Kaley Cuoco just welcomed her first child Matilda in March with her partner Tom Pelphrey. She seems really happy as a mom, and being in this relationship–she and Tom are on the same page about wanting more kids. I like Kaley–she has a naturally appealing screen presence even in The Big Bang Theory and I think being boo’d up and having kids is the life she’s always wanted. But an unexpected downside of being a new mom for Kaley is getting carpal tunnel syndrome from holding her baby too much. Now she has pain in her wrists and has to adapt her workouts so that she isn’t gripping weights or putting pressure on her wrists. Her trainer Ryan Sorensen posted a video of Kaley on Instagram to show the adaptations they did for a no-wrist, no-hands workout. She also wears wrist braces the whole time. It’s a lot of agility work, lower body exercises, reformer Pilates, cardio, and core work. It still looks pretty hard!
Kaley Cuoco loves being a mom to daughter Matilda, and often shares photos of her holding her the four-month-old, whom she shares with partner Tom Pelphrey, 40.
But now the Based on a True Story actress, 37, says she’s developed carpal tunnel syndrome from holding the tot. She’s had to find new ways to work out, according to a video posted to her trainer Ryan Sorenson’s Instagram account.
“So some of you may know I have this, like, major wrist/hand injury from holding the baby. It’s a very real thing. Google it,” Cuoco said, standing inside a gym where she showed off the stabilizing wrist braces she wore on each hand and she mimicked rocking the baby to sleep.
Carpal tunnel starts as tingling or numbness in the hand or fingers. It’s caused by pressure on the median nerve, which runs from the forearm through the wrist and to the hand, according to the Mayo Clinic. Although it’s commonly associated with computer use, “prolonged or repetitive flexing of the wrist” may cause it.
“And I think the only thing to make them better is for us to start working out without using my hands. And without using any body weight on my hands, which sounds crazy, and how can you get a workout like that?” she continued.
But as her trainer pointed out in his caption, “Other than laying off her workouts we just adjust and make them more about lower body and core work.”
The workout itself: Set to the soundtrack of Eminem’s 2002 single “Business,” Cuoco then proceeded to show off a montage of her “no hands” exercises. She began with resistance bands around her ankles, keeping them on as she did step exercises.
The former Big Bang Theory star then headed outside for agility work on an obstacle course set up on the driveway, where she stepped in and out of orange honeycombs placed on the ground.
Cuoco also found ways to use the Pilates reformer without using her hands, stepping on and off a wedge at its base.
She returned to doing step-aerobics, but with a resistance band around her waist this time.
Cuoco hit the treadmill as well, and was filmed sprinting before hitting the floor for abdominal exercises with an oversized black yoga ball.
And while she did use her hands — albeit briefly — during a boxing session with her trainer, she never held a weight or piece of equipment, keeping on her protective braces on the entire time.
My mom got tendonitis in her elbow from holding me as a baby so I know this happens. Carpal tunnel syndrome can also occur in pregnancy. I’ve been experiencing carpal tunnel-like symptoms lately–tingling in both hands and pain if I type for long periods (I use Apple’s dictation tool to write the rough drafts of these articles and it works great, if you have an Apple computer, it’s so useful). The problem is that there is an 6-8 month wait for an appointment with any primary care doctor who takes my insurance, so I don’t know for sure if it’s carpal tunnel or something else. So in the meantime I plan to actually use some of Kaley’s adaptations in workouts. My heart goes out to all the moms out there who have this happen to them–moms have enough to worry about, it’s wild that people can get wrist injuries from caring for little ones. I’m not a mom but if I had a baby I know I’d want to just hold them constantly. Anytime I get to hold a baby and I smell that patented, addictive “new baby” smell? I never want to put the baby down! I want to see what other workouts/adaptations Kaley does now. I wonder how she trains her upper body.
Photos via Instagram
Ah yes. I experienced this during my last two pregnancies and postpartum. Carpal tunnel makes breastfeeding absolute hell. I thought I was going to require surgery, but as soon as I quit breastfeeding it went away.
It’s common and there’s even a name for it “Mother’s Wrist”. I had a pretty bad case of it on the right hand. Did every intervention known and ended up getting surgery, which was very successful. But man, did it hurt. I couldn’t even bathe my baby.
Oh my god! Yet another hidden physical impact of motherhood, please keep sharing ladies. Carpal tunnel is definitely no joke, I’ve had two colleagues debilitated by it.
I didn’t get carpal tunnel from pregnancy (that came later from all the writing I do, and ended with a pair of surgeries), but I did get synovitus, and when the cortisone didn’t work, six weeks in a cast did. Hope Kaley feels better soon.
https://boydsphysio.com/blog-page/how-to-deal-with-postnatal-wrist-thumb-pain-dequervains-tenosynovitis
This happened to me too. It was SO painful. When the doctor told me it was a common occurrence I thought he was crazy! Funny how I forgot this happened until reading this article.
I got carpal tunnel during pregnancy and my sister ended up with tennis elbow from holding her baby (we had our babies one day apart).
The baby is adorable but Kaley has always seemed really extra. I never knew baby holding could give you carpal tunnel though. That sounds awful.
Was reading the comments to see if anyone else noticed this – she does seem to be so EXTRA for everything. Like NO ONE has as much as she has. Delighted for her whole baby journey but thinking this won’t be the first drama we hear about.
OK, I thought it was just me. I don’t dislike her but she’s…..a lot.
My mom got tendonitis from carrying my younger brother and had to have surgery on her elbow. I escaped that and carpal tunnel, but pinched a nerve in my neck when my oldest was a baby from carrying too much (baby in carrier, diaper bag for daycare, and my stuff for work) and it still flares up from time to time. Motherhood is hard on the body, y’all!
Kaley is appealing and seems so happy with her little one, it makes me smile to see her joy. I hope she and all of the Celebitches dealing with chronic/use injuries recover well!
It affected my knees post-pregnancy. Your body loosens your ligaments and tendons for childbirth and it takes awhile after for them to tighten back up leading to injuries postpartum.
She looks undernourished. That can’t be helping.
You can totally work the upper body without putting pressure on the wrists. Arm and shoulder moves, stretching, and modified yoga helped me a lot when I had carpal. I tried to take pressure off my wrists in every aspect of life, and it really made a difference. Also icing.
I ruined my knees for life, changing diapers on the floor, playing on the floor. Even years later they are still not what they were.
I had Mommy Thumbs. Thankfully cortisone shots helped me. It’s so PAINFUL!
I had a very painful wrist bump, so yeah, it’s real and it really hurts. It does go away, though (in my experience).