I wore the brace for a year or more. Gardening caused extreme pain in my hand, not to mention the continual tingling in my fingers. There wee nights that the pain was so intense the brace went flying across the bedroom.
I had surgery by a wonderful orthopedic surgeon in March. He did the surgery with some sort of scope. It was painful for a couple of weeks depending on how I moved, but it is now healed really well. Gardening this year was a breeze and only occasionally do I have pain, which may be arthritis. I am very pleased and it was a day well spent to eliminate the pain and tingling.