A randomized trial compared the effectiveness of a wrist splint, a common conservative treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), with a soft wrap. The results of the study showed that CTS patients who used a wrist splint did not fare better than those who used a soft wrap. The study was placebo-controlled, which increases its reliability. The findings suggest that the effectiveness of the wrist splint in the treatment of CTS may be overestimated. The study calls into question the widely used practice of prescribing wrist splints as the primary treatment for CTS.