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Information discussing three major categories of upper-limb prosthetics: cosmetic, body powered and myoelectrically controlled self-powered prostheses.

This chart is great,not only does it give you quite a few stress relief techniques, but it breaks it down to your senses! I have found that this chart really comes in handy on the really bad stressful days. The best way to use it is to try and pick something from each section(or sense) and do it! You will find that completing stress relief mechanisms in all your senses is extremely helpful!

Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders in the Workplace Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) affect the muscles, nerves and tendons. Work related MSDs (including those of the neck, upper extremities and low back) are one of the leading causes of lost workday injury and illness.

This is a really great website that talks about ergonomics in the workplace. It specifically talks about how to prevent musculoskeletal disorders. One thing unique about this website is that it also address what the employers responsibilities are and what rights the worker has in regards to prevention, and a safe workplace. It gives multiple links to OSHA standards for a workplace, and also a list of some of the top careers that result in musculoskeletal disorders.

Amputation Specific Goals Some of the standards of care are specific to the amputation itself, and others are more concerned with the general health and well-being of the patient. The following are areas of concern specific to the amputation itself: A. Prevention of contractures is necessary at both the hip and the knee.

This article covers almost any topic you could possibly think of as related to goals for a person that has had a lower extremity amputation. They are labeled A-L, but G is what really stood out to me personally. Section G talks about emotional care and how individualized it can be. There are several suggestions as to how to address emotional care after an amputation.

This seems like about the only research out there on sex with an LE amputation. ABSTRACT: Sexual adjustment following lower extremity amputation was evaluated by interviewing 60 adults with recent amputations, 39 men and 21 women, after they had become independent in ambulation with a prosthesis. Among the men, 77% reported a substantial decrease in the frequency of sexual intercourse following amputation, while only 38% of the women reported a decrease.

This article was published in the Jounal of Hand Therapy April/June 2008. This article details the 5-step protocol that was developed in response to the large number of amputees from Operation Enduring Freedom. The article is broken into 3 "phases": "acute care, subacute care, and long-term rehbilitation needs."

I thought this article went good with the topics we have been covering. All of the articles I found previous to this one were very long to read. I like this one because it is short and covers OT in UE Rehab. It discusses all of the areas that we address in this rehabilitation. It would be a good article for a client to read that is not to wordy. I also like the list of needs met by interventions in the article.

I found this website that talks about services provided by this company that specializes in OT for UE amputees. I found it really cool that there are centers that specialize in just this. The only downfall I see is that there is only 5 centers in the whole US.

This article offers great tips for protecting our upper extremities! This advice helps the athlete or the average person. This is an article I'll hang on too.

This website offers a list of tips to avoid injuries to the fingers, wrist and hand. These are some good tips for all of us to keep in mind while working with clients and even for ourselves.

This was a great article about a woman who is an OT and her insight to working with people with UE Amputations. The article had great information about what OT is all about and how she and her team helps those with UE amputations.

this webpages gives a general overview of body-powered vs. electric-powered UE prosthesis. Advantages and disadvantages, improvements, and types of terminal devices. There is some interesting information on the different types of hands and gives info re: an experimental hand being engineered by students at Rutgers University that can be controlled through human thought.

This is a Fact sheet from the AOTA on UE therapy and an overview of the frameworks of reference that should be adhered to by the occupational therapist in treatment. It even list areas of intervention involving such injuries that I had never considered.

This is a cool site over all but this page is about parasthesia, causes interventions and symptoms. What is cool about this site is everything is hyperlinked so information is easily accessible on any terms.

This video gives you info on a driving simulator. I would love to do this with a patient who desires to drive. I feel this would be extremely helpful to test someone skills before taking them out on the road.

Employment law concerns are endless and extremely encompassing in our American workforce. With the exception of those entrepreneurial few, most OTs work for a company or some legal entity, and like other employees in our society, OTs may encounter employment issues when joining a therapy practice, group or company.

This article discusses the ways that cold therapy can not only be used as a modality for healing but also recovery of muscle after working out. Thermal modalities can benefit people from all walks of life and diagnoses that range from extreme to everyday soreness and breakdown of muscle. Discussed are full cold water immersion, contrast therapy, and using swimming as recovery.

We have been debating a lot lately if it is okay to use heat with patients who have RA or not. I have found several articles on the subject, none indicating that you can NEVER use heat. This article does state that heat shouldn't be used when inflammation is already present but that heat is okay if the patient is not swollen, has extreme stiffness, and is in pain. The article talks about other techniques to try such as cold therapy and compression.

There are several video resources located here LE Amputee. Narrated by Paddy Rossbach, RN, former President and CEO These demonstrations are to help you learn to manage after a lower extremity amputation. They are not to take the place of your regular rehabilitation or medical care; rather they should serve as a reference or reminder of what you are being taught.

This article is about a man that knew he needed a hip replacement, but dreaded the long recovery of having one. He talked with a surgeon that recommended using an anterior approach for his surgery because it required much less muscle to be cut through. As a result of using the anterior approach, he had an extremely quick recovery and was able to resume all his favorite actives.