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Friday, April 23, 2021

Jewel Splint

I've been having trouble for a number of years now with a trigger thumb. It doesn't happen all the time, but once it snaps once, it is painful, swollen, and takes time to heal. During that healing time I keep reinjuring it over and over. I've found a beautiful solution!


This trigger thumb ring-splint immobilizes the joint and prevents the "trigger" from occurring. Since the trigger thumb is most often set off by a period of hand spinning it was important to me that I still be able to spin with the ring-splint on. It came through the "test drive" with flying colours! It doesn't impede my spinning at all.

What is really amazing is that this custom ring, though it must fit both above and below the joint, as well as over the joint itself, and it came all the way from Israel, still fits perfectly, right out of the box. JewelSplint, the occupational therapist/jeweler, requests photos and measurements of the joint(s) in question and makes each splint to fit the customer. She did a wonderful job! I'm so pleased.

If you are a handspinner with a similar issue with your thumb, I highly recommend a custom made trigger thumb ring-splint by JewelSplint.

As always, links in this post are there for your information and convenience. I'm happy to send interested persons to good businesses, but I am not affiliated nor do I get kickbacks for your "clicks". 


4 comments:

Gene Black said...

While I have never had or heard of "Trigger thumb" - that is a beautiful way to protect your thumb while it heals.

Marlene said...

It's the same thing as trigger finger, Gene, just a different digit. In my case I think it was initially brought on by years of spinning. The slight pressure applied while drafting is constant and I think it causes some sort of fatigue in the joint. Anyway, it sticks, then painfully snaps when it is released from the stuck position. This ring prevents both the sticking and the snapping release. Bonus that I also like the look of it. Much nicer looking than the plastic type of splint available through medical supply shops.

Meira Shana said...

I had heard of this - but never experienced it - until about 1 year ago!!!

My left thumb - double trippple OUCHY - the arthritis doc said he could give me a shot - I said NO. I am ambidextrous as a rightie and can use both hands for writing. When I broke my right wrist in Nov2019, I used my left hand and continue to do now - 4May2021.

I learned to be very careful when handling anything left handed - and definitely learned to not bend the thumb to see if it still hurt ... and now it feels much better and I do not deliberately bend it.

REST and soaking in hot/cold often I think helped. TIME ...

I love how you solved the problem. Do you make/sell the triggeRing??

Marlene said...

No, Meira Shana, the jewelsplint was made by an occupational therapist/jeweler from Israel. A clickable link to her etsy account is in the blog post you have commented on. I'll repeat it here:
https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/525354971/thumb-trigger-finger-boutonnire-ring?ref=user_curated_list-1&pro=1&frs=1