone, but MUCH improved) and I decided to start alternating sides. I spent some time on my right side when I'd rest, and in the night whenever I got up to pee, I'd switch sides. I haven't had that same type of stabbing pain since. (I have a hard time walking when I get up, and my hips hurt in the morning/at night when I get up to pee, but that is related to slipping off the pillows or just difficulty getting my legs under me....it does go away with a little motion. i.e., By the time I'm on my way back from the bathroom trip, I can walk.)

I know side sleeping can lead to shoulder/arm stuff for me, depending on how I'm lying and how my arm is fitting under/around the pillows at the top.

Anyway, maybe switching things up a bit could offer some relief, too? I hope you're doing okay.

Also--just an afterthought, but are you wearing any rings or a watch at this point? I had my wedding/engagement rings off in the 2nd trimester because I was playing some gigs and had to hold drumsticks, and the rings would click (I usually remove my rings for percussion gigs, depending on what I'm playing. This gig was lots of snare drum, so off they went!) I never put them back on. I figured I'll wear them again after I get home from the hospital, and I won't have to worry about remembering to leave them at home when we go to the hospital.

I haven't tended to swell, certainly not appreciably, but I notice sometimes my watch band is a little more snug than others. (Seems to relate to the heat more than anything else.) Anyway, maybe some relief could come in losing any of that stuff that you might still be wearing.

[Kidzaplenty]

My tendonitus is in my right hand. I had thought about it being because I was laying on my side, but it is on the wrong side. It does hurt more in the morning than it does during the day. I think it has to do with blood flow some how. Like when I am laying down I get more even blood flow and the more evenly it is, the worse it hurts. But after standing a while the swelling goes to my feet and then my wrist stops throbbing.

Funny how that works.

I, too, took off my rings a few weeks ago, when my wrist began to flair up.