Carmen Guzio
BD Consumer Services
1 Becton Drive
Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417

Carmen:

I am a computer geek by trade. I spend most of my working life in front of a computer, typing and mousing away. About eight or so years ago, I started developing serious wrist pain, despite my best efforts to use an ergonomic setup on my computer(s).

I went to the doctor. While it wasn’t Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, he did tell me I had to quit my job. Failing that, he recommended physical therapy and to immobilize my wrists while geeking. The physical therapist gave me a daily stretching and exercise routine for my forearms, but I could not find a wrist brace which would be effective and comfortable. Most, including the one given to me by my doctor, included a metal splint underneath the wrist. This splint got in the way and kept my fingers farther away from the keyboard and mouse, which caused my posture to be even worse.

Hallelujah! I finally found a solution in the Bauer and Black Carpal Tunnel Wrist Brace (significantly, size large). I bought a pair each for work and home, and was happy for years, replacing them as needed.

A while back, when I tried to reorder, they were unavailable anywhere. Some investigation showed that they had been renamed the Ace Wrist Immobilizer. It was the same product, and I was happy.

However, a few weeks ago I tried to replenish my stock of them, and found that the large sizes have been discontinued! I ordered the regular size and even tried to modify it slightly by cutting open the thumb holes wider. However, they simply don’t fit. Wearing them doesn’t support my wrist as well, and cuts off the blood supply to my hand.

I’ve spoken to a number of folks in the BD consumer services department, but the answer has been the same… the product is no longer being made!

I’ve been unable to find old stock of the old product anywhere, either.

It is hard for me to overstate how important these wrist braces are for my health and livelihood. I will certainly experiment and see if I can find alternatives, but as before, most have the metal splint which simply gets in the way. If not for the availability of this product for the last eight years of my life, I might very well be permanently disabled and be unable to continue my career in the computer field.

So this is at least one request from a loyal customer that this product be continued. I don’t understand why it would be available in a regular size, but no longer large. Are there not enough of us with large hands that are affected by repeated strain?

I’ll be posting this letter openly at http://johnstewart.com/blog/2007/05/17/dear-bd/ in case there are others so afflicted who might run across this in their search for this product. I’m hopeful that we can convince BD to again release this product.

Sincerely,

John Stewart
Computer Geek