For patients with mild symptoms (occasional numbness without major impact on function), simply reducing repetitive activity or taking more frequent breaks to rest and stretch may be enough to keep things under control. Anti-inflammatory medications might be helpful to settle down a short-term flare up. If the night-time numbness is the main issue, wrist braces worn while sleeping can often keep people comfortable. Braces (available at your local pharmacy) can counteract the additional kinking and compression of the nerve that commonly occurs when the wrists are bent while sleeping. If a person has CTS for a short-term reason (pregnancy is a common example), steroid (“cortisone”) injections are sometimes considered. Even in pregnancy, a steroid injection can safely decrease the swelling of the tissues in the tunnel until the body gets back to normal.

If symptoms are not adequately controlled with the above treatments, consideration is sometimes made for surgery. Although many surgical techniques exist, they all aim to divide the roof of the tunnel to create more space. The roof of the tunnel does eventually heal back together, but in a more relaxed position similar to loosening the laces of a tight shoe. The surgery is a very safe and is typically done as an outpatient procedure that does not require general anesthesia. For most people, the surgery only needs to be done once.