As I sit down to nurse for the umpteenth time today, I reach for my phone and feel a stabbing twinge in my elbow as I grasp it. This has been happening for several weeks now. Just about the time Baby Ei hit 13lbs.
I noticed that I’d been holding her more with just my left arm, so I could simultaneously complete tasks with my dominant right hand. This caused a lot of tightness in my left shoulder and neck area. But a pain that surprised me, was one that originated below the outer elbow, radiating down my forearm, into my thumb.
I brushed off the pain as a soreness from holding the baby (and social media scrolling), and assumed it would pass as I got stronger. Instead the pain persisted, and I began feeling as though the strength in my left hand was waining. Of course I ran to google, because it could be a brain tumor… right?
Instead, I found stories from women with similar pain in their elbows and arms.
The common consensus was that these mothers, myself included, began suffering from this elbow pain around the time their babies turned 3 months. From a pain in the outer elbow, tender to the touch, increasing when the arm extends or twists, all of these women were seemingly suffering from the same ailment that I was.
Having spent many years as a gymnastics coach, there was something else that these symptoms made me think of… Tennis Elbow! Not just reserved for the avid tennis player, this condition can cause pain in just about anyone with an elbow.
Mine, and likely these other momma’s, could be traced back to how we were holding our babes. Often when you favor one arm to carry all that weight it puts stress on those ares of your body. This stress, over time, causes a strain in the tendons and joints, resulting in pain and weakening of the lower arm.
Sure enough, the more I researched, the more I found that Mom Elbow and Tennis Elbow were synonymous with one another.
We sling our babies on our hips, at our chest and hung on our arms in so many positions each day, that I wanted to see if any one of these places was more painful than the other.
After a while I’d narrowed down the source of the pain to when I would hold baby Ei in front of me, facing out. With my right hand supporting her tush, and my left arm braced across her front, as she’d repeatedly attempt to throw her body toward to floor.
So now that I had identified the reasoning behind the pain, I wanted to know what I could do to get rid of it.
Try Different Positions
First thing was to recognize when I was holding Baby Ei in that position, and change the hold to one that put less stress on my ailing arm.
**I found that wearing a baby wrap, (solly baby/ergo baby/etc.) was really helpful for me. It not only gave my arm a break, but I also noticed my overall posture while carrying Baby Ei was better when wearing her.
RICE, RICE Baby (Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate)
Second thing to do was take care of my elbow. I iced it when I could, and rested a heating pad on it before bed. Acetominophen is suggested as a way to reduce inflammation and help with pain, however I like to exhaust other options before resorting to pain meds.
Stretch it Out
Lastly, I need to do gentle stretching and be patient. Stretching is all around good for our body, and such a simple tool. The Prayer Stretch seems to be popular for treatment of Mom Elbow. Begin by placing palms together, elbows facing outward. Keeping hands pressed together, begin lowering wrists slowly, so as not to separate the palms. Repeating this stretch several times per day has been recommended for the best results.
Have you suffered from ‘Mom Elbow’? What did you do to help with the pain, or correct the issue?