I may have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and I'd appreciate some advice. (Long Post)

Even though I'm looking for general advice, I'd like to go over my situation in detail to minimize the chances of being offered advice that could further injure me. I therefore apologize for the length of this post. I understand that you folks aren't doctors, and nothing you say is medical advice. I'm here because this community is probably at a higher risk than average for this sort of injury, and so there's a better chance of hearing from people who have lived through this here than elsewhere.

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I started getting pain in my wrist while I was typing. I managed to get an appointment with my family doctor for a week later, but because of the pain and my fear of doing more damage, I opted to go to a walk-in clinic I've been to a number of times previously.

The doctor at the clinic seemed to assume it was most likely Carpal Tunnel Syndrome just based on the fact that the pain was in my wrist. He had me flex my wrists (Phalen's Maneuver) and tapped on the underside of my wrist (Tinel's Sign) but neither of these tests really did anything to me - there was no pain or tingling present in either case (NB: When I try Phalen's now, I feel a bit of pressure in the underside of my wrist, but that's it).

The doctor told me to get a wrist brace, and specifically told me to get one made for CTS. He told me that a lot of people flex their wrists into odd positions in the middle of the night, so I should wear the brace when sleeping and when typing. I looked this up later, and there are mentions online about CTS sufferers mangling their wrists like the doctor said, and that this can present as waking up with your hands numb/asleep. I had noticed this a few times recently, so things seem to line up there.

After looking at various models in the drug store and discussing the situation with a girl who worked there, I eventually purchased a relatively expensive model (http://www.amazon.com/M-Brace-Wrist-Splint-Size-Regular/dp/B000X9SUKA). I wore this brace home that day, and have generally worn it when typing since then and always while sleeping.

Things seemed to be improving until I went to my doctor the following week. At my appointment, my doctor did hardly anything to check on my condition, except trying Tinel's again (no symptoms presented during this test this time either). He examined the brace and had me put it on, and he said it was good. The point, he said, was just to limit the range of movement for my wrist, and that the brace did its job just fine. He asked me why I wasn't wearing it when I came in, and I told him that I only really wore it to bed and while on the computer. He told me I should be wearing it all the time, but that I could take it off to sleep (which struck me as horrible advice, given what I had researched). He told me I should wear it all day, and through the night if I wanted, for maybe the next week or 10 days, which I've mostly done. I asked him if that was a bad idea since I had read that leaving the brace on all the time could weaken the muscles, but he said that that only occurred over the long term, and a week wouldn't do any damage.

After wearing the brace all day for several days, I started noticing that the base of my thumb was stiff/sore and the area around my pinky was sort of the same. Everything else felt more or less ok, so I started not wearing the brace through the day, thinking that maybe the brace was constricting my thumb too much. Things have been pretty good for the last couple of days, but there's still lingering... awareness, I guess. I'm aware of a bit of a strain in my wrist/forearm (and there's a tingle in my elbow sometimes) from time to time, but it's mostly alright. In fact, I've typed this entire post without the brace mostly without pain. There is some noticeable strain, but by taking a lot of mini-breaks it's very manageable. I'm also aware that I shouldn't be pushing this hard, but I wasn't really expecting to write quite this much.

Another factor seems to be that I'm typing sitting upright on my smaller couch, with ample room for my right arm (the pained one). Normally, I type lying down on my other couch while watching TV or just relaxing, and my right arm can sometimes get pinned a bit. Another factor I think is probably relevant is that not terribly long before I started getting the wrist pain, my elbow/shoulder would feel a bit cramped while lying down and typing. I moved the pillow beside me out of the way and that seemed to help the issue. For this reason I'm wondering if I might have pinched a nerve or something which is helping cause these issues.

Before it's mentioned, I know that my "laying on the couch" arrangement isn't good for me, but it's a habit that formed out of convenience. I don't have a good desk chair (and even my cheap piece of crap chair is broken to the point that my posture would suffer), so I don't really use my desk anymore (I really never have since I got this laptop three years ago).

I'm currently unemployed (one year today!), so money is extremely tight right now. This means that I consider a lot of typical fixes (better desk, better chair, laptop dock with ergo-keyboard and trackball mouse) are hard for me to considr out of financial concerns.

The one expenditure I am considering is massage therapy. There is a school across the road from my apartment that only charges $27 per session, so I think I could talk myself into paying for a single session to see if it'll work out any pinched nerves I might have.

I have a few questions regarding the "free" fixes I can try:

* I've been taking a lot of Ibuprofin as an anti-inflammatory on the advice of my doctor. For the last couple of days, I've been taking two pills right before bed on the assumption that if my body does most of its healing while asleep, then the anti-inflammatories would do the most good if they reduced inflammation during periods of increased healing. Is this an accurate assessment, or is this more likely to be a placebo?

* Regarding icing, I've read a number of different options for this (rubbing ice directly on the wrist until the skin is pink to promote bloodflow, icy dips followed immediately by hot dips and repeated several times, gel packs, etc.). Is there a "best way" to go about icing? How often should I be icing the arm?

* Regarding stretching, am I risking damage by stretching (see http://lifehacker.com/5195481/exercises-that-protect-against-carpal-tunnel-syndrome) while the condition persists, or should I wait until the pain has dissipated via rest before beginning a stretching regimen?

* I lead a pretty sedentary lifestyle at the moment, but I've been thinking that cardio is likely a great idea since increased bloodflow would likely promote healing in the wrist. I'm told that the wrist, being a smaller tunnel, doesn't always have the best bloodflow, which is partly why wrist injuries like this can take so long to heal. Does this seem like a good idea? I'm thinking of walking all the way up the stairwell in my building (it's 9 stories to the top from my apartment) and back down.

* I've heard that the electrical nerve tests (or whatever they're called) are extremely painful, but would they be worth it to determine if this really is carpal tunnel? If the problem is carpal tunnel, I've heard that the surgery is pretty much batting 1000 in terms of permanently ending the pain. If the nerve conduction tests show carpal tunnel, should I get the surgery as a preventative measure? What's recovery like?

Sorry for the extremely long post, but I'm extremely worried about my present condition. I'm only 25 years old and I'm terrified that I'm going to end up unable to work or go back to school because of this issue. Just writing this post has been incredibly theraputic to me, especially since it hasn't been particularly painful to write (though there are pre-cursor signs in my wrist, so I should really rest a bit after this).

Thank you so very much for any advice or anecdotes or support you can provide!