Resting Hand Splints & Night Wrist Splints

A resting hand splint is an upper extremity support that helps reduce pain and inflammation typically associated with rheumatoid arthritis and other hand ailments. It also supports your hand by positioning it in proper alignment. Typically, resting night splints have design qualities that keep your hand open with your fingers and thumb away from your palm. In addition, resting hand splints provide effective pain therapy during overnight use, daytime rest periods, and flare-ups.

The recommended wearing period for a resting hand splint is 6 to 8 hours. This period of treatment reduces stiffness and prevents muscle shortening. However, according to your comfort level, some doctors recommend that you start off wearing the Dorsal Resting Splint for 15 to 30 minutes before increasing it to six to eight hours. In some cases, a doctor will recommend a daytime wearing routine of 4 hours on and 4 hours off.

Since resting splints immobilize your inflamed joints and tendons, they provide orthopedics support for several conditions, including potential tendon rupture, tenosynovitis, and soft tissue contracture. However, they get the most use for carpal tunnel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, night pain, and joint inflammation. All these conditions require you to rest your hands for brief periods. Therefore, resting splints are well suited for relief during these painful flare-ups.

Studies show that wearing a wrist splint a night improves mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms. Since it holds your wrist joint in a neutral position, a product like the Comfy Hand/Wrist splint prevents your hand from bending while you sleep at night when your wrist and hand are most vulnerable. In addition, regular use of your night wrist splint increases the likelihood that you’ll be able to move the joint freely during your daily activities with little or no pain. As a result, you’ll keep the muscles in the wrist area strong.

Although most people don’t have a problem sleeping in a resting wrist splint, some do because of swelling skin, numbness, or tingling. You can address these problems by adjusting the splint or trying another brand. If you need to change brands, there are many different types, like the Functional-Position Hand Splint and the Comfy Splints Finger Separator.

Along with preventing contractures, a quality resting splint must be resistant to the body’s counter forces, easily removable, washable, and suitable for both hands. To satisfy these requirements, most resting splints have a molded, solid polymer structure that is lightweight, strong, washable, and easy to maintain. Another key feature is the resting splint’s anatomical shape sufficiently supports your hand, forearm, and thumb. To increase your comfort, it has finger separators with top-quality foam. You should also look for resting night splints with premium tape fasteners for extended product life and soft padded sleeves for maximum comfort.

Getting optimal results from a working hand brace and a resting splint depends on understanding their differences. A resting hand brace works by positioning and maintaining the hand and wrist joints in the optimal position, resulting in less ligament stress and reduced joint pressure. On the other hand, a working hand brace increases joint stability and alignment by holding the joint in position while allowing for more joint movement, making hand and wrist support more applicable to daily working and recreational activities. In addition, a working hand brace works well as a carpal tunnel wrist brace and an arthritis wrist brace.

Online medical supply retailer Allegro Medical has a solid selection of quality resting splints from top-of-the-line brands like AliMed and North Coast Medical. In addition, all of the medical and orthopedic supplies come with the award-winning customer service.