3 Conditions That Require Hand Physical Therapy
Many medical conditions can affect the function of your hands. This can negatively impact your ability to work and enjoy hobbies. Physical therapy Escondido offers treatments that may help to restore function in your hands, possibly even without surgery. Here are some common conditions that a hand therapist may be able to treat. Keep reading below…
Types of Hand Conditions
Trauma, illness, and repetitive use are all factors that can negatively affect the function in your hands. Physical therapy has the potential to treat the following common conditions in the hands.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
The carpal tunnel is a space between the bones of your wrist that allows nerves and blood vessels to supply your hand. Repetitive movements of the hand and wrist can cause the soft tissues between the bones to swell up and put pressure on one of these nerves, the median nerve. This can cause numbness, tingling, weakness, and sometimes pain in the first three digits of the hand. Carpal tunnel syndrome is the collective name for these symptoms. If not treated, permanent nerve damage can result.
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Arthritis
Arthritis is a collective term for inflammation in your joints. Arthritis in the hands typically affects the fingers, making them difficult to move because of pain and stiffness.
There are two types of arthritis that are most likely to affect your hands. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition, meaning that your immune system attacks healthy tissues in your body. Osteoarthritis is degenerative wear of the cartilage between your joints over time. While physical therapy Murrieta cannot repair the damage to your joints, it can decrease arthritis pain and increase finger flexibility.
Wrist Fracture
A wrist fracture is a fairly common traumatic injury. It often occurs when you stretch out your hand to catch yourself from a fall. The eight bones in your wrist are all very delicate, so physical therapy is an important part of the treatment course. If the fracture heals incorrectly, you could lose wrist or hand function permanently.
What Hand Physical Therapy Looks Like
There are many different techniques that physical therapists can use to relieve the pain in your hand and restore its function. Your therapist may start with modalities to relieve pain. These include ultrasound therapy and iontophoresis. Iontophoresis uses electrical pulses to deliver anti-inflammatory medication through the skin to the affected area.
Some conditions can cause swelling in the hands. Another word for swelling is edema. Your therapist may try to reduce edema in your hands with active motion, retrograde massage, or compression wraps or gloves.
Once pain and swelling in your hands are under control, your therapist may teach you exercises of the hand and fingers to strengthen them and increase your flexibility. At first, you will do these exercises in the physical therapy Temecula clinic under a therapist's supervision. Once you learn them, your therapist will instruct you on doing the exercises at home according to a set schedule.
Some hand conditions require surgery to treat, and physical therapy is an important part of the rehabilitation process. However, sometimes physical therapy is the primary treatment and may allow you to avoid surgery altogether. Find out more about physical therapy options for treating hand pain.