United Brachial Plexus Network

5-10 degree contraction, we would like to avoid surgery for awhile yet don't want to not address this any longer. Can you share your experience(s) with the Dynasplint?

thanks!

The last I heard, the dynasplint (or ultraflex)will not extend more than minus 10 degrees. Check with the company first in case that has changed recently.

My daughter used the dynasplint to correct a 10 degree contracture and we got to 0 with it!

Peggy

Peggy, we had a dynasplint, too but this is what their rep/orthotist told us when our results weren't happening. I hope the poster just checks first with the company because they are expensive splints. I do know that they have changed some of their splints because they now make teeny ones for infants.

Peggy, I called down there and spoke to a sales rep and he said that the splints were remanufactured and can actually go to 25 degrees of hyperextention - so zero degrees is very possible.

Just wanted to followup on this conversation so that everyone would have updated info.
-guest poster

I was going off our experience; I can't speak for anyone else, but the info you just gave it good news!

Peggy

My daughter had a 35 degree bicep contracture in June. Using the unit at night, her contracture has been reduced to 15 degrees. Her progress has stalled @ 15 degrees.

The unit has helped...the customer service (or lack of) and inexperienced/disorganized reps were exhausting. I even had a territory manager attempt to reprimand me for calling him on his cell phone for assistance. I would go with another unit if you have options. The unit is extremely expensive....the reps don't always have a background in OT/PT (make sure you ask them about their background to ensure proper fitting....if our OT had not been a huge help and the unit hadn't shown such a great result, I would have abandoned all efforts with this company. Good Luck!

Momgg1 - this was exactly our experience with dynasplint, too. When we had to go back into a splint the 2nd time we did it with ultraflex. This splint if manufactured by a local orthotist that YOU choose. Your therapist might just work with an orthotist so they can work on this together and do followup together. I don't believe that the dynasplint "orthotist" was a real orthotist because I found out later that he gave us a knee extension splint and not an elbow one, making it very heavy and I believe that it dislocated our daughter's shoulder. He was not helpful at all and when I called today I was very surprised to hear that he was still there and they would transfer me to get the information. I refused to talk with him and asked to speak with a technical support person.

Also, I have to add that we had problems with the dynasplint turning around in the middle of the night so we think that it may have caused more damage than good. The ultraflex was custom fit (plastic is molded from a cast they do) and it never once turned around. And they are able to line it with sheepskin if the inside is irritating and also line the velcro straps with sheepskin. They were very accomodating.

I e-mailed the president of dyna-splint with all of my concerns and issues two months ago. His administrative assistant left me a message that he would contact me regarding my bad experience. I have yet to hear from him. Our local rep has no OT background...only sales. We tried three of their units before we were able to get one that worked. The first one was improperly assembled by the rep. and fell apart. The second unit was shipped w/ the wrong pieces. Our OT has been a blessing and a saint to help us navigate this fiasco! All of this was compounded by my insurance and doctor information being lost numerous times and lack of tech support.

If we need another unit in the future, I will definately use ultra-flex. It was too big for my daughter at this time or I would have gone with it. Thanks for your response...I hope the people at Dyna-splint take notice!

Thanks everyone. We don't have a good orthotist in our area. Notice I didn't say we don't have an orthotist...plus our OT is not much on splinting. I may have to check with a local hospital to see what we can do. I am ging to have to research this a bit more, especially if the thing is going to move around. We have a hard enough time getting a splint on anyway.