I had carpal tunnel surgery several years ago....from my job...I hadn't even dreamed of quilting at that time. My advice is like some of the others, try all of the above with ice & heat and let it rest. The more you stress it, the more it will hurt.

If I had it to do over again, I would go with the therapies and rest instead of the surgery.

Wow, to not be alone! I have tendonitice in my thumb and I can only hand sew or quilt a very little bit, maybe a small block a day? But once it flares up it's horrid, and I have to take arthritis meds for weeks to make the pain stop. This isn't an age thing either, would you believe it started when I was in college? Now I feel like it's more important to have full use of my hands rather than sew. Hence the very recient purchase of my first sewing machine, I suppose you could say I've had enough of not being able to "sew" what I want.

I even bought the soft touch scissors with the spring to help me (works wonders by the way). :D

Whatever you have to do in order to be able to do what you WANT to do!!!

Here are some gloves that might help:
http://www.larkin-us.com/pb/wp_d64f7fe7/wp_d64f7fe7.html
http://www.roshgo.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?page=rc01/CTGY/00700
http://shopping.yahoo.com/s:Braces%20&%20Supports:4168-Brand=FUTURO:7608-Type=Hand%20&%20Wrist%20Braces:b=16
http://www.tifaq.org/accessories/gloves.html

My fingers go numb and I can't hand quilt anymore. I have wrist splints and I wear them every night and they do help a lot.

yes, i would think that this is carpal tunnel that you are suffering from..i would pick the surgery as a very last resort...acupunture works well for this and there are also the exercises as suggested..there are a few pressure points that can be massaged for some relief, too. they are the muscle that is on top of your arm, right at the bend of you elbow on your forearm, the area that is rigth above your bicep bulge, leading up to your shoulder and the area between your shoulder and you neck..all these muscles help move your arm and become fatiged and tight from over using your hands..so, if you can give them some massage and rest it should help your hands from going numb...you should be able to tell if you are hitting the right spots when they are massaged because they will be tender.

char.