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Certified Hand Therapy
Posted on 06-12-2025 in Wrist, occupational therapy, Hand, Elbow & hand therapy by Dr. Steven Kronlage
Posted on 06-12-2025 in Wrist, occupational therapy, Hand, Elbow & hand therapy by Dr. Steven Kronlage
Hand Therapy services at our Pensacola office, located on 9th Avenue, and our Gulf Breeze location at the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine (Ste. 209) provide an opportunity to treat both acute and chronic conditions or injuries of the hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder. At North Florida Bone & Joint Specialists, our fellowship-trained surgeons work closely with our exceptional Certified Hand Therapists to develop a comprehensive course of treatment to improve outcomes related to conditions and injuries of the upper extremities, including the following:
We begin by evaluating the demands of the patient’s workplace and home, including caregiving roles and leisure activities, to ensure that interventions are designed to meet tangible, realistic outcomes like returning to work or living safely at home. In addition to a history intake, the evaluation process may also include:
Our Hand Therapists will discuss your treatment goals with you to learn more about how your condition or injury impacts your life and how we can help you return to daily activities. A comprehensive plan of care to treat these injuries and conditions may include a combination of therapeutic activities and exercises, post-surgical/injury education, scar and pain management, sensory re-education, mirror therapy and joint protection and/or energy modification. We also offer training in activities of daily living and adaptive or assistive devices, and custom orthosis fabrication.
If you currently suffer from an injury or condition of your hand, wrist, elbow or shoulder that occupational therapy may benefit from, please contact our office at 850-807-4200 or complete our online Appointment Request form to schedule a visit.
Arthritis is the degenerative process through which a joint space loses its “cushioning” due to injury, illness or the natural process of aging. Translated to “inflammation of the joint,” this painful condition is the leading cause of musculoskeletal pain and can be found in almost every part of the body. As we make our way into May for National Arthritis Awareness Month, it’s important to recognize the symptoms, causes, and risk factors and explore non-surgical treatment options such as hyaluronic acid injections.
Arthritis represents a wide variety of joint inflammation diseases. Patients most often have chronic Arthritis in their wrists, hands, and fingers, experiencing flares of inflammation, soreness or stiffness affecting the joints. As we recently wrapped up Bone & Joint Action Week, this is an excellent opportunity to bring awareness to the most common categories of Arthritis, proactive methods for pain prevention and available treatment solutions.
Arthritis literally translates to “inflammation of the joint” and describes the degenerative process through which a joint space loses its “cushioning,” whether are the result of injury, illness or the natural process of aging. It is the leading cause of musculoskeletal pain and can be found in almost every part of the body, from the shoulder all the way down to the smallest joint of the toe. Our joints are intricate structures shaped from cartilage, bone, muscle and connective tissue, all of which can gradually weaken over time or be damaged by acute injury. While there are more than one hundred known types of arthritis, the three most common forms are osteoarthritis, which is by far the most prevalent; rheumatoid arthritis, which is caused by the body’s own immune system generating a chronic inflammatory response in the joints; and post-traumatic arthritis, which is caused by the lingering structural damage of acute injuries.