Wrist brace advice

[Karen52]

My husband would like to try a functional wrist splint/brace to see if it helps with holding utensils. Any suggestions?

 

[Lori7]

Hi. My hand curled up into a claw, so I bought a hand brace on Amazon and I wear it at night. It straightens out my hand so I can grip things. I also squeeze a 4 inch foam ball from Amazon whenever I have extra time, which also helps. I’m getting a rehabilitation robotic glove from Temu, which works by mirroring the movements your good hand, in my case my left hand, makes. If you find it too difficult to rehabilitate your hand or hands, you can try the utensils with big rubber handles that are easier to grip, which can be found on Amazon. I find it easier to try to rehabilitate my hands than my legs, because to try to walk again I need two people to help lift me, and most of the time only my husband is around. Opening and closing each hand 50 times a day is also a good exercise. Hope this helps.

 

[Karen52]

Lori, do you feel the wrist brace and exercises truly help to keep your hands from curling up? Does it help with strength? My husband doesn't like wearing it at night and I wish he would!

 

[Lori7]

Yes, a while ago the right hand was a claw, and the left hand is getting worse too, because I’m mostly concentrating on my right hand,which has always been worse. I put the hand brace on my right hand at night, and in the morning I can straighten out my right hand with some effort. Then later I exercise both hands, opening and closing a fist several times. If I have time, I put my new robotic hand that I bought on Temu on my right hand, and it opens and closes my hand for a while. The hands actually got a lot better from that, but there was a pause where I couldn’t get my Radicava (endaravone) due to my insurance company having new requirements, so that by the time I resumed it, both hands had deteriorated somewhat again. So I think the Radicava may be a factor in how well your hands work, but I’m really not sure. I’m still actually able to sign my name, just barely, which I think may be due to the combination of exercise and medication. Hope this helps.

 

[Karen52]

Thank you for sharing, Lori. My husband just started Radicava and I’m hoping that helps. He is doing exercises given to him by OT. It’s just so hard to watch the decline. Blessings to you!