In case your doctor has carried out a posh surgical procedure or you may have a sophisticated damage or sickness, he could specify that you just see an authorized hand therapist (CHT) reasonably than a normal follow occupational or bodily therapist.
To make certain, a CHT is an occupational or bodily therapist with at the very least three years of expertise.
However a CHT additionally has 4,000 or extra hours of expertise with higher extremity rehabilitation, or hand remedy, in line with the American Society of Hand Therapists.
A CHT will need to have handed a certification examination that demonstrates information of all areas of hand remedy. This credential should be renewed each 5 years by continued training and ongoing follow within the discipline of hand remedy (ASHT, 2019).
As a remedy specialist, a CHT can consider and deal with orthopedic issues together with post-operative hand accidents (e.g. tendon repairs); repetitive accidents resembling carpal tunnel syndrome, DeQuervains tenosynovitis, tennis elbow, and rotator cuff issues; arthritis; and nerve accidents of the hand and arm.
As an illustration, a CHT may make a customized orthosis or splint to assist the therapeutic or injured constructions of a affected person’s hand. This orthosis would require in depth information of the damage and hand anatomy and a sensible information of the thermoplastic or casting materials that will finest assist the hand.
In one other instance, a doctor may refer a affected person to a CHT to manage specialised testing to help in a analysis. A CHT may work with a affected person to lower irritation and ache that’s masking the true underlying drawback.
For extra details about Licensed Hand Remedy, go to ASHT.org. To seek out the clinic nearest to you, use our location finder.
References
American Society of Hand Therapists (ASHT). 2019. Why see a hand therapist? Retrieved on March 8, 2019: https://www.asht.org/sufferers/why-see-hand-therapist
Written by Pam Tutten, OTD, OT, CHT, CFE, Mount Holly, NC heart
