Immediate Effects of Counterforce Forearm Brace on Grip Strength and Wrist Extension Force in Patients With Lateral Epicondylosis

Abstract

Although the effectiveness of counterforce braces has been reported in patients with lateral epicondylosis over the elbow, its immediate effect is limited. This research was to study the immediate effects of counterforce forearm brace on grip strength and wrist extension force in patients. Fifteen patients (9 women and 6 men) with lateral epicondylosis ( M ± SD , 8.1 ± 1.1 weeks) on their dominant arm participated in this study. We tested grip strength, wrist extension muscle force and range of motion (ROM) wrist extension immediately after application of counterforce forearm brace in the affected and unaffected arms. Among the variables, significant differences were found in grip strength ( p = .02) and wrist extension muscle force ( p = .001), but changes in ROM of wrist extension were not statistically significant ( p = .98). Using the counterforce forearm brace increased the rate of grip strength and wrist extension muscle force in patients with lateral epicondylosis. However, our findings did not support the use of the counterforce brace in increasing ROM in wrist extension.