I was diagnosed with deQervain tendonitis last year, and the only thing that helps is to wear the custom-made wrist brace.
When I had employer-paid health insurance, I went to a physical therapist to get the wrist brace made, and do some physical therapy on my wrist and thumb. I'm not sure that the PT helped or not, but the brace is great.
The problem is: the brace is very hard plastic, I can't wear it during the day, and it hinders my sleep at night. How long does tendonitis usually last? Does it eventually get better, or will I always have pain? I do not have the financial resources to go to PT again right now, but if it would help, I could look into this again for the future (I'm just not convinced that it helped).
I want to prevent this tendonitis from becoming worse, so that is my motivation for asking...as I do not want to get surgery for something that I could have prevented!