Sprains, fractures, strains — with sports and other daily activities come the risk of injury and the potential need to immobilize and support joints and other body parts for optimal healing and recovery. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools that physicians and other sports medicine specialists have at their disposal to help support recovery and rehabilitation.
Endeavor Health orthopaedic sports medicine specialist Danielle Bass, MD, explains the most common uses for splints, braces and casts that she and her colleagues regularly employ.
Splints for fractures. “Splints are given in a doctor’s office to immobilize a body part when we don’t want you moving it,” said Dr. Bass. Splints are usually accompanied by plenty of wrapping and padding to support the joint. “This is typical treatment for a fracture where the goal is to keep it perfectly stable to promote the healing,” she said.
Sometimes people have a lot of swelling, especially with an acute injury, and a splint allows for the body’s natural swelling, unlike a traditional hard cast. Wrists and elbows are among the common fractures that physicians use a splint to treat. Ankle fractures are more likely to be treated with a walking boot, added Dr. Bass.
Patients can’t remove the splints so they are required to sleep in it and use a plastic protector over it for showering.
Casts for long-term management. Casts are generally used for more long-term management of a fracture or break and can sometimes be put on following a splint a week or so after the initial injury when the swelling has gone down, explained Dr. Bass.
A hard cast obviously keeps the body part from moving at all, providing the most solid protection. “Casts really ensure that nothing is moving,” she said.
Like splints, patients need to use some kind of plastic protection over a cast for bathing. There are waterproof casts that Dr. Bass said are sometimes used for children, but there can be an additional cost associated with these.
Solid fractures typically take about six weeks in a cast, while splints are generally used for shorter time periods. “We’ll usually change a cast after a few weeks and take a new X-ray to make sure it’s healing nicely,” said Dr. Bass.
Braces for sprains. Braces, which are less permanent and can be removed for showering or down time are commonly used for many tendon strains and ligament sprains. While all kinds of braces are available for sale online and elsewhere, Dr. Bass highly recommends seeing a physician to accurately diagnose the injury and provide the best treatment.
“We do a lot of work with braces and have a whole brace support staff who are experienced and able to figure out the best fit and option for each patient,” she said. Braces are common for wrist, elbow, knee and ankle strains and tendonitis issues.
For more minor injuries braces can help stabilize and support the joint during the activities of daily living including cooking, office work, errands etc., helping to calm down the inflammation and promote healing, explained Dr. Bass.
With any acute injury, like a fall where you land on your wrist, roll your ankle or twist your knee, it’s always important to get it checked out by a physician to understand the severity of the injury and determine the best treatment.
For a lingering ache or injury that doesn’t go away after a week or two, Dr. Bass also suggests checking with a physician.
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