Certified Hand Therapist Rick Brasel works the muscles of Anthony Catezone of Frankfort who is recovering from a broken elbow. | Susan DeMar Lafferty~IMAGE SOURCE: Sun-Times Media
Rick Brasel’s work station is filled with so many toys and devices that one of his clients refers to him as “Inspector Gadget.”
There’s bright-colored putty, tiny manipulatives, wheels, balls and grippers — all of which he shares with those who visit him.
On a recent afternoon, Nick Rizzo was manipulating the manipulatives with his fingers, squeezing the gripper and lifting a heavy blue ball. Randy Collette wrestled with some very tough putty, while Anthony Catezone rolled his arm back and forth with a wheel.
It’s all in a day’s therapy.
Brasel, an occupational therapist at Flexeon Rehabilitation in Frankfort, recently became a certified hand therapist, one of an elite group of 5,800 hand specialists worldwide — a “gold standard” among therapists, he said.
His gadgets are intended to help his clients regain full use of their hands and arms.
What makes the hand so special?
“Ultimately, it’s everything we do. The hand is most important in terms of overall function,” Brasel said, admitting he’s biased. Hands are required for doing basic activities, such as eating, brushing teeth and combing hair.
“A large portion of our body does nothing during the day. But hands never get a break. Hands can do so many things. If you cannot see, you rely on feeling. You lose a lot of functions that you take for granted if you can’t use your hands,” he said.
Just ask his clients.
Rizzo suffered a stroke a few months ago and lost all functions on his right side. He was unable to fasten his shirt buttons, tie his shoes or hold a coffee cup. After a few weeks with Brasel, “I can tie my shoes and dress myself and do a lot of things I couldn’t do before,” Rizzo said.
Brasel works Rizzo’s hand and arm muscles in a variety of ways to help him regain strength, endurance, coordination and sensation.
Read the entire article to learn about Rick Brasel's hand therapy practice here.
Brittany Perskin is a physical therapist who hopes to someday specialize in hand therapy. Learn more about physical therapy and wellness by following updates in this Twitter account.
