Injecting the wrist with a steroid (usually cortisone) can help ease symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. It also aids your doctor in making a diagnosis. If you don't get even temporary relief from the injection, it could indicate that some other problem is causing your symptoms. When your symptoms do go away after the injection, it's likely they are coming from within the carpal tunnel. Some doctors feel this is a signal that a surgical release of the transverse carpal ligament would have a positive result.