De Quervain's Tenosynovitis: Chronic Wrist Pain

Many new parents suffer from chronic wrist pain caused by the awkward hand positions required to hold and care for an infant. This condition, called de Quervain's tenosynovitis and known also by many other names (see list below), can cause severe pain that it hinders the simplest of daily tasks, such as bathing, feeding, or changing a newborn baby's diapers.

What is de Quervain's tenosynovitis?
What causes de Quervain's tenosynovitis?
What are the symptoms of de Quervain's tenosynovitis?
How is de Quervain's tenosynovitis treated?

Other names for this condition

Many different medical and common names are used to describe de Quervain's tenosynovitis, including:

Medical name variants

de Quervain's syndrome
de Quervain's disease
de Quervain's tendonitis or tendinitis
de Quervain's tendinopathy
de Quervain's tendinosis
de Quervain's tenosynovitis
radial styloid tenosynovitis
wrist tenosynovitis

Common name variants

designer's thumb
gamer's thumb
mommy thumb
mother's wrist
new mom’s syndrome
texter's thumb or texting thumb

What is de Quervain's tenosynovitis?

De Quervain's tenosynovitis is inflammation of the tendon that runs down the forearm, through the wrist and to the thumb.

Illustration of de Quervain tenosynovitis

What causes de Quervain's tenosynovitis?

This injury is caused by repetitive strain on the tendon due to frequent, awkward positioning of the wrist and/or thumb. It can be brought on by repetition of many everyday activities, including:

computer keyboard use
fly fishing
golfing
hammering

knitting
lifting and holding babies
skiing
texting

What are the symptoms of de Quervain's tenosynovitis?

The chief symptom is pain in the radial side (thumb side) of the wrist. This pain is usually noticed while forming a fist, grasping objects or turning the wrist, and it may radiate out to the thumb or the forearm.

Other signs and symptoms can include:

inflammation (swelling) or tenderness of the radial side of the wrist
popping or snapping sounds while moving the thumb

How is de Quervain's tenosynovitis treated?

Conservative, nonsurgical treatments are tried first. These can include:

reducing or modifying activities
wearing a forearm spica splint
NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)

If the above measures are not effective after several weeks, gluticorticoid injections may provide pain relief. Rarely, if pain persists after non-operative measures have been tried, wrist surgery may be required.