About a month ago my hand doctor injected cortisone into my left wrist. That made the hand fairly numb for a few hours, and may have improved the CTS a little. At this point it's better than it was in August, and I can live with it (the CTS is hardly noticeable).

Friday's appointment predictably had him suggest surgery to cut the encircling ligaments, which will relax the pressure on the nerve. It would put me out of work (and possibly other activities) for some three weeks even though it takes him only nine minutes to perform.

I'm not crazy about surgery in this kind of situation. I asked about acupuncture and he's open to it but in his experience people that have tried it usually find it only temporarily beneficial rather than a long-term solution.

He believes this is a mechanical problem and therefore acupuncture isn't a good lasting strategy. My insurance does not cover this reason for acupuncture so I'm not certain about trying it yet either.

Of course one approach is to do nothing and hope it goes away. This could lead to long-term and permanent degradation of nerves, fine motor control, and muscle tone in the hand, however, according to the doctor.

There has not been any pain whatsoever with the hand; just some numbness (which did make fine motor conrol of two fingers and thumb less than ideal).

Comments anyone?