As you probably know, I'm disabled. I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome Type 3, which causes chronic pain, dislocations, and a lot of other things that make doctors go "Wait, really? Because that isn't normal."
My hands have always been the worst of my pain, even when I was relatively healthy... or at least as healthy as I could get with a life long genetic disability. With the second year of my MA starting, I knew I had to start treating my hands better. The long hours of typing notes and essays, holding my ereader for extended periods, crocheting every night to relax, and just generally existing means I need to control my health as much as possible just to complete my degree.
Naturally I went shopping.
I have heard such life changing things about ring splints. In short, they are finger splints that help aid stability, in the hope of easing pain. Ring splints are splints but pretty. I wanted something that would give me stability, look pretty like jewellery, but would not get in the way of my crutches. I still need to be able to walk, and that is the biggest problem I had; usually I'd just heavily bandage my hand and wrist, even adding a splint if necessary, but it left me unable to use my crutches.
I searched on Etsy, since the usual places I go had nothing. I found something beautiful.
Sienna Hope Jewellery focuses on items that are pretty but also accessibility aids. From ring splints to zip pulls, everything is both useful and beautiful. I fell in love with the thumb splint, and asked the seller if it could be adjusted easily to fit on my index finger instead. I'll be entirely honest and say I was expecting a minimal reply, but instead I received a lovely, well thought out message saying that there's another option that might be better suited.
I looked at the trigger finger splint, and saw a double set of splints, and I'll admit I got them all. I bought two thumb splints (one for each hand), two trigger finger splints (again, one for each hand), and the double set of ring splints. My thinking is that if I'm going out, I'm still likely to have flare ups in my hand pain, but I can wear something beautiful that helps. When I wear a bandage, I get asked questions - what did you do? what happened? - and as well-intentioned as they are, I get tired of reminding people that yes I am still disabled, and it isn't just my legs and back that cause me pain. If my medical aids look like jewellery, not only does it make me feel better about using them, people are more interested in them as jewellery, rather than wondering what happened to me.
First Impressions
I'm going to start with the packaging. The thumb rings were wrapped to keep their shape, and everything else was in a little white box. It looks so classy, I'm going to keep them in these boxes when not in use.
The pieces are just stunningly beautiful. The rose gold looks like rope, I love it. Included were two little cards giving a history of agate and quartz, both used in the splints; this is such a lovely touch, and both can trace their history back to ancient Greece, and that makes the Classicist in me very happy. The tiny pieces of agate on the double drop ring almost look like tiny roses with the way the wire has been wrapped around them. I couldn't be more happy.
The thumb splint comes with instructions, which is excellent. There is no way I would've been able to work out how to put it on without them, and I have no shame in admitting that. All of the rings are snug, but in a new shoes sort of way. They're comfortable, but I know they're on. It feels so very weird to not have a slight negative bend to my fingers; I didn't even know I had one until I put the rings on. I have restricted movement, but it's no worse than wearing a bandage; I can still carry on doing my normal tasks like typing, it just takes a moment to remember how my hands work with the splints on. I can even walk with the full set on because nothing gets in the way of my crutches.
Do you realise how amazing this is? I can use my crutches even with my hands getting support. Nothing has allowed me to do this before. Nothing.
They are going to take some getting used to, and I have to adjust them a little. I expected this. Everyone has different shaped hands, and different needs when it comes to splints. I'm OK with this.
After a few days...
I think I have found my new obsession. Typing is easier, less painful. I'm more accurate outside of VATS when I'm playing the modern Fallout games. I can walk with my crutches even with supported hands. I've not yet worked out how to use my phone one-handed, so I can use it while walking, but I'll get there.
The splints do leave little dents on my skin as I've shown in one of the pictures (put them on, took the pictures, took them off, so less than three minutes of wearing them), but honestly I get that from just clothes. They're not painful, just look a bit odd once I take the splints off, and if I've been wearing them for a few hours they are very noticeable, much more than in the picture below.
The thumb splint does need to be adjusted every time I put it on. For me this is great; my thumb and wrist tend to have the biggest changes in swelling than any of my other joints. This is just the nature of how the splint goes on. With rings, it's easy, you just slip them over your finger, but with the thumb splint you twist it around your wrist to put it on. Of course it's going to go slightly out of shape as you do that. It's so easy to adjust, even when I'm having a bad pain day, that I'm OK with it. You probably could wear it "the wrong way" with the splint going over your palm at the base of your thumb if you needed to, but this would get in the way of my crutches and we all know my thoughts on that by now. In the pictures below I am wearing the thumb splint tighter than I usually would; I currently have a very dislocated wrist, and the splint is helping it stay in place.
I know it might sound silly, and it does even thinking it, but these have changed my life. I can crochet for longer periods with less pain. I can walk with my crutches and still get support for my hands; I know I keep going on about this, but it's amazing! Even when I take the splints off, I find my hands have started to work out a new neutral position, as guided by the splints. I think over time this is going to improve my wrist pain dramatically. It certainly won't be a cure for my hand pain, but I do think it will help.
Did I mention how beautiful they look?
Pros:
- I can walk with my crutches using them
- They're beautiful
- Much faster than putting on a bandage, and about the same degree of support
- They look like jewellery, not medical aids
- Very supportive and helps control my hand pain
Cons:
- A little grubby where I'm adjusting them repeatedly (but gently rubbing them with a cotton ball does work)
- Weird dents in my hands after taking them off (but as a reminder I get this from everything, even loose fitting gloves)
- I want more.
If you're interested in these ring splints you can find Sienna Hope Jewellery on Etsy, Facebook, and Instagram. Oh and look out for pictures of a very cute cat, not just the amazing splints.
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