Safe and sound thumb stalls

Himself had an infected thumb and needed something to protect the bandaging
The thumb stalls are made in soft flexible PVC and are designed to help keep dressings clean and dry, which is just what we want. They are available in small medium and large- we bought the large ones from our local chemist.

--Product and Packaging...--

The product comes packaged in a pack of two in a small box with all of the information on the back of the box. Inside the box there are indeed two thumb stalls which whilst they are quite wide they aren't especially long so it;s clear from the start that they won't cover the whole bandage which goes right to the base of the thumb. No matter, this is going to be better than nothing. The thumb stalls are quite light plastic and are nice and soft and feel very flexible. They have an elastic adjustable strap designed to fasten around the wrist and clip into a whole next to the plastic. The strap is easily adjusted by pulling one side of the elastic which will then be held in place by the clip. The strap is quite thin so if it's too tight then it will leave a mark on the wrist and can apparently become quite uncomfortable.

--How to use the thumb stalls...--

They are very easy to use assuming you have two fully working hands but with one hand out of the picture they can become quite tricky:
* Extend the elastic strap
* Slide stall over the thumb
* Adjust the strap

That's it! It is also suggested that the thumb stall is worn only when the dressing is likely to become wet or dirty, which is good advice as the thumb can get quite sweaty under the plastic. It should also be removed at bedtime and should not be worn for extended lengths of time.

--Price and Availability...--

The RRP is £1.62for 2 and they can be bought from chemists or online, although I wouldn't bother doing this because of the postage costs.

--Verdict...--

Over the period of several weeks we bought several types of these thumb stalls and these were not the best. Yes, they are cheap but they are quite flimsy and are easily split especially down the seam at the side. They didn't seem to cover the whole bandage so care had to be taken if the was any water anywhere close to the thumb. Another downside was the fact that the strap is thin and can dig into the wrist.

As an emergency cover use them once product these are fine but when they have been used a couple of times maximum you are lucky if there are no splits in the plastic.
Not the greatest but not totally useless.

Thanks for reading
Daniela xx