In listening to feedback from a few people regarding the indications for the use of the brace I have come to realise that stating that the indications for the brace are irritable, nasty nerve related arm pain I may have created the wrong impression that this the only set of indications. 

The brace may also be used for more common not as nasty or irritable nerve related arm pain that does not improve with conventional movement based treatment methods. It may be effective for the management of an annoying lateral elbow ache that is persistent; constant but fluctuating; aggravated by daily activities and reproduced by the radial nerve loading tests. 

If the lateral elbow pain has not improved with active movement and education based treatments then a trial of the brace would be an option. The effect of the brace is evident within a couple days. 

Anton

The current brace grew out of a method of taping that I developed some years ago. The idea for the tape (R&M brace) almost came by accident; a 'what if I try this' thought and it made a huge difference for the lady. 

I was treating a lady with anterior glenohumeral shoulder pain. When I first assessed her she had had the pain for over a year and had had an unsuccessful cortisone injection into the shoulder and exercises in the gym had only made it much worse. She said it took months to get over the gym session. By the time I assessed her she was experiencing a significant degree of arm pain; she described intermittent 'great big nerve pains' down her arm; she used the word nerve; her hand was starting to change colour at time and her grip was quite weak. She also had neck and shoulder girdle pain and the soft tissues were tender. The nerve loading tests for her arm were very painful and the pain increased very 'early' in the test.

I did my usual type manual therapy treatment on her neck and medial scapula soft tissue; massage and Maitland style joint 'mobilisation' and she described an improvement in pain and range of movement. She returned a week later and said her shoulder and arm pain was a bit better until she flicked open the newspaper one evening and then it was just as bad again. I repeated the manual therapy and she again reported an improvement; until she did something else with her arm. So I thought; 'what if I stop her reaching out?' So I taped her to prevent full elbow extension; I did no manual therapy. When she came back a few days later her pain had improved dramatically and the improvement had been sustained. I removed and re-applied the tape several times and over following weeks the pain continued to improve; her activity tolerance improved and her grip strength (measured with a Jamar Dynamometer) improved. After about two months she returned to gardening. Her grip strength returned to normal without any strengthening exercises.

That taping used to take me about 20 minutes. The R&M Brace was developed to  make it quicker to apply, easier to adjust and easier to re-apply at home. 

The lady had a return of the pain a year or so later after lifting very heavy pot plants; but it eased again with a period of elbow extension limitation. I did not see her again for her over the following years.