What is a Hand Therapist?
A hand therapist is either an occupational therapist or physiotherapist who has undertaken additional training and accreditation in hand therapy. Hand therapists exclusively treat conditions affecting the hands, wrists, and upper extremities. These conditions can range from acute injuries, such as fractures and sprains, to chronic conditions like arthritis and repetitive strain injuries.
Reasons Why you Might Consider Seeing a Hand Therapist:
Achieve a proper diagnosis: It is essential to have an accurate diagnosis in order to receive the most appropriate treatment for your hand problem. Our hand therapists are highly skilled at conducting thorough assessments to identify the underlying cause of your hand or upper extremity condition.
Specialised treatment techniques: Hand therapists are trained in a variety of specialised treatment techniques specific to the needs of the hand and arm.
These include:
Custom-made splints and casts... Hand therapists have specialised skills in the fabrication of custom-made splints or braces to protect injured bones, joints or tendons. These are fitted on the spot, so you go home with a precisely fitted, comfortable, lightweight support to protect your injury or condition.
Techniques to reduce swelling... Swelling can be a major complication of hand and arm conditions. Our hand therapists use a range of techniques to reduce swelling including compression bandaging, compression gloves and exercises.
Wound and scar management... Following surgery for hand injuries or conditions, hand therapists play a crucial role in rehabilitation. Your hand therapist will monitor the wound, change the dressings, remove the stitches and show you ways to improve the appearance of the scar as well as reduce the sensitivity of scars.
Specialised exercises... Hand therapists apply their detailed knowledge of anatomy and conditions affecting the hand, to design exercises specific to the injury or condition, to restore movement, strength and help achieve optimal use of your hand and arm.
Pain relieving treatments... Our hand therapists use a variety of treatments to relieve pain including heat, therapeutic ultrasound, electrical stimulation, trigger point dry needling and massage.
Splints to restore movement to stiff joints Some injured joints need more than exercise alone to overcome stiffness after an injury. Our hand therapists can fabricate a range of splints to apply a gentle stretch to stiff joints to help restore movement to the affected joint.
So, whether you're recovering from an injury, surgery, or experiencing limitations due to a chronic condition, a hand therapist can help you return to doing the things you love in the quickest possible time.