I was first diagnosed with carpal tunnel in 1991. It wasn't too bad at the time and I learned to live with the numbness and pain...slept with braces, etc.
Then one morning in 2002 I woke up and it took an hour before the pain in my arms subsided. I decided right then that enough was enough.
I went to my Dr. and started the ball rolling on getting the surgery.
I had surgery on the left first (the worst) and then 2 weeks later on the right. Three weeks after the second surgery I was back to work with no restrictions. 2 1/2 weeks after my second surgery I was able to return to hand quilting...something that I had had to give up in 1997 because of the carpal tunnel.
The thing that I have heard from everyone I know who has had the surgery (including myself) is that you never regain the strength that you lose in your hands from the carpal tunnel...so don't delay the surgery. Wish I had known that BEFORE or I wouldn't have delayed so long!