Homemade Arm Slings

Invariably someone you know will injure himself and it will be your responsibility to assist with the injury. Common injuries involving the arms often require a "sling" or support mechanism to keep the arm elevated and help with recovery. You can make an arm sling with supplies lying around your home.

Appropriate Materials

• A sling wraps around the elbow of the injured arm and should be of a material that is sturdy enough to support an arm. Arms typically weigh about seven pounds, so keep that in mind when selecting the material you will use for the sling. Common and effective materials could be a scarf or large piece of cloth. The material will need to stretch around the neck, so make sure your material has enough length. This will be about a 40-inch square on the diagonal. You will also want to avoid materials that may be allergenic, so avoid wools.

  In adition, you can use a wooden board as another support device. The wooden board should be 2 inches by inches or 2 by 9. You will place the injured arm, palm down on top of the board. The wooden board should be lengthwise along the arm. Using gauze, wrap the arm and wooden board. You will then place the arm with wooden board in the sling as detailed below.

Tying Methods

• This is the most important aspect of the sling. Once you have selected the appropriate material for the sling, fold it into a triangle. Drape the triangle over the shoulder with one end hanging from the shoulder and the other end hanging over the chest. Slide the injured arm over the middle of the triangle. Take the triangle end dangling over the chest and pull it upward to meet the end dangling from the shoulder. These two ends should meet at the side of the neck.

  To create the correct orientation, wrap the end dangling from the shoulder around the back of the neck. Pull the end that was dangling from chest that is now wrapped around the arm upward toward the other side of the neck. Tie these two ends together in a square knot at the side or back of the neck. The fingers should be peeking out of the sling, and the elbow should be mostly covered. The hand should be four to five inches above the elbow. Such positioning will ensure that there is proper blood circulation. Finally, you will want to secure the elbow by using a safety pin to pin together the ends of the cloth near the elbow. This will prevent the elbow from sliding out of the back of the sling. A standard safety pin will suffice.