Upper Extremity Exercises 

Condition: Hand, Wrist & Forearm Strengthening

As patients recover from injury and/or surgery their muscles will fatigue with simple activities such as putting pegs into a hole or twisting nuts onto bolts mounted on a board. To increase strength, the therapist will generally challenge the patient by adding sequentially heavier weighted cuffs to their wrists while completing the prescribed exercises. By increasing the time to perform the exercise without a rest, the patient can also improve their muscle endurance. Standing while focused on completing a fine-motor exercise will strengthen the patient’s leg and balance muscles which decreases the potential risk of falls during functional activities.

An example of Hand, Wrist & Forearm Strengthening Exercises  is shown in the attached You Tube video.

LL Corpus: MINI CLINIC ™: Provides Upper Extremity Exercises for rehabilitation patients.

The Mini Clinic ™ allows occupational and physical therapists to work with patients on low impact exercises and gradually upgrade the intensity and level of challenge within one rehabilitation equipment. Patients may start interventions in sitting and may engage in exercise using the OT Table component while standing. This allows the patient to work on large muscles, stimulate balance and build up endurance while focusing on upper extremity.

Patients benefit from a variety of exercises and activities that Mini Clinic ™ offers as it allows therapists to attach rehabilitation  accessories in different levels of the equipment to challenge upper extremity joints and muscles for overhead activities, reaching forward or downward, clothing management, hygiene and other activities of daily living.