The Wrist That Held the Baby: De Quervain's Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe De Quervain's tenosynovitis, the painful thumb-side wrist condition often called mommy thumb. Many began with a new baby: night feeds in Leeds, a daily oil massage and bath in Pune, twin boys and a husband on nights in Birmingham, seven weeks beside a neonatal unit in Beirut, an adoptive mother in Dubai, a father walking the floor with a colicky daughter. Others came through work and hobbies: a bank cashier counting notes in Lagos, a tailor in Accra, a video game tester, a hairdresser, a dental hygienist, a chef in Lyon, a piano teacher, a potter, a joiner who thought doctors were for other folk, and a physiotherapist who had treated the condition for twelve years. Writers range from a 22-year-old student to a 71-year-old holding his great-grandson, and from Seattle to Seoul. They describe splints, hand therapy, baby carriers, changes to tools and desks, questions about tablets while breastfeeding, steroid injections and operations, in one case on both wrists. Some write about things they wish they had heard sooner: a pale mark on brown skin after an injection, planning around type 1 diabetes, a numb patch after surgery, a year of being told it was arthritis. Not everyone has a clean ending: one mother in Bogota is still sore on some days.

Who it's for

For new parents, grandparents, carers and anyone whose work depends on their hands who is living with a sore wrist, and for the partners and families helping them carry the load.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 283 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.