![]() People with mild to moderate carpal tunnel symptoms often benefit from a nighttime wrist splint (Manente et al., 2001) However, with time those symptoms can become more prominent and last a lot longer. Shaking the hand off usually helps with the symptoms, as by doing so, we release the pressure from prolonged wrist bending which naturally occurs during the night (Sharrack & Das, 2021). Tingling fingers, numbness or pins and needles after waking up is related to the compressing of the median nerve within the carpal tunnel. Those movements cause pressure build-up within the carpal tunnel, which impacts the median nerve running within (Weiss et al., 1995). The reason for bracing or splinting for carpal tunnel syndrome is to reduce pain and swelling, prevent excessive wrist movements particularly during the night when we tend to flex or extend our wrists without any control (Howell et al., 2022). A splint can be custom-made and moulded to the shape of your hand by a hand therapist while a brace can be purchased either at the hand therapy clinic or pharmacy (Page et al., 2012). The terms ‘brace’ and ‘splint’ are generally interchangeable however a brace is usually made of soft material and a splint is made of thermoplastic or harder substances. Multiple options exist in the marketplace, and many patients experiencing carpal tunnel symptoms are eager to try wrist splints as a conservative measure. She embarked on a small project to look at what constitutes the best carpal tunnel splint or brace which can be an important factor when experiencing carpal tunnel syndrome. She spent 8 weeks with us observing and learning all about the art and science of hand therapy and integrating her theoretical knowledge into practical healthcare skills. Recently, we had the pleasure of having Sylwia, a final-year Master of OT student from Flinders University, Adelaide. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |