I had surgery on both hands almost 30 years ago. Well, one surgery at a time, a couple of months apart. Easy, completely solved the problem, worth it. Never had any success with a wrist brace before the surgery, and I did not need it after I had healed. It does take a while to get hand-strength back, and I wore the brace for a while afterwards.

My case was bilateral, about equal and rest and brace, etc did nothing at all. The surgery fixed the problems immediately.

I didn't have surgery but wore wrist braces at night for about a year. I haven't had a problem since and that was about 5-6 years ago.

Apparently, and I didn't know this but my specialist told me, it was originally an affliction of housewives. It was caused by the constant scrubbing and wiping down of counters, floors etc. It wasn't given any attention however, until it started to affect those in the work place who were doing repetitive movements and time was lost in the work place. I thought it was an interesting back story to carpal tunnel syndrome.

I've had it in both wrists, left wrist is worse, for about 10 yrs. I haven't had surgery but do wear wrist guards most nights for sleeping. I also wear the guards when I drive long distances. I've replaced wrist guards often enough that I now have a favorite brand - Bird and Cronin - and I purchased the last couple of pairs on eBay because I can't find them in stores any longer. The drugstore variety are made of some material that doesn't breathe and my wrists get sweaty and itchy after a short period of wear.

Funny about the reasons for it. I don't wash dishes and was told that my wrists are skinny, and the tunnels for the carpal nerves are skinny and that is the cause. Nerves get inflamed and they have nowhere to expand to.

I'll delay surgery for as long as possible.

I have it in my right hand due to so much computer use. I use the computer most of the day at work. I've had it for about 18 years. I learned to be very careful about how I hold my wrist when I work and to take breaks to do other things like phone calls. I bought a brace and wore it for months all the time and then for a while longer just at night. The brace helped a lot. The carpal tunnel flares up occasionally, maybe once a year. When it does, I wear the brace for a while and that seems to fix it for me.

Had surgery about 5 years ago. Haven't had any problems since, but I do have problems with certain movements and my strength isn't very good in that hand. Have problems turning/opening door handles or unscrewing lids on jars.

I had the surgery on my right hand 13 years ago. Computer use was the culprit, particularly the mouse. I switched to a trackball for years; now I use a mouse again, but keep it on the left side of the keyboard and use it with either hand.

I had the surgery on my right hand about three years ago. The pain was horrible before the surgery. My hand was numb yet incredibly painful. At times it felt ice cold and I had to wrap it in a heating pad. When I woke up from the surgery the pain was entirely gone. That is not always the case, though. For some it takes longer for the pain to subside.

The worst thing you can do is wait too long to have the procedure. The longer those nerves are being squashed inside the carpal tunnel, the longer it takes for them to recover. My mom had both hands done in her nineties after suffering for a long time. The damage to her nerves was so severe the procedure did not help much.

It is a simple procedure. I had stitches for a couple weeks, but could use my fingers during that time. The scar is so little you can barely see it. I do still have tenderness in the scar area, but that is still slowly improving. Not everyone has that problem..When I feel the carpal tunnel flaring up in my left hand, I sleep with a brace at night until it calms down.

When I had it, the only way I could fall asleep was to hang that arm over the side of the bed. The pain subsided a little that way. But at the end nothing helped except surgery.

I have had surgery in both wrists, about 5 years ago. They did the surgeries about 6 weeks apart. The reason they do only one at a time is that they said it's too hard to find someone to wipe your @ss for you if both your hands are out of commission at the same time!

I do repetitive computer work all day and that was the cause. Hopefully I will retire before it gets bad again. I notice it flaring up at certain times and have to take it easy for a while till it gets better.

I also now have trouble gripping jar lids and have less strength in my hands. I may also now have the beginnings of arthritis, which I read is sometimes a result of invasive surgery.

Mine was pregnancy induced. It took years for it to bother me enough for the surgery. I mosstly had numbness at night FOR YEARS. No pain, eventuallyI had both writs done, 8 weeks apart. Before that I had cortizone injection shots--worked for a time. Everyone's experience of pain/numbness is different. I have no scaring. I had numb finger tips for a few years after surgery. Get a Doc that does the surgery every day--not one who has done it a few dozen times....The arthritis I now have in my thumbs has me in as much discomfort or more than the CT did. I never considered the surgery was the culprit. I am a gardener who likes to use her secateurs for thicker branches than they are best on--over use is most likely the cause of my arthritis. I used to have an insane grip-now that is gone...over use of joints gets you in the end!!

I had the surgery about 20 years ago and it completely cured the condition. On top of that, I can't even find the scar(it was tiny, anyway). Good luck.

I do have on my right wrist and got some relief with a brace.

The biggest thing for me was changing the mouse I use. This allows my hand to be oriented in what feels like a more natural position for me.

Here is a link that might be useful: vertical mouse

Tell me about this vertical mouse. I haven't ever heard of them, I am thinking of ordering one if they will help.

I have suffered with numb hands & fingers that are very painful for years!! My hands and fingers also itch very bad, it usually very early in the morning. No one has actually diagnosed me with carpel tunnel but I am 99% sure that's what I have. It has gotten so bad I just ordered this online digital information ($40) that says you will get relief /cure in 72 hours. I was desperate!

I'm not real happy with the program and planning to write them, they did offer a money back guarantee but I think its after 60 days. It's a exerciser program, and I'm not good about that. Has exercise helped anyone here?

Wow I didn't realize so many of you had had surgery to fix CT. Its good to know that the surgery works. Tony has an appointment with a hand surgeon on Wednesday. All this guy does is hand surgery, so I would imagine that he has seen a lot of CT patients.

Thanks for all your stories with CT good to know that it curable!!!

Wow I didn't realize so many of you had had surgery to fix CT. Its good to know that the surgery works. Tony has an appointment with a hand surgeon on Wednesday. All this guy does is hand surgery, so I would imagine that he has seen a lot of CT patients.

Thanks for all your stories with CT good to know that it curable!!!

Joann, exercise will not help carpal tunnel. Believe me, I would have exercised it until it fell off to get rid of the pain, if I thought it would help. The only way to cure it once and for all is to have the ligament that goes over the nerve cut. It reheals with scar tissue but is now longer and allows more space for the nerve to pass through.

You can help relieve it and control it by wearing a wrist brace. However, for a lot of people the only cure is surgery and putting it off only makes recovery more difficult. My doctor compared the situation to a hose with a big rock on it. If you take the rock off right away, the hose pops right back to it's usual shape. If you leave the rock sitting on the hose for a year, the hose may take a very long time to regain its shape, or may never return to normal.

It's a very simple procedure with a quick recovery and wonderful results.

I had it terribly bad. I also changed to a vertical mouse, a different one, mine is the wow pen joy mouse. They put the hand in a more natural hand shake position that helps tremendously. I wore full braces on both hands but it was worse on the right, I wore them every night to sleep in.
I had lost all feeling in the fingers and could not grasp at all.
That's one reason why I started using my tablets so much instead of the computer.
For anyone who has to use a mouse all day I highly recommend a vertical mouse. Google it there's several of them. The one I have is not expensive at all. My husband liked it so much I ordered him one for work and home.

I have had vast improvement in my carpal tunnel symptoms.

I am providing a link to a site that has several pictures of the mouse, I ordered all of mine from amazon for under $30,they come in lots of colors mine is pink. I have had mine for many years, I ordered my husband's in 2010, all are still working perfectly.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mouse

Thanks Raven, I just ordered the mouse, I bought a wireless.

I can't do the surgery since I am alone, I can't even button my pants or shirts some days . I would need help and don't have it.
Both of my hands have problems, its been just over 40 yrs I've been dealing with it but now its worse.

Thanks Raven, I just ordered the mouse, I bought a wireless.

I can't do the surgery since I am alone, I can't even button my pants or shirts some days . I would need help and don't have it.
Both of my hands have problems, its been just over 40 yrs I've been dealing with it but now its worse.

Joann do you sleep with the braces on? If not I also highly recommend that too. I wore mine during the day when I wasn't doing anything and every night. My doctor was the one that suggested that mouse and I absolutely love it. I have a problem when faced with a regular mouse now. I won't go back to a regular one. I sure hope you have good luck with it.
Have you tried going to a Rheumatology doctor, mine was so helpful in my care of this. I have to give her big credits for my success in improving.

I don't have the cordless mouse, they didn't even have one back when I ordered mine. But it doesn't bother me much. I like the little go back buttons on the side. It also works great with my Linux computers.

I sleep with them sometimes, then sometimes it makes my hands hurt. I will put them on as soon as the pain begins and it will go away. I even bought the inferred gloves (without the fingertips) for $40. last year. They worked good for awhile and now they don't help at all. I do use the braces at times.

I haven't been to any Doctors about this problem, when I mention it they don't do anything. My NP told me to wait for my Medicare and they will do tests then, thinking its a nerve problem.I will get on it next month.

Joann I really hope the mouse helps you. Like Raven. I can't go back to a regular. I had to for a couple days and was in real pain every night until the new mouse was shipped

Let us know!

I was very surprised to find how often this is associated with Rheumatoid arthritis. I was so happy that my doctor knew exactly what to do and what tests to order. I had nerve and muscle tests, lots of blood work too. In doing all this testing is when I was also diagnosed with the Sjogren's syndrome, so glad she was very thorough.