I would not recommend splinting with persons with scleroderma unless you are able to moniter them very closely. There is a high risk of tissue damage in these clients and loss of sensation (with Reynaud's disease). These clients also need to move and stretch as much as possible and splints would put them in a static position. However, if you are able to moniter them and have a specific splinting protocol you would like to try with them, I would say you could use splinting with extreme caution.
Continued and its subsidiaries provide professional education authored by qualified Subject Matter Experts for continuing education purposes. These materials are intended for educational purposes and do not constitute medical advice or a substitute for individual clinical judgment. Continued is not a clinical healthcare provider; the licensed professional is solely responsible for ensuring that the application of any techniques or information presented is within their legal scope of practice and jurisdictional requirements.
Janet Poole, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA
Janet L. Poole, PhD, OTR/L, is a Professor and Director of the Occupational Therapy Graduate Program at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Poole has worked with many people with different rheumatic diseases, published and presented on rheumatology-related content to students and health professionals, and mentored students’ research projects focused on occupational performance challenges faced by people with arthritis. Dr. Poole served as President of the Association of Rheumatology Professionals (ARP) from 2019-2020, and in 2022 the ARP honored Dr. Poole with the Master’s Designation, for those “who have made outstanding contributions to the field of rheumatology through service to the ACR/ARP and advancements in research, practice, education, and/or advocacy from the ARP”.
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