| Lost password
768 users onlineYou are not loggend in.  Login
good experience with comfortable, inexpensive, self-made night splint
 1 2 3
 1 2 3
12/03/2018 04:16
dupynz 
12/03/2018 04:16
dupynz 
Re: good experience with comfortable, inexpensive, self-made night splint

My hand therapist was kind of amused at your glove splint (which I demonstrated to her) and impressed at my assertion that my fingers were no less straight in the morning than when I wore the thermoplastic one.

However she totally remodelled the thermoplastic one - cut it in half down the join where it had previously wrapped around my little and ring fingers but was pinching too tight. So she has made it into a "hand sandwich" with some padding, and velcro straps hold it in place front and back of the two fingers and it fits into the palm. It is now comfortable and I guess I will wear it because it supports the fingers front and back.

But I'll be keeping the glove model and if I need it I'll use it!

12/03/2018 21:55
Stefan_K. 
12/03/2018 21:55
Stefan_K. 

Re: good experience with comfortable, inexpensive, self-made night splint

A little competition can't hurt :-)

12/04/2018 10:38
dupynz 
12/04/2018 10:38
dupynz 
Re: good experience with comfortable, inexpensive, self-made night splint

Stefan_K.:
A little competition can't hurt :-)

Hope that by now others have adopted your model on this forum! I still think it is more comfortable than the revamped thermoplastic one, though that is now more adjustable than it was and I will adjust it further tonight.

My hand therapist - obviously not a surgeon but she has seen hundreds of DD people - reckons that no amount of really long term splinting will stop DD recurring if it is going to "otherwise we could prevent any recurrence with splinting". She reckons I'll be needing it for about 6-8 weeks to try to prevent the post-op. scarring pulling my fingers down. (I'm wearing a silicone strip over the scars in the little finger under the splint)

I wonder if that is true.. I think I'd want to do as you have and keep up some kind of splint for a lot longer - your one, actually because of the comfort factor!

12/04/2018 11:44
Stefan_K. 
12/04/2018 11:44
Stefan_K. 

Re: good experience with comfortable, inexpensive, self-made night splint

dupynz:
My hand therapist - obviously not a surgeon but she has seen hundreds of DD people - reckons that no amount of really long term splinting will stop DD recurring if it is going to "otherwise we could prevent any recurrence with splinting".
We won't know to what extent splinting can prevent recurrence long term without long term studies. Accounts in this forum suggest it is possible, and I was delighted to read on the previous page that it can even revert certain contractures. It has worked for me for 3.5 years since my pinky started to contract again after the NA procedure, but I also had RT 6 months after recurrence which in turn started six months after NA. In the six months between start of splinting and RT recurrence was already stopped and my pinky successfully kept pretty straight. I have no way of knowing what would be its condition today if I had not worn the glove or not had RT.

Only if more people use night splints instead of watching their fingers curl will we one day be able to assess the long term effectiveness. I anticipate that we will find that it works for some and not for others depending on the aggressiveness of the disease and other factors. Hopefully we will start to understand these, too.

12/04/2018 16:13
mikes 
12/04/2018 16:13
mikes 
Re: good experience with comfortable, inexpensive, self-made night splint

As mentioned in a previous post, after NA on the small finger in November 2006, I wore a splint nightly for several years, gradually tapering off and eventually eliminating its use. The NA reduced a PIP contracture officially measured at 95 degrees down to an official 20-25 degrees, maybe 15 degrees at best (hand therapist's measurement). If I went without the splint on a vacation for a week or so, I "felt" that the finger looked a little less straight, only to "normalize" after re-introduction of the splint for a few days. Remarkably, over time, I sensed a further straightening of the finger. At present, regardless of cause, it is now virtually flat, for which I'm tremendously grateful. That said, somewhere along the way the original affected hand developed a noticeable pit and a few other small strange lumps which don't bother me and appear to have stabilized now for some years. Unfortunately, the little finger on my other hand "suddenly" contracted about 30 degrees, which I monitor closely though that too seems to have stabilized.

Although my original NA procedure and associated aftercare were successful beyond all expectations, I am a medical "wuss" and do not want to have to go through another NA (or worse) if at all possible. For me, contrary to the reports of many others, the procedure was not inconsequential and far from painless. In addition, many inconveniences and much time was involved in post-procedure care - e.g. physical therapy, splinting, bandages (for a short while), etc.

But I swear by the splinting!

12/06/2018 10:45
dupynz 
12/06/2018 10:45
dupynz 
Re: good experience with comfortable, inexpensive, self-made night splint

mikes:


Although my original NA procedure and associated aftercare were successful beyond all expectations, I am a medical "wuss" and do not want to have to go through another NA (or worse) if at all possible. For me, contrary to the reports of many others, the procedure was not inconsequential and far from painless. In addition, many inconveniences and much time was involved in post-procedure care - e.g. physical therapy, splinting, bandages (for a short while), etc.

But I swear by the splinting!

I fully intend to use a splint beyond the recommended time, because I'm sure my pinkie is going to head south again (it was bent at 90 degrees pre-op) if I don't continue to try and straighten it out overnight.

My surgical experience hasn't been great, even though my little and ring finger are pretty straight now, but I have tight scars including those in the palm and still quite a bit of discomfort after 6 weeks. My little finger is still numb in the tip so whether the nerve damage will be permanent I don't know. Surgery has to be a last resort! If it wasn't for what I've read on this forum about the long recovery time many have experienced, I would be more discouraged than I am.

So, Mikes, well done for keeping it at bay!

06/18/2020 06:45
Stefan_K. 
06/18/2020 06:45
Stefan_K. 

Re: good experience with comfortable, inexpensive, self-made night splint

Dear fellow sufferers of Dupuytren Contracture,

I am please to report back on the 5th anniversary of my first use of the self-made splint glove that my pinky is still in the position it was in when I started . I can't say how much of the success is owed to the splint glove and how much to radiotherapy, but the combination definitely has worked for me, as I have been spared the otherwise to be expected recurrence after NA within 5 years.

Any other success stories with splinting out there ?

Stef

[58, Dupuytren diagnosis 2006, RH contracture and PNF/NA 2014, radiotherapy RH 2015, LH 2017 & 2018, night splint glove RH since 2015]

 1 2 3
 1 2 3
therapist   thermoplastic   uncomfortable   inconsequential   dupuytren-online   effectiveness   comfortable   self-made   straight   contracture   post-procedure   inconveniences   splinting   fingers   inexpensive   recurrence   experience   re-introduction   do-it-yourself   wearing