WORK INJURIES AND YOUR HANDS: 4 Things You Should Know
Your hands play a vital role in every activity you do from the minute you wake up until the minute your head hits the pillow. It’s not until we develop a hand, wrist or elbow injury that we begin to see just how much we rely on these tools for work. If you have experienced a hand injury at work, or if your hand injury is preventing you fromworking the wayyou need to, you may be wondering what comes next. Fortunately, there is help available. Call our office today for a free consultation and find out how we can help reduce your hand, wrist or elbow pain.
1. Work injuries are often more complicated than they appear.
Some work place injuries are cut and dried. Breakingyour wrist in an accident requires a certain amount of time to heal. However, other work-related injuries are more difficult to identify. You may have wrist pain from a repetitive motion at work, or you mayhave it fromworking onyour computer at home. Someone who specializes in the movement of the hands, wrists, arms and elbows can help determine an injury’s cause as well as identify ways to prevent further injury. Hand therapists are these specialists! 2. Movement is good. There is a natural tendency to believe that rest is the most effective way to relieve pain in a joint. While an injury to your hand, wrist or elbow at work may require modifications to your daily tasks, immobilizing a joint completely rarely offers a long- term benefit. In most cases, targeted exercises, stretching and in some cases bracing can help keep heal an injury faster than stopping movement completely. 3. Treating a work injury takes time. Wouldn’t itbegreat ifwecouldwaveamagicwandandbehealed whenwe are hurt? Unfortunately, treating an injurynot onlytakes time spent in a therapist’s office, it takes time on your own.The amount of time you spend in hand therapy is tiny compared to howmuch timeyou spend elsewhere. Hand therapy is designed to give you the tools to improve your condition on your own. Fully committing to hand therapy to treat your pain, doing your exercises at home and following your therapist’s instructions to the letter will shorten the amount of time it takes to recover fully from an injury. You have to put in the time.
4. Returning to work is the primary goal. In the end, a hand therapist’s primary goal is to get you back to work, pain-free and fully functioning. This may require you to make accommodations to your work schedule, tasks, environment, or even wardrobe. If you do not understand the purpose behind an exercise, ask! Your therapist will be happy to explain the reasons why you are asked to stretch, move or exercise a certain way. They will even explain how it relates to your job and what impact therapy will have on your future. If you have been injured on the job, call Hands for Living today for a free consultation. Our specialists will work to relieve your hand, wrist, arm, or elbow pain and get you back to work. Hand therapy can be extremely beneficial if you’re struggling with tendonitis. Unlike conventional medications—which can provide much-needed pain relief but mayalso come with unwanted side effects—hand therapy addresses symptoms and root causes of inflammation and tendon damage. In this way, relief is more thorough and longer-lasting.
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