I know this is an old post string but it recently occurred to me that I would be remiss did I not follow up to let everyone know how my carpel tunnel in my left wrist was eventually eliminated without surgery. It was bothering me so badly that I thought I would soon have to stop playing. But now it is more than three years later and I play without any pain in my wrist. I am unsure if this will work for others but what I did was find a hand doctor who would continue to give me cortisone injections well after most doctors are calling for surgery. My first two injections were two months apart. Then every three or four months I would get another injection. The last one was at a six month interval and I really did not need it so much. It has been almost a year and I experience no pain, even after a full evening of playing. From all the injections I now have a tiny permanent red mark on the top of my wrist that would indicate to any doctor just where to insert the needle. My fellow musicians joke that what I did was destroy extra tissue with cortisone but who cares, I now play without pain. I love it.
Already had the operation on my right hand years ago... found that doing specific finger exercises and scales, arpeggio's etc on my acoustic every day with a loose grip keeps the pain minimal. ...but... I've been experiencing more pain now within the last month... I'll see how many more years I can take...operations do not correct arthritis! Once I find myself slowing down in the "shredding" dept., I am done! 
I actually feel the most pain playin barred chords for long periods of time...
