Rehabbing your wrist
lengthen tendons
As your arm reconnects to your brain, spasticity will kick up in your wrist, pulling your wrist downwards. You can help prevent this by wearing a brace that keeps your wrist straight at least at night.
We struggled to wear night braces at first because durng full paralysis, we'd roll over in the night and wack ourselves in the face with the brace. For this reason, noncompliance with night braces is common so too is tendon shortening.
If your tendons have already shortened in your forearm, resulting in a curled wrist, you will need to wear a brace for 23 hours a day for 1-3 months so your tendons can grow longer, without tendons long enough you cannot improve your wrist.
We were given the pictured custom braces from our occupational therapists, but you can find Similar splints online.
Build Strength with E-stim
After you have lengthened your tendons or even before the tendons even shortened, you need to strengthen the opposite muscles. The muscles that lift your wrist are called wrist extensors. You can strengthen them with E-stim for 15 minutes 3x/day. The stimulation & movement it causes feels like it’s not voluntary, but it is slowly making those muscles stronger. Think and focus on doing the movement along with the stimulation. You are trying to hit the Extensor Digitorium with the front (red wire) stimulator, the Extensor Carpi Ulnaris with the back (black wire) stimulator.
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Build strength with a Motus Nova Hand Mentor
This device is a gaming machine that attaches to your impaired arm and hand, you play games with your impaired hand. It is covered by Medicare.
@m3ganb3th Every post stroke patient needs to know about this! #youngstrokesurvivors #hemiparesispal #motusnova #motushand #handtherapy ♬ Epic Music(863502) - Draganov89
fingers
Don't worry too much about your fingers until you have conquered your wrist.
You can work on your fingers with a Saebo Flex. The Saebo Flex is a very expensive device but it is covered by Medicare. Ask your OT and rehab doctor for a referral for a Saebo Flex. It might take 6 months to a year for Medicare to approve it but it’s the only device we’ve found that can teach your muscles to let go after active movement. After months of working with the flex, you will slowly start to drop the finger caps and eventually not need the flex at all.
Demo:
Saebo Flex Therapy:
Also, check out the Hand Bioness to help reconnect your brain to your fingers. It will open your fingers inclding that stubborn thumb.
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Similarly. the Saebo Stim can help connect your brain to your hand.
