How you use your fingers depends on what you are holding

I'm Aoi Hashima , an occupational therapist working in Saga Sumai and Fukuoka.

There are many kinds of tools in the recovery room, so far I have introduced a few.

There are a wide variety of tools used in the rehabilitation of the paralyzed hand, and the tools are selected according to the physical condition and purpose of each patient.

Especially when rehabilitating a paralyzed hand related to finger and wrist movement, I take the shape of the tool into consideration when choosing it.

How you use your fingers depends on what you're holding.

This time, I wanted to write down the different ways the fingers are used, depending on what they are holding.

grip

If the size of the grip is different, the width of the thumb and index finger will also be different.

When the paralyzed hand hangs loosely, something slightly smaller than the size of the natural opening between the thumb and index finger is easier to grasp.

When the paralyzed hand begins to move slightly, it usually begins to grasp with something slightly smaller than the size of the natural opening between the thumb and index finger.

Grip shape

The number of fingers used and the shape of the hand vary depending on the shape of the object to be grasped.

Square objects have a flat surface that touches your finger pads, so if your thumb and fingers are facing each other, you can hold them without slipping.

A round or triangular object should be held in such a way that the direction of the force applied by each finger is centered on the center of the object to be grasped.

Also, when grasping a round or triangular object, if the force applied to each finger is not uniform, the object may twist and fall.

Determine the direction and magnitude of the force applied by the fingers when grasping the object, and select Grasp.

At the end