Home Exercise Programs Enhance Therapy
One of the cornerstones of BarnesCare physical therapy and hand therapy is the home exercise program (HEP). HEPs include specific physical tasks assigned to therapy patients as "homework" to complete between therapy visits. HEPs enhance injured employee recovery. The patient, the employer, the physician and the therapist all benefit from HEP due to ease of application, simplicity and low cost.
First, the patient is provided a written home exercise plan that targets their specific injury and physical needs. The patient may be asked to perform the exercise 10 times, three to four times a day or more, if needed. If a patient has hypersensitivity after a fingertip crush injury, they are expected to bombard the tender area with touch to reduce the sensitivity. If a patient has swelling, they are instructed to elevate the extremity and perform active range of motion to facilitate normal blood flow. The more often the injured part is moved, the more often the circulation can remove swelling. If a patient has a stiff knee, the more frequently they move it, the less likely it will stiffen between sessions.
Instructing patients on proper technique for each exercise is critical to success. Patients are asked to record sessions in an exercise log and report progress at the next therapy session. If patients experience increased pain during an HEP session, they should discontinue it and notify their therapist immediately.
As the patient progresses, the HEP can be expanded to include strengthening exercises using resistance from theraputty, theraband and light weights. These exercises can be advanced to work on conditioning and job simulated tasks in preparation for returning to work.
HEP is beneficial to the employer because the exercises can be performed easily throughout the day without special equipment or space. Most range-of-motion exercises can be completed during breaks, or while sitting or standing at the work station. This reduces down time and expense for the employer while speeding up recovery time for the employee.
Physicians recognize HEP as a valuable, effective treatment that is inexpensive, has no risk of allergic reactions and will not reduce the patient's level of alertness, as some pain medications can do. It is easy to administer and takes relatively little time for instruction.
HEPs also are beneficial for the treating therapist. The patient is expected to participate actively in his or her therapy program by performing exercises at home. This enables the therapist to concentrate on more specific therapy that can only be performed in the clinic.
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