Have you recently suffered from a hand injury and are now struggling with everyday tasks? Occupational Therapy can be your answer. Hand injuries are common, but if left untreated, they lead to severe physical damage. What you need is Occupational Therapy to restore mobility of your wrist, fingers, elbows and shoulder joints.
Let's examine the 6 best ways occupational Therapy rehabilitates hand injuries caused by slip-and-fall, car accidents, and even disability.
Common Types of Hand Injuries
Sprains are caused by sudden whiplash from a slip and fall or car accident.
Fractures are caused by falls from a height or excessive external pressure.
Tendon and nerve injuries due to severe muscle stretching.
Tendonitis on fingers and only on thumbs.
Numbness and burning sensation in arms are known as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Repetitive physical stress on your hands increases the intensity of your injuries. Hand Occupational Therapy targets the nervous response of your affected hands and stimulates adaptive brain reactions. Try the following six occupational therapies to restore your hand mobility.
6 Easily Accessible Hand Occupational Therapies
Conservative Treatment Stage 1: For Reducing Pain
Pain is your worst enemy, obstructing the muscular flexibility of your hands. Stage 1 of Conservative Treatment in Occupational Therapy reduces your limb pain.
Your Occupational Therapist will use both manual and modal techniques to scan blood clots or tensions within your limb muscles. The first stage comprises different methods, such as wrist stretch, flexion stretch, and splinting.
Combined pain management releases positive or relaxed signals to the brain. Once pain is reduced, limb mobility will gradually increase.
Conservative Treatment Stage 2: For Increasing Strength
Forearm stretching is an important part of the second stage in conservative treatment. Your forearms provide the initial strength for holding, swinging, and gripping. Personal Injury to your forearms reduces holding strength for both shorter and prolonged periods.
This hand occupational therapy improves muscular tenacity in your forearms. Forearm stretching maintains the flexibility of your hand muscles' flexors and extensors. This prevents excessive pressure on your affected limbs and reduces the chances of further injuries.
Thumb Extension and Flexion
Thumb extension and flexion are other easily performable hand occupational therapies. In this exercise, you need to move your thumb forward and backwards. Alongside, your thumb needs to touch the lower end of each finger to test its stretching ability. Consistent thumb extension and flexion will increase your grip on smaller objects like pencils, pens, and even flat coins.
Wrist Stretch
Wrist Stretching helps regain palm mobility and improve gripping ability. Bend your affected wrist backwards and stretch. Hold this stretch for approximately 20 to 25 seconds and then release.
If you are recovering from a stroke or brain injury, wrist stretch will prevent temporary paralysis. You can keep your fingers interlaced for faster nerve responses across your palms. Your consistent attempts can improve hand function in regular or impulsive actions.
Grip Exercises
Grip Exercise restores your ability to flexibly hold and release objects without feeling pain. This hand occupational therapy involves basic and advanced stages.
Hand grip exercises in the primary stage include ball squeezing or dark throwing activities. You can test your holding and gripping tenacity while also making cognitive decisions. Advanced stages allow you to lift slightly to heaving objects to test your gripping strength. Your occupational therapist will understand how much hand grip is necessary for supporting your forearm.
The results from your gripping therapies will help you continue or restart the basic or advanced stages.
Adaptive Hand Therapy Exercises with Music
An advanced stage of hand therapy includes grip testing by playing musical instruments. Holding a hand instrument like a flute or violin will test the tenacity of your forearms and fingers.
If you are not accustomed to any musical instrument, choose a virtual guitar and piano-playing app. This process will gradually increase your wrist strength, finger grips and forearm flexibility. You might also restore your muscle memory and thereby enhance emotional adaptability.
Key Takeaways
Regaining your hand strength is of utmost importance for restoring the mobility of your upper body. Choose the right-hand occupational therapy to improve your gripping and holding quickly. Try the six occupational therapies to rehabilitate finder, elbow and wrist injuries.
It is advisable to communicate with your occupational therapist regarding the suitability of your pressure points. Direct communication will always help you to check and manage your personal hand strength in different situations.
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