Whatever reason you’re wearing a wrist brace for, there are some general bits of advice you should follow in getting the maximum benefit out of them.
First, make sure your wrist brace is the right size; ones you can buy at the drug store are usually specified as child, small, medium, large and extra large. These are generally measured by the circumference of the wrist they’re designed to go around and have a palm rest and a forearm length based on the average sized individual with that sized wrist. For 95% of people in the world, those wrist brace sizes are the right size. In cases where they aren’t the right size, it’s usually that they’re too small when wrapped around the forearm.
Second, make sure that you’re tightening them in a manner appropriate for your injury. Wrist braces give their benefit by keeping you from accidentally flexing your wrist in a way that would further your injury. The type of injury you have will determine which axis of rotation your wrist needs immobilization in.
If you are using a wrist brace for tendonitis, then tighten it so that it prevents lateral movement of the wrist. To determine this just put your hand straight out from your wrist, this is the plane defined by your thumb and pinkie and should be the parameters that your wrist’s motion is limited 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.
Remaining comfortable in a wrist brace will require you to look for things on the inside surface such as seams or loose thread that might rub against and bother your skin. A good idea is to wrap the hand and wrist and lower forearm in a bit of gauze before putting on the wrist brace. This will serve almost as a sock would in a shoe; it will soak up sweat and will prevent the seams from the brace from bothering your skin. You can keep your wrist brace clean just by washing it twice a week and most can be put in the washer or drying without issue.
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.
Tom Nicholson has spent years caring for sufferers of carpal tunnel syndrome. You can click here to find out more regarding having asore wrist.
