Blog
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)
The Geelong Hand Therapy Blog Chronic Pain is one of the fastest growing medical conditions in Australia, currently 1 in 5 Australians live with Chronic Pain. Complex reginal pain syndrome (CRPS) is a form of chronic pain that normally effects an arm or leg and...
Tennis Elbow – is it really caused from playing tennis?
Condition and cause Tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicondylitis or epiconydlalgia, is an overuse injury of the muscles and tendons in the back of the forearm. This causes inflammation, and in some cases micro-tearing, of the tendons in the outer (lateral) elbow....
Base of thumb surgery – Suspensionplasty
Osteoarthritis at the base of thumb joint, known as the 1st CMC joint, is common and is often part of the aging process. Most people in their 30’s and 40’s will have signs of degeneration in this joint, however it may not become painful until later in life. The 1st...
Hypermobility
When we are born we all have a high degree of flexibility in our joints, as infants need to be able to bend into all sorts of positions. As we age, this flexibility decreases and our joints become much stiffer. This is due to our ligaments maturing and becoming firmer...
Wrist stability – How does it work?
Wrists are highly complex regions of the upper limb. Our wrists are responsible for positioning our hands to facilitate function and tolerating heavy loads that allow us to lift, carry, push and weight bear through our arms. Heavy demands are placed on our wrists...
“Use it or Lose it” – Wolff’s Law
You may have heard the saying “use it or lose it”. There is some truth in this statement and it encapsulates Wolff’s law, a rule that can describe how bone grows and changes over time, depending on the demands placed on that bone. Wolff’s law was developed by a...
TFCC injury
Injuries to our wrists are common, and as was mentioned in a previous blog on distal radius fractures, ligaments are also commonly injured with a fall or with a heavy twisting or lifting motion. The triangular fibro cartilage complex, also known as TFCC is a very...
Fractures vs soft tissue injuries, which is better?
When you injure yourself, most of the time the first thought that pops into your head is “Oh no, I hope I haven’t broken it!” It’s common to think that breaking a bone is the most severe injury you can sustain and one that will put you out of action for the longest...
Paediatric Trigger Thumb
Sometimes our littlest of hands get overlooked when thinking about hand conditions. Congenital hand conditions are wide and varied, causing anything from additional or missing digits, to webbed or curved digits, or abnormal growth of bones. A different condition that...
I’ve heard of a hand therapist, but what’s an AHT or CHT?
Hand injuries and dysfunction are common – every year in Australia 8,400 people attend hospital emergency departments for hand or wrist injuries, and thousands more live with non-urgent hand conditions such as arthritis or tendinopathies. Our hands and wrists are...
DeQuervain’s tenosynovits in new mums – “Mother’s Thumb”
The journey through pregnancy and post partum is individual and varied, however, there is no denying that there are significant demands on the body during this time. The wrists are just one part of the body that can be affected through repetitive lifting, positioning...
A Broken Wrist – Distal Radius fracture.
Most of us will know of someone who has had the unfortunate experience of having a broken wrist. Most commonly a wrist fracture will be the result from a trip or fall on an outstretched hand. Our wrist is made up of two long bones in the forearm – the radius and...