Aluminium finger splint
Maker
Kenneth Russell (b.1885, d.1945)
Date
Circa 1917
Description
A plaster model of a finger and a moulded aluminium finger splint. The appliance was used in the treatment of a patient who had suffered from a simple fracture or break to the first finger, possibly of the right hand. The splint would hold the finger in place while the bone healed. The splint was swaged - the aluminium hammered into shape over a metal or hard wooden mould of the finger. This is a similar technique as that used in the making of dental appliances - dentists had skills of taking moulds and working with metals, making them well-equipped to make appliances for other minor war injuries. It is possible that the break occurred due to the first finger's use in the firing of a rifle, in which case it would be particularly exposed to injury.
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