carpal tunnel syndrome - surgery - cost?

[farmer_girl]

I am a farm worker of fairly modest means with no health insurance. I have what could be carpal tunnel syndrome as well as probably other repetitive stress injury condition(s). I wake EVERY night with pain and numbness in my hands and/or forearms. Pain is largely relieved by hanging my arms over the sides of the bed. Condition is equal in both hands - I have no dominant hand for my manual labor. I have difficulty doing any other manual activity on my own time, since I have to save my hands for earning a paycheck.

My questions are:

Cost of surgery? - Please write and tell me how much your surgery cost you. This info is impossible to get.
Thank you!

Is there really an alternative to surgery? Are there some common sense things I could be doing? I have recently experimented with cold packs.

[dirtyc]

Maybe try heat instead of cold. I've heard cold is for injuries that are only a few days old, beyond that, heat would be the better alternative.

Maybe someone else has some info too. I know you're between a rock and a hard place. The best thing to do is stop whats causing it. The problem is, that "thing" is usually your occupation, so......

If I had the answers, I guess I wouldn't be here.