If you have wrist pain and/or numbness and tingling in your thumb and/or pointer finger and/or ring finger, you'll likely get a diagnosis of 'Carpal Tunnel Syndrome'.
Your doctor will tell you to rest, to stop doing the activity that is 'causing' the carpal tunnel symptoms, to take anti-inflammatories, to wear splints and/or braces, etc.
When that doesn't work, you'll go back to see the doctor weeks, months, or years later. They'll nod knowingly and then prescribe more rest, more anti-inflammatories, continued use of the wrist brace. Maybe they'll add a corticosteroid injection, probably physical therapy, etc.
When that doesn't surgery, then surgery is the 'last resort', since "...you didn't respond to conservative therapies."
Like it's your fault their prescriptions didn't work......(it's never their fault of course, nor that their prescriptions never had much of a chance of being successful).
So, the doctor tells you you need carpal tunnel surgery, that it's your only option left.
Nobody likes surgery, but everybody likes the idea of their problem going away.
Here's a few reasons why surgery for CTS might be a really, really, really (ok, terrible) idea.
Some or all of your symptoms might be coming from compression up at the neck/chest/shoulder. Surgery at the wrist isn't going to help fix that even a little bit.
Surgery is traumatic. It's going to hurt. Your body is already hurting....and you're going to hurt it more.
Surgery has risks. Like infection. Or the surgeon could nick or sever the nerve they're trying to free up. (Think you're unhappy now? Just wait till you accidentally get permanent nerve damage).
CTS surgery ignores all the ACTUAL CAUSES of the symptoms. And doctrs and surgeons never ask WHY are you having symptoms.
Compression of the nerve at the carpal tunnel, they say.
Well, ok, but WHY is there compression of the nerve at the carpal tunnel?
HOW is surgery to sever the ligament over the tunnel going to fix or even help get rid of the ACTUAL causes of the compression?
For more on why CTS surgery may be a terrible idea, watch this video.
For more on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (why it develops, why it lingers, and how to get rid of it), start at Carpal Tunnel Syndrome at The Tendonitis Expert