Carpal tunnel syndrome and MTBing
If you truly have carpal tunnel syndrome(numbness and tingling in the larger fingers of the hand, with aching and tingling into the forearm and arm, typically worsens at night and with repetitive gripping and use of the hand) that does not include a lot of wrist tenderness, forearm flexor tendon tenderness, pain and tenderness around the elbow, and there are no neurologic symptoms radiating down the arm from the neck, and your nerve conduction studies support the diagnosis, and other possible underlying problems such as connective tissue disorders, diabetes, and rheumatologic problems have been ruled out, and the major repetitive stresses that contributed significantly to getting it in the first place can be avoided, then a surgical treatment is a reasonable option and would not preclude returning to MTBing. Successful carpal tunnel release surgery depends on making sure that it is truly the problem (some folks have carpal tunnel release surgery that doesn't work, because that wasn't the major problem), and giving the wrist the appropriate amount of time to heal-6 to 12 weeks before vigorous use of the wrist. The surgery enlarges the carpal tunnel, taking pressure off the median nerve, by cutting the transverse carpal ligament, which roughly runs across the base of the wrist and heel of the palm, just below the wrist creases. This ligament needs time to heal, and if you disrupt the healing by using the wrist too vigorously, you can wind up with a chronically painful and weak wrist, or induce so much inflammation that robust scar formation recompresses the nerve, and requires further surgery.