Dealing with de Quervain's disease

Has anyone here dealt with de Quervain's, or maybe even snagged an official diagnosis? I’m pretty sure that’s what I’m actually dealing with because the pain in my wrist has become absolutely brutal. My physical therapist keeps telling me it’s just arthritis, so now I’m out here paying for all these sessions, ultrasounds, and laser treatments that—honestly?—haven't done a damn thing to help. I’m at a total loss. Should I go hunt down a second opinion or what? It feels pretty stupid to keep wasting money on therapy if they’ve got the wrong idea about what’s going on. To make matters worse, my wrist is under constant stress since I’ve got a little one at home and I'm currently on maternity leave. Right now, I’m just DIY-ing it by slathering on some Voltaren and using a compression wrap to try and keep things steady. I also borrowed a Zepter light lamp—wondering if that might actually do anything? Anyway, my radiology report says "minimal narrowing of the radiocarpal joint space..." which, in my humble layman's opinion, doesn't sound like arthritis at all. They can just say whatever they want, I guess... Anybody?

Basically, what you’re looking at is a thickened tendon that's scraping through its bony tunnel instead of gliding smoothly, which ends up pinching the nerve. Look, I’m no physical therapist, but I’ve been dealing with this exact same nightmare myself—I’ve got a little one at home and I’m constantly carrying them around, and honestly, what else am I supposed to do? 😘 It’s been dragging on for about 12 months now. Usually, the go-to moves are icing it or wearing a brace, but if the pain gets unbearable, doctors might suggest corticosteroid shots to knock down the inflammation, or even surgery.
Try this: bend your thumb, put your index finger over it, and then rotate your whole hand downward. If you feel a sharp sting just above that wrist bump, that’s a positive sign for this condition. It's often called "washerwoman's thumb"—it’s basically what happens to people who do repetitive, heavy motions with that joint for long stretches. I’d bet a coffee that it feels even worse in the morning when you first wake up, right?

Look, you might be dealing with some arthritis in that joint, but honestly, between what the radiologist said and the symptoms you’re actually feeling, the picture is pretty clear. Don't go digging the hole deeper—just take it easy and let things cool down.

Yeah, yeah, I know—it hurts like hell when I try that stretch, believe me, I’ve been there... But look, I’m calling you out here... What am I actually supposed to do next? Just keep grinding through physical therapy and laser treatments? Ditch the light therapy lamp entirely? Or should I just go hunt down a second opinion from someone else?
Wait, you’re telling me you’ve been dealing with this for a full year?! Jesus Christ, how do you even function?
And yep, the pain is even more brutal first thing in the morning!
Seriously though, how did you manage to get through this, and what actually worked for you?

First things first: get a second opinion. Seriously, fire your physiatrist. I actually had to nudge my own doctor and suggest, "Hey, could this maybe be de Quervain syndrome?" She ended up running that specific test on me—I’m no expert, but I think it’s called the Finkenstein test—and it came back positive. You know that sharp, nasty pain when they squeeze your thumb with their index finger? Yeah, that's the one.😲
What she recommended—which actually worked for me—was using ice packs on the spot constantly. Also, let your wife carry the baby. You need to minimize how much you're lifting as much as humanly possible.👍
Since I was the one carrying the kid more awkwardly than my wife did for a while, I was the first one in the house to deal with this. Once I finally got out of the "baby-carrying" business, it cleared up in a few months. But then, because I was being extra protective of my right hand, the pain migrated over to my left one. Now my wife is dealing with it too, though just in her right hand. Since the grandmas around here would rather spend their time pampering their dogs than helping with the grandkids, we've been doing everything ourselves since we left the hospital... maybe by the fall, we'll finally get some help from daycare.
So, bottom line: find a new physiatrist, use cold therapy (you can buy those gel packs you keep in the freezer), wear that splint—if you don't have one already, get one, because you really need to immobilize that thumb! Just avoid whatever movements trigger the pain as much as you can, and you'll be fine.👍

If you're dealing with hand pain, I had the same thing happening in my left hand. I went to see my uncle, who's a doctor, and he just laughed and asked if I used a computer. Everything cleared up once I stopped leaning on the desk like that.🙂

Does anyone have any insight regarding those small cysts or lumps that pop up on the wrist? They seem to be quite painful to the touch.
My sister has been struggling with this for days now.