United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I am wondering if anyone on the boards heard of the Secondskin splints for bpi's and had any opinions?

http://www.secondskin.com.au/modules/pr ... =-23&pos=1

Hi Sema,

Maia had a pressure garment made for her for after her primary surgery. Pressure = tight. She did not like it one bit - I put it on and it was non-stop vomiting. I have no idea if it was sensory or breathing (diaphragm involvement) or whatever....

Maia did really well with theratogs however. And the thing about theratogs is that it's changeable because the straps are on the outside. So if you are working on one issue and it resolves in 3 months, then you can get reassessed - change where you are putting the straps and work on the next issue. Also - there's growth built into the garment itself because you build it each time you put it on... so it can last for quite a while. With the pressure garment, you would have to get an entirely new one made if the child grew out of it or had the change the type of treatment it was being used for.

Maia was 7 months old - she was an itty bitty one - it was 10 1/2 years ago and the teeny pressure shirt (only a shirt) cost $400. One growth spurt (one month or maybe two) and we'd have to get a new one. She wore it twice, I tried it a third time and that was the third time she vomited... it came off and went into the bpi archive box.
Theratogs - she wore for quite a long time and over a couple of years she just needed one new size and a couple of new straps and that was it.

That's my take on it ONLY BECAUSE OF Maia's experience.

Things may have changed in these 10 years in terms of how well they are constructed and how well they breath (or not) and it may not affect your child the way it did Maia. I think that if you are drawn to it, then you should try it out. Everyone is drawn to diffrent things and each child is so different. Maia is VERY sensitive because she has sensory issues and she has diaphragm issues.

-francine