Why are wrist braces so ugly and uncomfortable?
Things I was excited to wear on my wedding day: a beautiful gown, a new ring, a big smile.
Things I didn’t want to wear on my wedding day: a lumpy beige orthopedic wrist brace.
I’m Sarah, and I have rheumatoid arthritis, a condition that causes joint pain and swelling.
For my recent wedding, my husband and I decided to do a twirly first dance. As we practised our moves it became more and more apparent that I would need to wear a wrist brace to protect my damaged arthritic wrist.
But the only wrist braces I could find were ugly and uncomfortable. It was deeply disheartening.
I did not want to sacrifice the twirly dance, so I needed to find a way to make the brace wearable.
I realized that I could at least tackle the problem of the ugliness of the brace. I covered it in ivory satin fabric and beads, so that it matched my dress. Voila, I was able to wear it for the dance.
I shared my wedding photos online with other arthritis patients, and told them about how I’d spruced up my brace. I received a deluge of comments, with people complaining about their orthopedic braces.
Over and over again, it was the same story: I don’t wear my braces because they are ugly and uncomfortable.
It’s not just braces either. It’s a problem that we see across all different categories of medical and disability products. From homewares to apparel to devices, when it comes to ‘adaptive’ products, there seems to be an assumption that as long as it is functional, it doesn’t matter if it is comfortable or looks good.
The good news is that there is a whole wave of entrepreneurs who are changing this. Many of us are disabled, and tackling problems that we want to solve, because nobody else is going to do it.
For me, it’s joint support. I started my company because I couldn’t find what I needed.
Fast forward a couple of years, and Grace & Able is making better joint support products.
Hand Therapist designed and arthritis patient tested, we are committed to listening to patients every step of the way.
That’s the key to making products that people actively *want* to use, rather than *have* to use.
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