Treating Hand Arthritis with the BTE Machine [Video]

Occupational Therapist Valarie Haag often sees patients who are dealing with thumb arthritis. “That’s the joint starts to wear away with arthritis. They’re not as strong with their pinching and not able to hold things as well as they did before.”

That pain and lack of grip strength can make normal daily tasks difficult. “When you have pain, you stop using your hand and stop doing things with it, so over time depending how long they’re waiting before they come in, I mean they could not be using their hand for a month or six weeks so they decrease their strength in it as well as having the pain,” said Haag.

One of the ways Lee Health occupational therapists can combat it is by using the BTE machine. “This machine can simulate any activity we do it from sweeping, driving a car opening a jar, turning a key, turning screwdriver,” said Haag. “It saves all the data so patients can see the progressing from session to session when they use it, and it gives them a goal.”

After the pain starts to go away, Haag can then focus on strengthening. “It can increase their muscle mass can help them do the job or task. When you’re weak and you try to do it, it creates more force on the joint. When you’re stronger, there’s less force and you can do it more easily.”

The BTE machine is just one of many tools in an OT’s toolkit. If you’re having pain in your hand, you can learn more about occupational therapy by searching for it on leehealth.org.

View More Health Matters video segments at youtube.com/leehealth

Lee Health in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of health care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For more than 100 years, we’ve been providing our community with personalized preventative health services and primary care to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries.

Visit LeeHealth.org