Fifteen years ago I had numbness in my fingers from lots of hacking. I ended up talking to the dr who invented the "pilosplint": http://www.painreliever.com/IMAK_IMAKPilo.html who suggested the problem may be in how my wrists are positioned when I sleep. You need 6 hours a day in a neutral "at rest" position for swelling to subside. I was often sleeping with my hands curled up. Eventually, I retrained myself to sleep with my hands in a more relaxed position and all symptoms have gone away.