How an Orthopaedic Surgeon Can Help with Your Poor Grip

Do you have enough grip strength?

What are the symptoms of good grips?

If you open a tight jar effortlessly or carry a heavy grocery bag/ suitcase for a minimum of 5-7 minutes

Then you could say, you’ve enough grip strength.

However, everybody has not enough grip strength because of aging, poor health, and so many other reasons.

Basically, grip strength used to decline after the age of 40, and increases the chance of disabilities in old age.

Grip strength indirectly affects your personality, boosts confidence, and supports your character. Everyone loves to have a firm handshake style. If you have, you’re the owner.

But apart from that grip strength can be the biomarker of your present and future health, longevity and endurance of your muscle, cardiovascular conditions and so on.

A recent epidemiological study revealed that grip strength is a strong predictor of heart attack and stroke, or cardiovascular severity.

Grip strength is measured by a hand-held dynamometer. Occupational therapists measure the stamina of the muscles in the forearms and then determine grip strength.

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In rehabilitative care, grip strength is an important element. Almost in every case, therapists take the measurement of grip strength to understand your internal health condition, and they believe poor grip affects the human body seriously.

Poor grip strength is the first symptom of reduced muscle mass and strength; medically it is known as Sarcopenia, which ameliorates the chance of injury, physical disabilities, and sudden falls in old age.

Thus, orthopedic surgeons and rehab care therapists assume grip strength as a basic tool to determine muscle strength, and overall health risk in old age.

Some common conditions that affect your hand grip

Aging is not only responsible for weak forearm muscles but there are some common reasons to consider which can reduce our grasping ability such as Carpal tunnel syndrome, low bone mineral density, vitamin -D deficiency, rheumatoid arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, hand injury, sudden fall, wrist fracture, trigger finger. They not only cause pain, but also numbness, tingling, and soreness.

Addressing poor grip at an early age can help you to improve your grasping ability which in turn helps you to maintain good health, better muscle endurance, a better quality of life, and improved cognitive behavior with less stress and anxiety.

The toned and active muscles of the hand, wrist, and forearm help you to accomplish daily tasks efficiently.

Thus, it is essential to address poor grip issues earlier and resolve them by doing doctor-recommended grip-strengthening exercises.

For weak forearm muscles with weak hands, therapists and orthopedic surgeons offer specific exercises to advance forearm muscle strength and support your grip.

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Even hand therapy exercises with a squeeze ball and hand-strengthening equipment can be beneficial for everyone.

Even isometric exercises with putty, and silicon balls can also be included in the rehabilitative program for better results.

What is pain? A scientific explanation for better knowledge

The basic objective of triggering pain is to protect our body from getting harmed. We have pain receptors all over our body and these receptors are directly linked with our nerves to detect and transfer dangerous messages to our brain.

Then the nerve promptly accepts these messages and triggers pain. Then we sense pain. This is a very fast process, and that only required microseconds.

it’s time to seek professional help? When!

It is very common to have acute injury or trauma due to over-exercise or overwork, or carrying a heavy load. These types of pain go away within a few days to a week when your body heals.

But if you come across severe injuries along with chronic pain in your hands, then you must take the assistance of a medical professional to manage your hand pain along with a proper diagnosis to determine the underlying causes.

Pain that exists for more than 2 months is considered chronic pain.

This chronic pain gradually deteriorates the quality of life, even if it affects a person physically, and mentally, and causes depression, anxiety, and poor sleep.

If you have chronic pain, don’t leave them untreated, take the help of your nearest orthopedic surgeon

Orthopedic recommendation for pain relief and poor grip-related issue

Pain management is an essential part and orthopaedic professionals do it sincerely. They used to conduct a thorough evaluation through proper diagnosis. Then they determine the actual reason for the pain.

Now doctors and therapists offer innovative treatments for quick pain relief, such as;

• Corticosteroid injections
• Botox treatment
• Trigger point injection
• Special rehabilitative treatment
• Nerve block treatment
• Radiofrequency treatment
• Minimally invasive surgery
• Platelet-rich plasma therapy
• Steroid injection

Though there are lots of approaches available to treat hand pain, orthopedic professionals are working with hand therapists and recommend hand therapy exercises to manage hand pain, wrist pain, and finger fatigue.

It has been proved that isometric exercise with hand grip strength or Squeeze exercise with hand grip strengthener balls significantly reduce hand pain and increase hand strength.

These hand therapy exercises also increase the range of motion of the forearm, wrist endurance, and finger flexibility.