Occupational and hand therapy
Hand therapy is its own certification. We have it.
Trigger finger, De Quervain's tenosynovitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, rheumatoid arthritis and wrist injuries, with splints fabricated here in the room. This service does require a doctor's referral.
Chapter 01
Why the hand gets its own credential
The hand and wrist pack more moving parts into less space than anywhere else you can injure, and they are unforgiving about being rehabilitated approximately. That is why Certified Hand Therapist is a separate credential rather than a specialty line on a resume.
Suzanne R. Ulmer, LOTR, earned her Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy at the Northeast Louisiana University Allied Health Department, practiced primarily in outpatient orthopedic rehabilitation, and obtained her Certification in Hand Therapy in 2003.
The practical consequence for you is that the person assessing your hand does this specific thing constantly, rather than occasionally between knees and shoulders.
Hand and forearm therapy in progress at Action Therapy & Wellness in Gonzales, Louisiana
The six conditions this room sees most
Trigger finger, De Quervain's tenosynovitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, rheumatoid arthritis, and wrist fractures or injuries. If you recognized your own problem in that list, you are in the right place, and if you did not, call anyway and describe it.
Several of these overlap in how they feel and differ completely in how they are treated. Thumb-side wrist pain in particular gets self-diagnosed as carpal tunnel constantly, and it usually is not.
Treatment draws on instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization along with the hands-on work, and moves into loading as the tissue tolerates it.
Chapter 03
Custom splints, made here and adjusted as the swelling drops
Splints are fabricated to your hand rather than pulled off a shelf in small, medium and large. That matters because a splint that does not fit gets left in a drawer, and a splint in a drawer does nothing.
It also matters over time. Swelling changes across the first weeks, so a splint that fit correctly at the start will not necessarily fit correctly in the middle. Being made here means it gets adjusted here.
Edema control and scar management, after the splint comes off
Edema control and scar management are named parts of this service, not an afterthought once the fracture has healed. Scar tissue that is left alone becomes the thing that limits the joint long after the original injury stopped being the problem.
This is the stage people most often skip, usually because the painful part is over and it feels finished. It is worth finishing properly.
Bring a valid ID, your insurance card if you are using insurance, and your doctor's referral. Occupational therapy needs that referral even though physical therapy generally does not.
Occupational therapy requires a doctor's referral. Call (225) 644-7044 and we will tell you what your plan needs.