For background, I broke delicate bones in both my hands in a near-fatal MVA. Since then, I have of coursed aged to the point at which I cause a small fire by the friction of the now-lengthy spinning to get to the year of my birth. (This is a little long, but I think it’s all necessary so you can really know the amount of destruction that’s been caused to my hands, since it’s so extreme.) It’s been eight years since then, and I’ve lived in a horror movie, due to an emergency, I had to spend several days and months writing and typing more than any human should, I also developed arthritis, and the pain that’s borne from those events have caused me to be unable to get a good grip on things (literally and figuratively), I’ll often drop things and not even notice. I do not take otc painkillers regularly, and I will not take opiates, but with everything I am forced to do daily, I can’t get the chance to rest my hands, not even for an hour much less a few f days or a week. And as it always does, another shoe dropped yesterday morning when I slipped in mud and landed directly on my thumb and forefinger of my left hand. The pain was indescribable. I had an old thumb splint, and put it in. There was no metal in it, and as a result, trying to get it to the sweet spot where my thumb couldn’t move (any movement was painful), and I still had circulation in my hand. In fact, I had only two options: a) live with the pain and keep blood circulating to my hand; or, b) tighten it to stabilize my thumb/hand and then wait for the gangrene. In either case, extreme pain was involved. It’s impossible to to make it fit properly and be comfortable, you can’t do it. Either it’s too loose and your hand is moving all the time, or you lose circulation, but your thumb is relatively stable. (This is a few years old, so maybe the kind I now bought are a new design). I thought it was a long shot; since I’m a regular visitor to this site, but I did find these, and they offered overnight shipping, so I decided I’d give this one last try. Since these arrived, I am telling you, without a doubt, that I have not had pain in my thumb at all. I can’t remember when I had no pain last. The metal made me nervous, and the part in which you put your thumb, you need to ensure goes around your thumb, but I am absolutely convinced. The metal allows there to be a strong stabilizer, that will restrict movement of the thumb AND still feel comfortable. I highly recommend these. I wish I’d had them long ago. A+++++!!!