What Does A Hand Therapist Do?

Could you or someone you know benefit from therapy to the upper limb? If so, contact us at our hand therapy practice East End OT today! Using specialized and unique skills in assessment, planning, and treatment, our hand therapists provide therapy to restore function in the upper limb to expand one’s ability to participate fully in life situations. We would love to assist you in any way we can. Contact East End OT hand therapy near brentwood today!

What is Hand Therapy?

Hand therapy is classified as the treatment that goes into rebuilding or supporting the upper limb. This includes the hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder girdle. This type of therapy is performed by a specialist with a wealth of knowledge on the subject, continuing education, and, often, advanced certification. This allows the hand therapist to work with patients to expedite their return to a painless lifestyle ultimately. To get into the field or become a Certified Hand Therapist, you need to practice for a minimum of three years and accumulate a total of treatment for hand or upper extremity disorders. Anyone who has achieved the title of CHT (Certified Hand Therapist) has a wide range of knowledge on the subject. This is why we believe you are in the best hands when it comes to hand therapy when you visit East End OT hand therapy near brentwood today. 

What Are The Different Types of Hand Therapy?

As far as different hand therapy types, it is more determined which part of the hand is being worked on and how the hand is being moved. The most common and effective motions and stresses to put the hand under are: extending, spreading, gripping, and pinching. Each of these exercises works a different part of the hand, and it is essential to understand this fact before doing therapy for your hand. The hand is so complex that it is impossible to fix the entire body part with one exercise. If you meet with one of our therapists, you can be assured that you will be given a wide variety of activities to ensure no “cog in the machine” is broken.

What Are The Benefits of Hand Therapy?

The most notable benefits of hand therapy are, for the most part, the same benefits that one can derive from any form of treatment. Those benefits are: it does not require any surgery, it can significantly increase the performance of the hand and muscles around it, and it can manage to reduce a large amount of acute pain in the area. These benefits, while quite broad, are very crucial outcomes, especially for the hand, as it is a very delicate part of the body.

What Does a Hand Therapist Do?

A hand therapist’s responsibilities are similar to any physical therapist. The main jobs of a hand therapist are to provide customers with:

• An assessment of the injured area: A significant portion of the job is assessing the wounded or the stressed area. This is to alert the patient of their issues and decide the measures that need to be taken.
• Immediate care and assistance with whatever they may need: direct supervision is a given with all medical practices. However, it is even more critical with the upper extremities because they are vulnerable to worsening over time.
• Effective treatment to ultimately reduce treatment time: this is what all patients want, so it is, therefore, significant responsibility for the practitioner.
• Eliminate the need for multiple medical service providers: dealing with many medical service providers can be time-consuming and costly. If we can help in aiding these stresses in any way we can, we will.
• Expedited return to work and overall functionality of the hand: being one of the essential limbs on the human body, getting the hand to return to functionality is the obvious overarching goal of hand therapy and is on the top of the checklist for the therapist.
• Decreased medical costs compared to the other options one might have following a hand injury: therapy can help one avoid costly visits to the doctor’s office, not to mention the price of surgery.
• Comprehensive care for patients: assuming the therapist is fully licensed (which all of ours are), this will be given to every patient who steps through the doors.

Contact Us Today!

Once again, if you or someone you know could benefit from hand therapy due to an injury or some other form of stress, contact us today to see how we can assist you. Our specialists here at East End Occupational Therapy have dealt with these sorts of injuries time and time again. We look forward to employing our wide breadth of knowledge to get you back on track as soon as possible. Contact East End OT hand therapy near brentwood today!