We are frequently reminded through the media and friends about how to protect our identity, how to protect our loved ones – but one of the most important things we can protect are our joints.
If you are someone who is VERY familiar with “Art” and “Ben” – otherwise known as “arthritis” and “Ben-Gay” – then you are one of the 46 million people who suffer from arthritis. That’s nearly one in every five adults. According to the Arthritis Foundation, arthritis is second to heart disease as a main cause of work disability.
Arthritis can impact your ability to perform everyday activities because of pain, and is responsible for loss of motion and strength of your fingers, wrists or shoulders. In addition the hobbies you LOVE to do may be contributing to more added pressure, force and damage to your joints than you know.
The good news is that there are ways to support and protect your joints, which can decrease the rate they deteriorate. They can also temporarily alleviate your pain, assist with gaining flexibility and enhance your ability to perform not only the daily tasks you “have to do” but those you “love to do.”
Occupational therapists are health care professionals who can assist in guiding you toward maximizing your abilities while learning ways to protect your joints. Often, occupational therapists will fit you with a custom splint that will assist in immobilizing your painful joint – so that you can carry on your daily routine with less or no pain or, while preventing further stress and damage to your joints.
This occurs most frequently with our thumbs or wrists. Tasks such as cutting, writing or knitting can often become things we begin to dread because of pain. Learning to live with arthritis and learning alternative ways to perform some of our your routine or habitual activities (such as wringing out a cloth, turning a key in the ignition, closing snaps or buttons, cutting food or opening containers), as well as utilizing adaptive equipment (that can change the lever of force or degree of stress it provides on our joints) can make those dreaded activities seem once again effortless.
In addition, the use of modalities such as ultrasound, fluidotherapy and paraffin, as well as other equipment and individually prescribed exercises, can help potentially gain some flexibility and strength that over time you have lost.
Martin Memorial has six outpatient locations that offer this service. For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact our central scheduling department at (772) 223-2811. Your physician can write a prescription for occupational therapy and for a custom splint as needed.
--Lynne Mello,
Occupational Therapist
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