Transcription:
Hi My name is Wendell I’m a certified hand therapist at the Orthopaedic Institute of Western Kentucky. Today I am going to show you how we make a finger splint. You might make this splint for somebody with a fracture or boutonniere deformity. There’s a lot of different things that it could be made for.
I heat the plastic up in this hydrocollator. This is a low temperature thermal plastic called Orfilight. It’s perforated, and it turns clear when it’s warm. Then, you know it’s warm enough. The patient is going to hold her hand with her palm up like this.
The material is now clear. I’ll take it out, and I’ll lay it over her finger. I’ll cut the seam along the back. Then, it takes about two to three minutes to harden. When it’s done it will be a nice custom fitted splint that has a lot of rigidity and provides a lot of protection for a fracture or another injury.
You can see as it cools it turns back to the beige color that it was. I’ll remove the sharp edges. Then, I’ll smooth up the ends so it will be more comfortable for the patient.
Now the splint is completed. It easily slides on and off. It’s rigid and it provides quite a bit of protection for an injured finger and that’s a finger cylinder splint.