Tanya Coats Occupational Therapy

Hand Therapy

Do You Have Numbness Over The Back of Your Thumb and Hand?

The superficial branch of radial nerve travels down towards the back of the hand underneath the brachoradialis muscle just before the wrist. It supplies sensation to the dorsum of the thumb, and part of the index and middle fingers. Sometimes, if you tap over the distal forearm and wrist on the thumb side, you can …

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Orthotic Intervention for the Elderly Patient

Orthotic interventions can benefit our elderly patients by protecting sore and inflamed joints, providing stability and support, correcting and/ or preventing contractures, and offering relief from pain. When working with this population, the clinician must take into account each patient’s physical and cognitive status along with their ability to perform independent activities of daily living …

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Hand Pain When Using a Smartphone: Here’s How You Can Help

Overuse of certain muscles and tendons from constant smartphone use can cause inflammation and tendonitis, resulting in pain. Here’s how you can help. Constant smartphone use can lead to tendonitis, inflammation and pain. The thumb is mainly affected due to holding the phone in the palm and using the thumb for repetitive texting and scrolling. …

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The Effect of Electronic Cigarettes on Hand Microcirculation

What are the effects of eCigarettes on hand microcirculation? Smoking conventional cigarettes reduces peripheral microcirculation leading to worse outcomes after hand surgery. Patients are increasingly using electronic cigarettes (eCigarettes); however, there is no published research investigating the effects of eCigarettes on hand microcirculation. Methods Fifteen healthy subjects with a median age of 26 years were …

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Advice From a Certified Hand Therapist on Wrist Pain

Have you been experiencing pain in your wrist during day-to-day activities? Wrist pain may be attributed to many things, as the wrist is a complex network of tendons, ligaments, bones, vessels, and cartilage in and around the joints. A common location of wrist pain is on the small finger side of the wrist, as highlighted …

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Treating Dupuytren’s Contracture With Hand Therapy

Dupuytren’s Contracture Scenario: Martin is 50 years old and started to develop a lump and cordlike structure in the palm of his hand, that is pulling his ring finger into a bent position. He is having trouble putting on gloves, washing his face and getting his hand in his pocket. What Is Dupuytren’s Contracture? Dupuytren’s is …

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What is Hand Therapy?

It is quite likely that you will have to visit a hand therapist at some point in your life, but what exactly is hand therapy? Hand therapy is rehabilitation designed specifically for the upper limb. A hand therapist can either be a physiotherapist (hand physio) or Occupational Therapist (OT). Hand therapists have furthered their knowledge …

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