Splints

They can be bought at larger branches of high street chemists, ordered online from Amazon etc, or just collected from us in neurophysiology in Canterbury. JB

hi dr bland just leaving an update for you i wore my carpal splints in bed last night and apart from a few pins and needles i had a good nights sleep and free from pain a bit early to say if they have helped me yet also what is the plan for the next stage of my treatment after i have worn the splints for four weeks? many thanks russell ansell

Hi Dr Bland, thank you for your reply. I am going in friday fior surgery at lunchtime, would it be possible to pop by before hand and pick up a couple more? size large for the left and the right please. Also how long after surgery for the first one will they do the second hand?

regards

vicky

There should be someone in the department on Friday who can sort you out with splints - our new member of staff Emma Kaile should be around unless she is involved in some compulsory training that day. We usually aim to leave about 3 months between right and left operations but we do sometimes do them faster than that. JB

Well at least that is some support for the idea that the nerve at the wrist might actually be the problem - I wasn't at all sure from the symptoms. The plan, such as it is, is to play it by ear. If we are lucky the problme will simply go away and we will not need to do anything.

As you have inserted this comment into another patient's discussion here I may copy this into a new thread of it's own in the next few days - just to keep things tidy. JB

thats fab thank you. Sorry its a size x large that i need not large

regards vicky

I think we have the full range in stock at present. JB

If you would like to come to our department before you go for your surgery then I will be able to fit you with a pair of splints. I will be here all morning. EK

Thank you

Regards

Vicky

Is there any splints I can have for my elbows? The pain and numbness is now spreading from fingers up arms to elbows and the only way I can describe it is if you hit your funny bone. It's pain like that and I'm not due to see you for two weeks.

Regards

Vicky

Which fingers does it spread into? The nerve at the 'funny bone' - the ulnar nerve, sends branches to the little and ring fingers so if there is a problem there it should be that side of the hand. JB

Yes it does it spreads into little finger and the one next to it.

Regards

Vicky

That is the right pattern for a nerve problem at the elbow then (or occasionally the same nerve but at another site but it's most often the elbow). Try to keep it straight as much as possible and don't lean on it. Splints for the elbow are a bit problematic and can aggravate the problem in some cases I think. I know a few people who have wrapped a towel around the elbow at night to discourage themselves from sleeping with it flexed up under the pillow but if you improvise somethig like that there is a fine balance to be struck between getting it too tight and having it fall off. JB

Ok I will try that until I see you in a couple of weeks time

Regards

Vicky