Group items tagged

This video gives a good demonstration of just a few ways to massage a scar. I had never heard of scar care before our hand lab with Carrie, and didn't know that OT had anything to do with it. Not all of us will get to be CHT, but we will all have patients with scars. Good information to tuck away for later.

Video showing how to massage a scar to soften it.

So I thought this would be beneficial for everyone because we were just discussing "burns" in lecture. This massaging technique would be good for a patient who has a localized burned, but could be used for a patient who has a massive portioned burned. I like how she explains what she is doing, and how it helps the healing process. This technique could be used for any type of scar tissue, so it is very universal in therapy.

This information indicates that arthritis is the #1 cause of disability in the US. It explores possible alternative therapies including medication, massage, heat and cold, working with your physician, and social support.

information on how to treat burn patients

This website provides a lot of information about the types of treatment that are provided on an outpatient basis and from what I see is very OT related. It includes info on scar control and massage, pressure garments and how to put them on, therapeutic exercises including using the PNF technique, work hardening, common interventions, modalities, ADLs , and the different splints used and why they are used.

It covers the do's and don'ts of burn rehab as well as how to administer different exercises, garments, and scar massages.

This is a link to an awesome website for The Fontana Center.  The Fontana Center is a center for work rehabilitation.  It is owned and run by an OTR and also hires COTAs, massage therapy, and fitness experts.  This place is very holistic.  It offers seminars and workshops on ergonomics and preventing work place injury.  It also prescreens employees for companies to make sure their candidate can handle the physical aspects of the job that they are applying for…this saves the company lots of money in the long run.  The facility offers functional capacity evaluations and work hardening programs.  It also has fitness classes including water aerobics/therapy, yoga, and even classes for seniors.  This is great for fall prevention! I love this place…I wonder how many places like this exist in the US?

This article gives a good list of typical hand therapy techniques. I think that this makes a quick reference for therapies.

After reading about desensitization I was interested in learning more and, lo and behold, our favorite Amputee OT had a great video on the topic! She talks about the importance of massage, tapping, and using different types of fabric to help with hypersensitivity (desensitization) of the residual limb. She also touches on some exercises that are used to help prepare a residual limb for weight-bearing during use of prosthesis.

Another article discussing the importance of OT in burn recovery. It's shorter than others I found and discusses a few different areas.

When we first started talking about how OT can help burn patients I did not see how we could help. This unit, as well as this article, helped me to see how important OT can be to burn survivors. Hand therapy, splinting, self-care retraining, face and neck stretching, wound care, scar massage and functional improvement are all things we can help with. In addition, helping them get back to their roles in the community.