Athletico Health Resources

Rock climbers face many types of injuries to their bodies, be it from falling rock, or one’s worst fear, a trauma from a fall event. What many don’t realize is the risk to the entire body, especially the hands. Climbers can experience overuse when training, particularly when training indoors, repeating the same routes multiple times. This can lead to shoulder and elbow tendonitis. However, most climbers don’t fear these types of injuries, but rather finger injuries. Even though rock climbing is a full body exercise, fingers make the most contact with rocks or grips, thus taking more stress than other body parts.

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Do you ever find yourself experiencing achiness or stiffness in your hands? Whether it is from typing on a computer all day, gardening, or even trying to open a jar of pasta sauce, achy hands can really impact your ability to perform daily activities. Luckily, there are several strategies to relieve achy hands so you can complete the tasks that are important to you.

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The hand is an essential component in almost every aspect of our daily lives. Hands are required in common tasks like driving, cooking, dressing, eating, and grooming. Hand injuries are amongst the most common injuries in the US. In fact, according to The Bureau of Labor Statistics, the hand is the second most common body part to be injured at work. Participation in hand therapy following a hand injury is proven to help patients recover. According to recent studies, patients who attended hand therapy following a wrist fracture achieved significantly greater increases in wrist range of motion and grip strength after six weeks compared to patients who received no therapy. In this blog we will be discussing the importance of participation in hand therapy following a hand injury or surgery.

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During one year in the United States, 795,000 people will have a stroke, or cerebrovascular accident (CVA)¹. Of these, 610,000 will be first-time CVA¹. This is obviously a large number, and chances are you know someone who has experienced, or will know someone who will experience a CVA.

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In the United States, 1-3 per 1000 persons are diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome Yearly. When identified and addressed early, carpal tunnel can be easily treated with therapy, splinting, exercises, and ergonomic modifications, preventing surgery. This blog will discuss common symptoms, causes, and treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome.

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Writer’s cramp is a form of dystonia, or involuntary muscle contractions, which makes the fingers and hand move into abnormal postures when writing or performing other intensive hand activities, such as typing, playing an instrument, eating/feeding, brushing teeth, or brushing hair. This can cause pain, spasms, fatigue, and decreased legibility of penmanship or decreased task performance. A specific activity or movement can bring on the symptoms. The fingers may extend straight, or the wrist may flex and bend while the elbow extends straight. One might lose their grip or feel uncoordinated. Muscle spasms and hand cramps are more common in men than women. Poor posture and increased writing or playing time of an instrument can play a part in the symptoms, as well as increased stress or anxiety.

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Since April is Occupational Therapy Month, our OT’s have put together a list of modifications that can help to decrease forces on hands and other joints. This chart has modifications that many people encounter daily. These adaptations will allow you to use less force which will avoid pain, prevent arthritic changes, and help to prevent deforming forces and injury.

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Occupational Therapy

When you think of Occupational Therapy, do you think “work”? Many do! But that is too narrow. Occupational Therapy focuses on returning the student, client, or patient to daily tasks they need/want to do throughout their life. These functional tasks are labeled “occupations” and include feeding, dressing, bathing, house and yard chores, meal preparation, school work, driving, caregiving, recreation, and work too! This list is not exhaustive, and the different “occupations” importance varies with age, injury/illness, and individual goals. For example, in pediatrics, an Occupational Therapist obviously will not work on driving skills with a preschooler. Occupational Therapists evaluate and collaborate with the individual to implement a customized treatment plan and re-evaluate with functional outcome measures to assess progress toward the individual’s goals.

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