Women suffering from hand OA needs to be extra careful
regarding putting pressure or load on their affected hand.
Usually, osteoarthritis of
the hands happens as part of nodal osteoarthritis (a form of
osteoarthritis that runs in families). Mostly, the women gets affected by this
in their 40s or 50s, around the menopause (time when menstruation ends and it’s
no longer possible to conceive). McGee and Mathiowetz performed this study to
depict whether a joint-protection strategy changes the mechanics of opening a
sealed jar.
To solve the objective of this study, 31 adult women with
hand osteoarthritis tried to open a “sealed” jar instrument when using and not
using nonskid material. For each trial, grip force, torque, success, and pain
were noted.
This resulted in participants using less grip force when
twisting with their left hand. The prominent
torque and success, besides the least amount of grip force across time,
and pain was recorded when the left hand turned the lid, the jar was held
vertically, the right hand supported the base, and nonskid material was
utilized.
It was culminated from the study that women with hand
osteoarthritis should be educated to consider the hand they use and their
technique when opening sealed jars. The load on arthritic joints, pain, and
dysfunction might increase with the utilization of nonskid material without
additional reasoning. Further research on task kinematics and the kinetics of
the stabilizing hand is required.
Am J Occup Ther. 2017 Jan/Feb
Evaluation of Hand Forces During a Joint-Protection Strategy for Women With Hand Osteoarthritis
Corey McGee, Virgil Mathiowetz
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