Ergonomics: Be careful with non-prescription wrist supports and braces
April 19, 2008 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
It may seem to be a quick fix: your wrists hurt so you go to the pharmacy and buy a couple of braces to support them. That might not be such a good idea though.
Although this article was written in the mid 1990s, it does still have some interesting information and points to keep in mind: Non-prescribed wrist braces may not prevent hand and arm injuries at work
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Oh, wow – that article makes it seem like maybe companies shouldn’t even make non-medically prescribed wrist braces. Is there ever a time when one of these is “good”?
I don’t know Alicia – I think we have to take things like this with a grain of salt too. I do have braces that I wear when my arms get too sore. I have a strong tendency towards tendonitis in ust about any tendon. I even had it in my Achilles tendon once. Ouch.
So, I use them although I’m careful not to overuse them.
One thing I find them particularly useful for is at night because I tend to really contract my hands inwards and this puts a lot of pressure on my wrists and can cause pain. When I’ve done that for a few nights in a row, I wear the braces at night for a few nights to get my wrists to stop bending in like that. Hmm, I think I’ll make that into a post.