Several intricate systems of the body must combine to perform even the simplest of physical tasks. Yet, Sioux Falls occupational therapist Kendra Harms has chosen to focus her career on a single set of appendages that, in so many ways, make it most possible for us to function independently as humans.
“What during a given day doesn’t involve the use of our hands?” said Harms, a Certified Hand Therapist with Goodcare AtHome Rehab in Sioux Falls. “The hand is probably the most intimate part of our bodies in that it’s most ingrained in everything we do.”
“Whether it’s touching, feeling, gripping, pinching, holding, or whatever, there are few things that don’t involve the use of our hands.”
One of just 5,500 certified hand therapists worldwide – around a half-dozen practice in the Sioux Falls area – Harms recently joined the Goodcare AtHome Rehab team to deliver occupational and hand therapy services and treatments to patients’ homes.
As a certified hand therapist, this means helping people maintain and restore function in response to an injury, surgery, chronic condition or disorder that affects the use of their hands, wrists and arms. This includes fractures and injuries due to falls, arthritic conditions in the hand, wrist and elbow, nerve compressive disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome, and post-surgical rehab and recovery.
Even those recovering from total hip and knee replacement disorders can benefit. Due to the long-term use of walkers, canes and other adaptive devices, these patients may develop hand, wrist and arm issues that affect their ability (or willingness) to move about their homes.
“I can treat everything from the cervical spine down – shoulders, elbows, forearms, wrists and, of course, hands,” Harms said. “I’m often working to diminish the progressive nature of their disorder, as in, how can I preserve the joint while reducing pain?”
Treatments often include a focus on pain reduction, range of motion, strength, nerve sensation, and restoring function. This regularly involves teaching patients how to adapt to long- and short-term limitations through modifications in the way they move and live.
When necessary, Harms can also fabricate customized splints on site. Splints help patients protect their hands, wrists and arms when performing specific functions (i.e., using walkers or canes) as well as enable them to perform tasks required for personal independence and fulfillment (i.e., gripping silverware, a toothbrush or a pair of scissors).
“Splints are most commonly used to position joints in resting or anatomical position in order to lesson deformity and injury to the joints and soft tissues of the hands and fingers – such as with arthritis,” Harms said.
Being able to see patients within their home environments, Harms says, goes a long way toward helping people more quickly recover and/or reestablish function and a sense of normalcy.
“I feel I’m able to bring patients the highest level of personalization if I’m seeing them in their home environment,” she said. “When I can see their space – what their day looks like [and] what they have to manipulate, grab, use, lift, carry, and so on – I get the best idea of how to help them increase function, decrease pain and adapt to their environment.”
Harms estimates that when you lose use of your hand or hands, you also lose more than 50 percent of all your upper-extremity function. That’s why she finds her specialty not just rewarding, but critical in the Sioux Falls area.
“Someone loses hand function, and it’s down to one hand, how do you cut a steak? Or, button a shirt?” she said. “Hand function is a big deal for people, their lives and their independence. That’s why I love doing what I do.”