For whatever reason you are wearing a wrist brace, there are some hints you can follow to get the maximum comfort from them.
The first tip is to buy a wrist brace that is the right size. You can find some at the drugstore and they are generally labeled as child, small, medium, large and extra large. The measurements usually go by the circumference of the wrist and are made to go around and have a place to rest your palm and a forearm length based on a regular sized person with that size of wrist. For 95% of individuals in the world, those wrist brace sizes are the proper size. When they are not the appropriate size the problem is usually that they are too small when wrapped around the forearm.
Next, check that you are tightening them in a way that will not aggravate your injury. Wrist braces help you by preventing you from accidentally flexing your wrist in a manner that would worsen your injury. The kind of injury you suffer will determine how much you can be moving your wrist.
If the wrist brace is used to fight tendonitis then it should be tightened to stop lateral movement of the wrist. By holding your hand out straight from your wrist, the plane is outlined by your thumb and pinkie should be the area that your wrist's motion is confined within.
If you're trying to remedy carpal tunnel syndrome, you want to keep your wrist from bending downward at all, or upward by more than a few degrees. You'll also need to be more careful with padding in your wrist brace when dealing with carpal tunnel syndrome.
Wrist braces that are made to confine the wrist for a sprain must totally confine it in both ways of movement and should cover more of the upper forearm also because that is where the ligaments that command the wrist movement run, and might look like Ace bandages more than traditional wrist brace.
Keeping yourself comfortable in a wrist brace means that you should look for things on the inside surface, like seams or loose threads, that might cause skin irritation. Some people recommend wrapping the hand and wrist and lower forearm lightly in gauze before putting a wrist brace on; this functions much the same way that your sock does in your shoe - it absorbs the sweat and keeps the seams of the brace from rubbing your skin and irritating you. Wash your wrist brace about twice a week; most can be run through a washer or dryer without risk.
Do not wear your wrist brace too tightly. It should fit snug; nevertheless, it should not stop the blood flow to the wrist or hand. Many people seem to pull the straps as tight as they will go, avoid this, just put it on, go about your day, and adjust the tightness as needed. A good thing to do is to mark with a permanent marker how tight the straps should go when you have found a comfortable spot.
The first tip is to buy a wrist brace that is the right size. You can find some at the drugstore and they are generally labeled as child, small, medium, large and extra large. The measurements usually go by the circumference of the wrist and are made to go around and have a place to rest your palm and a forearm length based on a regular sized person with that size of wrist. For 95% of individuals in the world, those wrist brace sizes are the proper size. When they are not the appropriate size the problem is usually that they are too small when wrapped around the forearm.
Next, check that you are tightening them in a way that will not aggravate your injury. Wrist braces help you by preventing you from accidentally flexing your wrist in a manner that would worsen your injury. The kind of injury you suffer will determine how much you can be moving your wrist.
If the wrist brace is used to fight tendonitis then it should be tightened to stop lateral movement of the wrist. By holding your hand out straight from your wrist, the plane is outlined by your thumb and pinkie should be the area that your wrist's motion is confined within.
If you're trying to remedy carpal tunnel syndrome, you want to keep your wrist from bending downward at all, or upward by more than a few degrees. You'll also need to be more careful with padding in your wrist brace when dealing with carpal tunnel syndrome.
Wrist braces that are made to confine the wrist for a sprain must totally confine it in both ways of movement and should cover more of the upper forearm also because that is where the ligaments that command the wrist movement run, and might look like Ace bandages more than traditional wrist brace.
Keeping yourself comfortable in a wrist brace means that you should look for things on the inside surface, like seams or loose threads, that might cause skin irritation. Some people recommend wrapping the hand and wrist and lower forearm lightly in gauze before putting a wrist brace on; this functions much the same way that your sock does in your shoe - it absorbs the sweat and keeps the seams of the brace from rubbing your skin and irritating you. Wash your wrist brace about twice a week; most can be run through a washer or dryer without risk.
Do not wear your wrist brace too tightly. It should fit snug; nevertheless, it should not stop the blood flow to the wrist or hand. Many people seem to pull the straps as tight as they will go, avoid this, just put it on, go about your day, and adjust the tightness as needed. A good thing to do is to mark with a permanent marker how tight the straps should go when you have found a comfortable spot.
About the Author:
Tom Nicholson has spent years caring for carpal tunnel sufferers. You can follow this link to find out more regarding having asore wrist.
