There is unfortunately no carpal tunnel cure that can be achieved just with physiotherapy or some pills. Some temporary relief might be obtained by wearing a wrist brace or having certain injections, but in the end, these aren’t seen as permanent solutions for most people. Certainly, for severe cases, carpal tunnel surgery is usually unavoidable, even if people would rather not have their hand and wrist cut open. However, if surgery can provide a likelihood of permanent relief, then it’s the best route to take.
However, in an effort to avoid surgery for carpal tunnel, people usually try many of the other suggestions first, such as steroid injections. These do bring about some temporary relief, but they can’t be used for the long term. Drugs like the anti-inflammatory aspirin or ibuprofen may reduce inflammation in the carpal tunnel area, while injections of Vitamin B12 or cortisone also help, but only up to a point. Doing any carpal tunnel exercise might actually cause some harm, since a lot of flexing of the wrist would likely just aggravate the conditions inside the arm, and worsen the symptoms.
Carpal tunnel relief is created using two possible methods of surgery. The newest method is the type that makes two quite small incisions, in wrist and hand, and uses the tiny blades on an endoscope to go in and divide the ligament that is pressing on the nerve going into the hand. This method has been developed as an alternative to the earlier “open” type of carpal tunnel surgery, in which an incision sometimes as long as five inches is cut into the wrist and palm, and the ligament is then divided in two.
People may reconcile to the idea of carpal tunnel surgery when they realize that there is less trauma to the wrist and hand area with the endoscopic form. In severe cases, that might not be an issue, just so long as they can achieve carpal tunnel relief. Fortunately, either type of surgery produces quite good results, and in most cases, people who undergo this treatment are able to return almost completely to normal use of their hands. The surgery may sound a bit frightening, yet for many people, the end result makes it worth going through the process.