Dr Mark Howard offers a brief overview of hand and wrist injuries and an example workout routine for initial hand/wrist rehabilitation and conditioning. There are four stages for successfully treating minor injuries (first aid, inflammation treatment, rehabilitation, strength conditioning). A doctor will classify a hand or wrist injury (e.g. acute, chronic, mild, moderate or severe) so that they can recommend the most appropriate initial treatment. However, injury recovery does not end with medical care. It is important to follow up this treatment with rehab workout routines at home and strength conditioning with, for example, a personal trainer to restore muscle balance, strength, flexibility, balance and proprioception. This will significantly improve the chances of a full recovery and reduce the risk of re-injury. If you live in the Costa Blanca and have a hand or wrist injury problem contact me for a chat about how I can help you with rehabilitation and conditioning.

1. Hand/Wrist Injury Rehabilitation And A
Home Workout Routine
by
Dr. Mark Howard
Personal Trainer Costa Blanca
work-out-routines.com

2. Injury Rehabilitation
• Four stages for successfully treating minor injuries
1. Fast first aid (3 minutes following S.T.O.P)
2. Inflammation treatment (3 days with R.I.C.E.R)
3. Rehabilitation (3 weeks with physio massage and a PT)
4. Strength conditioning (3 months with a PT)
• This presentation provides a brief injury overview and an
example workout routine for rehabilitation and conditioning

3. Injury Classifications
• Acute (e.g. due to an accident) or chronic (e.g. overuse over a
period of time)
• Mild, moderate or severe
• Strains (i.e. tendon injury) and sprains (i.e. ligament injury)
from 1st to 3rd degree (most severe with rupture)
• A doctor will classify an injury so that they can recommend
the most appropriate treatment

4. Hand/Wrist Anatomy
• The wrist consists of radio-carpal (the end of the radius or
main forearm bone) and intercarpal (between the small
bones near the top of the hand) articulations with most of the
wrist movement enabled by the former
• Five metacarpal bones run between the wrist and the
knuckles and these are connected to the fingers and thumb
or phlanges
• Extensor tendons allow precise hand extensions and each of
the joints in the hand are stabilised with small ligaments

5. Radius
Ulna
Extensors
Metacarpals
Phlanges
Hand/Wrist Anatomy

6. Hand/Wrist Injury Examples
• Fractures of the metacarpals caused by a direct blow to the
hand when falling over or punching with a closed fist
• Thumb sprain caused by violent separation of the thumb and
index finger or repetitive wear
• Cut or overloaded tendon extensors caused by trapped fingers
or direct impact to the fingertips
• Wrist and finger sprains caused by torn or stretched joint
ligaments and wrist, hand and finger dislocation and tendinitis
• Carpal tunnel syndrome caused by keyboard overuse

7. Hand/Wrist Injury Workout Routine

8. Hand/Wrist Injury Conclusions
• Follow 4 stages; first aid, inflammation treatment, rehabilitation
and strength conditioning to avoid re-injury
• Actively participate in your recovery e.g. do your own home
workout routines and read up about your injury
• Seek professional advice and help at ALL stages (i.e. recovery
does not end with medical care!)
• If you live in the Costa Blanca contact me for a chat about how I
can help you with rehabilitation and conditioning (for muscle
balance, strength, flexibility, balance, proprioception)

9. Hand/Wrist Injury Rehabilitation And
A Home Workout Routine
For more information and rehabilitation downloads please visit:
work-out-routines.com