Comprehensive Guide to Occupational Therapy for a Hand Injury and Rehabilitation
Have you recently suffered a hand or wrist injury and now struggle with everyday tasks, such as brushing your teeth, working a TV remote, or using your mobile device? Your hand injury could benefit from occupational therapy at Cascade Hand & Orthopedic Rehab!
Occupational therapy is a specialized form of therapy focused on activities of daily living (ADLs). Our therapists can help you with the functional aspects of hand injury rehabilitation. Rather than focusing on just restoring strength and mobility, we help you perform the day-to-day tasks you need and want to do.
Whether we’re helping you relearn basic tasks, showing you how to navigate around a hand splint, or providing you with movement modifications, our hand occupational therapists will develop a customized treatment program that addresses your individual needs and goals.
If you think you might benefit from occupational therapy for hand injury rehabilitation, call Cascade Hand & Orthopedic Rehab clinic today!
Common Hand Injuries Requiring Occupational Therapy
People might require occupational therapy for their hands or wrists for several reasons. Injuries are perhaps the most common, but if you’ve undergone surgery, you may need some rehabilitation time, too.
While any impairment to the hand or wrist could likely benefit from occupational therapy, here are some of the conditions we commonly treat:
- Fractures
- Sprains
- Damage to the tendons or ligaments
- Laceration injuries
- Rehabilitation after carpal tunnel surgery
In addition to helping with hand injury rehabilitation, our team can also help people with arthritis. Both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis can affect the hands and wrists, making everyday movements painful and difficult.
Basically, if you’re currently struggling to use your hands in any way, you may find occupational therapy beneficial. We use our hands for so many different tasks that even a “minor” injury, like a sprain, can greatly impact your quality of life. Occupational therapy helps you overcome those difficulties in a personalized, patient-centered way.
The Benefits of Occupational Therapy for Hand Injury Rehabilitation
To understand what occupational therapy can do for you, it’s important to understand how it differs from hand therapy or physical therapy, which you’ll likely also utilize during rehabilitation.
Physical therapy focuses on improving whole-body movement by reducing pain, rebuilding strength, and restoring mobility. Hand therapy is similar to physical therapy but concentrates solely on the hands and wrists. It emphasizes restoring fine motor skills: the small, delicate movements we perform with our hands, such as gripping, squeezing, or picking up small objects.
Occupational therapy, in contrast, focuses on the practical side of hand injury rehabilitation. While working on improving your hand’s strength and dexterity with a hand therapist, you’ll put that strength and dexterity into practice with your occupational therapist. We’ll help you relearn how to use utensils, brush your teeth, put on makeup, scroll on your phone, type on a keyboard, and much more. It all depends on what you need!
Hand injuries can be so limited because of the use of orthoses to facilitate the healing process. An orthosis is a medical device, such as a brace or hand splint, that helps correct impairments by holding the affected body part in place.
Orthoses are crucial in the early stages of hand injury rehabilitation, but they will limit your mobility. One of the key roles of an occupational therapist during this process is to help you navigate the use of your orthosis. We’ll show you modifications to help you perform movements the device may limit. We can also make sure you’re using the device correctly.
Our occupational therapists can also work with you on goal setting and strategies to get you through the rehabilitation period. This may mean rearranging your home spaces to be more conducive to your new limitations. It may mean providing activity modifications or alternative approaches. It could also mean working with you on a timeline for your rehabilitation and helping you hit your recovery goals.
Finally, we’ll work with you on a functional movement program that focuses on training you in the movements you need for everyday life. While hand therapy exercises focus on strength and dexterity more generally, we’ll practice specific daily activities. For example, if you struggle to use utensils, we’ll help you practice picking up food with a fork or spoon.
What to Expect During Hand Injury Rehabilitation
We always begin with a detailed evaluation to help us understand your current limitations and overall goals. We’ll work closely with your hand or physical therapist to help us understand your condition, but we’ll also talk to you about what it is you want and need to be able to do. You can also expect simple movement screens to help us understand your impairments.
We tailor all of our occupational therapy programs to our patients. If you’re a gardener, we’ll help you relearn how to use your favorite gardener tools. If you work an office job, we’ll help you relearn how to type and use a computer mouse. If you love to sew, we’ll help you practice the tiny hand movements necessary for threading a needle.
Similarly, we’ll help you set customized goals and milestones based on your injury, overall hand strength, and personal interests. As you get stronger in hand therapy, we’ll ensure you’re also incorporating more and more hand movements necessary to daily life.
You Don’t Have to Wait to Start Living Your Life
When you have a severe hand or wrist injury, it can feel like you have to put your life on hold as you work through the rehabilitation. With occupational therapy, you can start working toward the skills you need now. Functional exercises and activity modifications can help you remain independent during your recovery.
Schedule an appointment with Cascade Hand & Orthopedic Rehab to get started today!