I put my first surgery off for years and no harm came from it, but I tell ya - it was sooo nice NOT having the symptoms that afterward, I really wondered WHY I put it off for so long.
I was found it have it in both hands, but the second hand was minor and did not get really bad for the better part of a decade.
The second hand was my dominant one and when it finally did flair, it did so with a vengence. My surgeon said those with looong standing tend to develop atrophy at the base of the thumb. Mine was minimal.
My pain felt like a blood pressure cuff was on my forearm/hand. It wasn't just numb - it was a PAINFUL numb. I asked about getting a steriod injection and he agreed to give me only one. I tell you --- that injection hurt like the dickens but the result was WONDERFUL!
Although the night of the injection seemed worse, within a couple days my symptoms were soooo much better and I actually got a full night's sleep without my hand waking me up and I could talk on the phone, grasp the steering wheel, etc. without my hand going numb. Maybe you could look into getting a steriod injection to get you through the holidays. BTW, my ortho doc put marcaine, a numbing agent, in the injection as well --- I didn't know ahead of time that that was included, and my entire hand went profoundly numb right away. Good thing I wasn't scheduled to work that night cuz I basically couldn't use my hand. Coundn't hold a pen to write, or even unbutton my clothes, etc. (weird)
I just had the surgery on that hand this week. Fingers crossed that this result will be as good as the first.
Good luck with your CTS treatment & decisions.
