Hand Therapy PH

27/10/2025

No injury can stop this star goal keeper national athlete! Following him for 3 different wrist and hand fractures over the last 9 years, we have come to admire his growth, his mindset, and his grit for the sport! ⚽️ 🥅

Here’s an important collab with his orthopedic surgeon, co-designing and fabricating a thumb orthosis to support his healing thumb fracture to fit within his keeper glove for continued play in the season. Supported by his family and team, this one is a star ⭐️ and we continue to admire him play his best for Team Philippines 🇵🇭

It is endless what “Occupational Therapy in Action” can do. ✨HAPPY WORLD OT DAY!!! ✨Cheers to our profession which continues to promote and support active participation, health and well-being!

29/12/2022

We love stories that journey through the near impossible, with the testament of grit, relentless persistence, Faith, and success. Here is a story so well-loved by those who have heard it.
Our surgeon-turned-patient Dr. Brent, who suffered from a stroke and devastating left side hemiparesis with severe loss of hand function, updates us where he is now just shortly after he celebrated his second year of new life post stroke.
In the last year, Brent wrote and published his rehabilitation memoir, which was multi-awarded internationally. He just recently graduated after 4 years of his general surgical residency, and with much joyful tears and celebration from family, friends, physicians, and a supporting team who raised him. He is practicing as a physician, professor, researcher, and has numerous accolades from his patients. He made it his personal goal to defy neuroplasticity norms, and continues to succeed where few have reached. He is now a strong supporter of every facet of rehabilitation (especially hands!) and carries our work to every patient he meets. Every single repetitive motion, drill, and therapy, has translated back to Occupational Roles and Performance far beyond any of us ever imagined.
This story brings light to the darkest places, hope to where there seems none. It is this kind of story to celebrate the years that were and with a glorious, grateful, triumphant round of applause !!!
Congratulations! Cheers, and may 2023 be this bright! 👏🏻🙌🏻🙏🏻 Amen!

, , The Person With This Ability viray

18/12/2022

Good tips and ideas- and especially as we lead into the Holidays! Take care of your energy, too!

13/12/2022

Fun activities to keep lil hands busy over the Holidays!

01/12/2022

30/11/2022

Calling OT/PT/ST students and professionals. Register now! Happening THIS Sunday. Along with other esteemed speakers, our CHT, Carla, is presenting on Hands!

As we move forward and face the new challenges brought about by our shift to the post-pandemic era, let us take a moment to reflect on how our lives and professional practices have changed over the past two years. Whether we like it or not, things will never be as they were, and that is a good thing. We march forward using the innovative practices that we learned, and continue to adapt with every curveball that's thrown our way.

On the 4th of December 2022, let us be united as we listen and learn from our esteemed experts from the fields of Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Speech Pathology. We can look forward to getting additional insights on how institutions have adapted to the changes brought about by the pandemic, and beyond. We can share best practices on how we as a profession can elevate our academic, research, and clinical practices. Join us at TheraCon 2022 as we Lead the Charge Towards Innovative Practices!

Registration is now officially open! Click on the links below to avail early bird discounts:

Local Participant Registration Form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeFSA-i9Kv0Jro2QaRBBHLMbDHMQDoyfZ6h5MPd0Vndf1qrNg/viewform?usp=sf_link

International Participant Registration Form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9k9iKLemMIeO1Bo9bPwDHZfSFZGBP2xgSBzoTeTb5TA-mCQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

27/10/2022

“Beyond my injury and disability, you taught me how to live again.”

“Thank you for bringing me back to what I love.”

✨Real lives, real success stories.✨ Such is the gift of Occupational Therapy. Lots of feels today as we celebrate World OT Day! Give an OT some love!

This year’s theme: “Occupational Therapy affords greater OPPORTUNITY and CHOICE to promote a more open and JUST society”

05/10/2022

Joint pain? Soreness? Swelling? Here are some Joint Protection Techniques to help minimize your discomfort, and allow you to keep being as independent as possible with your daily activities!

27/04/2022

Pre-school hands need a variety of PLAY activities to grow and develop to healthier hands. Invest this summer in building a healthy foundation! Here’s a good read…

Via The OT Toolbox

Did you know that a 3-year old (top left image) and a 6-year old (top right image) have significantly different skeletal structure in their hands?! Notice the bones in the wrist of the 3-year old -- many of them are still mostly cartilage! Look at all the spaces in between the bones where muscles and tendons will change through the years. Even the difference between a 6-year old and a 14-year old (lower right) is huge!

Preschoolers have SO much development to do before they can write the way school-aged children or adults can!

Please do NOT stress if your preschooler does not want to write or draw. Some love it and some don't.

While they are growing, strengthen those little bones and muscles! Here are some great pre-writing, muscle-strengthening activities:

* painting, drawing, coloring
* playdough
* tearing and cutting
* gluing
* poking holes in things (try toothpicks and paper!)
* digging in dirt
* building with LEGOS, marble runs, or other blocks
* beading (try beads, cut straws, or even bobbins!)
* puzzles
* squeezing (try stress balls, squeezing water in a sponge, or using a pipette)
* picking up and throwing balls (use different sizes!)
* playing with toys (watch what their little fingers do when they pick up and move little cars, marbles, action figures, etc!)
These all strengthen and help develop little hands, muscles, and bones. When they are physically ready to write, it will be so much easier than if they were pushed when they didn't want to and weren't ready!

24/04/2022

Couldn’t agree more. “Aim for FUNCTIONAL pencil grasp” - not perfection! Here’s a well-written post that helps parents (and teachers) breathe a little bit easier.

(P.S. And as Hand Therapists / OTs always say: invest the early years in pencil-free play skills that build on fine motor development! Don’t rush it!)

PENCIL GRASP - does it really matter?

We actually no longer consider the tripod grasp (i.e., the index finger positioned on the shaft of the pencil, in opposition to the thumb) to be the only effective grasp.

What we look for instead, is whether a grasp is FUNCTIONAL.
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That is:

• No pain

• Legible writing (though this is affected by other factors too)

• Ability to write for an age-appropriate amount of time without fatiguing

What assists in achieving each of these?

• Pencil movements that are driven by the thumb and fingers, rather than the wrist or elbow. This requires the wrist and elbow to be stabilised on the table. These “dynamic movements” are usually established by age 5-6.

• Having the ring and little fingers tucked into the palm of the hand
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• An open webspace between the thumb and index finger, forming a C-shape. ⠀

OTs are moving away from using pencil grips (moulded foam/plastic added to a pencil) if a grasp is functional. It may not look quite right to us - but it may well be functional.

When a grasp is problematic or inefficient, we look at remediation, such as hand strengthening activities, and accommodations, such as typing or allowing a child longer to complete written work.

Edited to add: This is for informational purposes only. If you’re unsure whether a grasp is functional or not, please seek an assessment with a paediatric OT. It is important that an OT assesses the grasp alongside other factors such as joint mobility, strength, pain, fatigue, fluency and speed.
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16/01/2022

When you don’t have a desk…

07/01/2022

The kind of news we love to hear. Successful double hand transplant and return to Life Occupations. 🙌🏻

Corinne lost her hands and legs to sepsis in 2013. With sepsis, the immune system over-reacts to an infection (in her case, pneumonia), starving the limbs and organs of blood.