Customized SplintingIn Fort Collins, Windsor & surrounding cities

What is customized splinting?

Customized orthosis, often referred to as a splint, is a frequently used approach to provide immobilization to protect a healing injury and/or to provide mobilization of a stiff joint. Customized splinting is a critical aspect of treating conditions that affect the upper extremities, and it can be used in a variety of ways. Whether you need to protect or rest a joint in pain, enhance a painful joint’s functional use while reducing pain or allow for pain-free movement in a joint that’s stiff, splinting is a great option.

How are splints made?

Most splints are made from flat pieces of low-temperature thermoplastic. Depending on the injury or condition being treated, different patterns are cut from these flat pieces and then heated up in hot water for two to three minutes to make them pliable and soft. Then, the splint is fitted to the patient’s hand, elbow or wrist. Splints are fabricated during the therapy visit and customized to fit comfortably by a hand therapist.

How do splints help?

Splints serve a wide variety of purposes, and there are many different types of splints that our hand therapists can make for you. Here are a few of the many purposes that customized splinting can serve in your treatment plan:

• Rest tendons, ligaments, nerves, joints and muscles that are inflamed or sore.
• Provide support for weak muscles.
• Mobilize contracted tissue, adherent scar tissue and stiff joints.
• Protect structures that have been reconstructed or repaired through surgery.
• Provide a substitute for the function lost due to paralyzed muscles.
• Reduce spasticity — abnormal muscle tone.
• Position the wrist and hand in proper alignment, which helps to prevent deformity.
• Prevent deformity and contracture caused by neuromuscular or biomechanical imbalances.

There are many different types of customized splints.

As you can see, splinting can be used to as an effective tool in many different ways, from adding support to sore joints to preventing deformity. But, not every splint is right for every condition. There are actually many different types of splints that can be utilized, and the right splint for your needs will depend on the condition being treated.

The various types of splints fabricated at Colorado in Motion include:

• Static Splint – These splints, just like the name implies, don’t have any moveable parts, and are used to provide support, protection and stability to the elbow, wrist, hand or fingers.
• Dynamic Splints – This is a splinting technique to assist with the movement of the wrist, hand or fingers. It helps to stretch joints that don’t have a lot of range of motion. This helps to promote tissue remodeling and increases the joint’s range of motion. Dynamic splints can be used for many things, including treating post-surgery joint stiffness, providing long-term immobilization and recovery from trauma.
• Static Progressive Splinting – This type of splinting applies torque to a joint to increase motion in a stiff joint. As the tissue in the stiff joint starts to lengthen as a result of the stress, the splint and the joint position are adjusted. This allows for an added range of motion to a stiff joint, little by little.
• Flexi-cast – Made from casting material with a bi-valve, these splints allow for easy removal.