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What Are Hand Splints?

Hand injuries are common, and they can range anywhere from a full-form bone break to carpal tunnel as a result of too much typing. Regardless of the nature of the hand injury, hand splints provide a support mechanism to help remedy any injury or health problem that a hand may have undergone. With some proper knowledge about hand splints, you may be able to fix any sort of hand injury that you encounter.

  1. Function of Splints

    • Ultimately, splints function to support the hand's structure and hold bones, ligaments, muscles and joints in place while the hand recovers. Splints may serve a variety of functions to help repair the hand, and they also typically extend from the hand to the wrist and lower arm. This is to ensure that the hand receives the proper support from the adjacent bones and muscles. Splints may be removable or permanent, depending on the severity of the injury.

    Types of Splints

    • There are six types of hand splints: pediatric splints, wrist braces, resting hand splints, weight-bearing splints, metal splints and thumb spica splints. The pediatric splint is used on children and allows the fingers and thumb to move freely while it supports the palm. Wrist braces keep the wrist stationary, and resting hand splints keep the hand in a resting position. Weight-bearing splints help the hand build muscle mass, and metal hand splints work in extreme breaks or fractures. Thumb spica splints prevent the thumb from touching the palm, which helps heal a person's broken thumb.

    Types of Injuries That Require Splints

    • There are a variety of hand injuries that may cause the need for a splint. Bone breaks, bone fractures, strained ligaments, torn muscles, arthritis, muscular atrophy, wrist sprains, hand surgery or circulation problems are all reasons that may justify the application of a hand splint. The different types of splints help heal different kinds of injuries, and so the type of splint that may help one injury could actually worsen another type of injury.

    Materials for Splints

    • Hand splints may be made out of a variety of materials. In many cases, splints may consist of a piece of metal or wood with athletic tape wrapped around the material. In other cases, fiberglass or plaster may be needed to keep a splint's shape. Fiberglass, a very lightweight material, is typically preferred over plaster because fiberglass allows the skin to breathe, whereas plaster may lock in moisture and air.

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