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Hand Therapy

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  • Introduction
  • Treatment

Introduction

Hand Therapy is a specialized area of rehabilitation.  Your doctor may refer you to an occupational therapist or physical therapist with advanced skills or a Certified Hand Therapist (CHT) for hand therapy.  A CHT is an occupational or physical therapist that has completed continued education, supervised training, and testing to earn credentials beyond a therapy degree.  Hand therapists focus on rehabilitation for conditions that affect the hand and arm.
 
A hand therapist provides continuing care for individuals with hand conditions resulting from medical conditions or following hand surgery or injury.  Medical conditions, such as arthritis; neurological conditions, such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, and spinal cord injury; and disorders, such as carpal tunnel syndrome; can affect the way hands move and function.  Hand therapy can be helpful for people with trauma, burns, and amputations.  Additionally, hand therapy is common following hand surgery to restore tendons, nerves, and joint function.  A hand therapist may be consulted for preventive consultation, especially in the manufacturing industries.
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Treatment

Your hand therapist will work with your doctor to determine treatments that are appropriate for you and that are designed to meet your goals.  Hand therapy can reduce pain and swelling.  It can help to restore strength, endurance, coordination, and movement.  It can also promote healing and reduce scar formation.  You should tell your hand therapist about your symptoms, concerns, and goals.  Your therapist will create a treatment plan that incorporates your goals for functional improvement.

At your initial evaluation, your therapist will examine your hand and take measurements.  Your hand and finger strength, coordination, and sensation will be tested.  The therapist will measure how far you can move your joints.  He or she will look at your hand for any sores, deformities, or swelling. 

Hand therapy treatments vary and depend on the type of condition you have, the extent of your condition, and your goals.  It is common for therapy to include hand exercises, splinting, and modalities.  You may need to wear hand splints while your hand is at rest, during work, or both.  Hand splints can help your hand heal, reduce pain, and improve function.  Modalities are treatments that can help relieve pain and promote movement.  These include heat, ice, ultrasound, electrical stimulation, and others.  Additionally, hand therapy can include wound healing treatments and burn debridement.  Your therapists can suggest adaptive devices, such as eating or writing utensils, to improve your functional independence.

In industrial settings, hand therapists perform workplace evaluations for injury prevention.  Hand therapists can recommend alternative work methods or work station changes to prevent injuries and cumulative trauma disorders.  They can also help an individual with a hand injury return to work by making workplace modifications.

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Copyright ©  - iHealthSpot Interactive - www.iHealthSpot.com

This information is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It should not be used in place of an individual consultation or examination or replace the advice of your health care professional and should not be relied upon to determine diagnosis or course of treatment.

The iHealthSpot patient education library was written collaboratively by the iHealthSpot editorial team which includes Senior Medical Authors Dr. Mary Car-Blanchard, OTD/OTR/L and Valerie K. Clark, and the following editorial advisors: Steve Meadows, MD, Ernie F. Soto, DDS, Ronald J. Glatzer, MD, Jonathan Rosenberg, MD, Christopher M. Nolte, MD, David Applebaum, MD, Jonathan M. Tarrash, MD, and Paula Soto, RN/BSN. This content complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information. The library commenced development on September 1, 2005 with the latest update/addition on February 16, 2022. For information on iHealthSpot’s other services including medical website design, visit www.iHealthSpot.com.

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LUTHERVILLE (Main office)
1400 Front Avenue, Suite 100
Lutherville, MD 21093

BEL AIR Office
12 MedStar Blvd., Suite 300
Bel Air, MD 21015

CLARKSVILLE Office
6100 Day Long Lane, Suite 203
Clarksville, MD 21029

PASADENA Office
8028 Ritchie Highway, Suite 207
Pasadena, MD 21122

WESTMINSTER Office
844 Washington Road, Suite 102
Westminster, MD 21157

Copyright © Greater Chesapeake Hand Specialists. All rights reserved

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Greater Chesapeake Hand to Shoulder has 7 locations throughout Maryland offering advanced upper extremity orthopedic care for conditions and injuries of the shoulder, arm, wrist, elbow, hand and fingers. Our orthopedic surgeons and plastic surgeons possess the sub-specialty as hand surgeons providing treatment for shoulder pain, arm pain, wrist pain, elbow pain, hand pain, sports injuries, work related injury, arthritis, hand nerve injury repair, carpal tunnel syndrome, bite injuries, wrist fractures (broken wrist), tennis elbow- lateral epicondylitis, pediatric orthopedics. Our hand surgeons also offer arthroscopy, joint replacement, on-site x-ray and are expert witnesses for court cases.

Lutherville - Main office | Bel Air | Clarksville | Pasadena | Westminster