After surgery or trauma, or with some neurological
conditions, joints may develop contractures and adhesions that restrict
the ability to move. With a range of motion (ROM) splint a therapist or
physician can apply pressure to a specific joint to help increase the elastic
stretching of the joint tissues and increase the joint's ROM.
These specialized splints are available for single patient use
or as a rental unit with soft good kits. Dynamic splints help address joint
stiffness, which can occur as a result of immobilization, trauma, surgery,
grafting for burns, adhesions and other scar tissue and as a result of several
neurological indications. The theory behind Dynamic splints is the “low load,
prolonged stretch” modality with a slow application of a low force to help
tissue elongate & remodel permanently. This increased tissue stretch helps
to restore ROM in a joint. Because the amount of force is very low and applied
over a long period of time, the pain and discomfort for a patient are
minimized.
These orthoses mimic manual therapy in addressing ROM limitations and joint
stiffness. By allowing patients to follow the therapy protocols at home, the
total rehabilitation time and costs are decreased. The clinical studies on
static progressive stretch show that this modality is a very effective way to
get patients back to fully rehabilitated faster.
With static progressive, a moderate stretch is applied to a joint for a
relatively short period of time. As the tissue elongates and relaxes into the
stretch they are then stretched further. This plastic deformation results in
the restoration of a joint’s ROM, with minimal discomfort to the patient.
