Hand Therapist recommendations (Melbourne East/Sth East)

[nandystam]

Hi all

About 2 weeks ago had a nasty fall resulting in a Type I (low grade) fractured elbow, no surgery required. I already have a plate in my wrist on the same arm from a previous accident, and whilst X-rays haven't shown any damage to the hand/wrist, I am getting significant soreness in my thumb and forefinger. I am not sure if this is a symptom of the elbow fracture or not, but I would say the hand would have taken some of the impact of the fall. Prior to the accident I was getting some soreness in the 'meaty' part of the same hand after holding onto the hoods for a while (45-60mins).

Apart from visiting the GP to potentially get more scans can anyone recommend a hand therapist in east/south east of Melbourne who can assist, particularly someone who has a background in sports/cycling.

Thanks.

[matagi]

I would recommend the Hand Therapy department at St Vincent's Melbourne. That's where my husband's surgeon referred him after his elbow reconstruction.

[Duck!]

I don't have an answer to this thread, rather a parallel query.

I was recently diagnosed with early stage osteo-arthritis in my right hand, particularly at the base of the middle finger but also a couple of other knuckles. All my riding is MTB these days, so pretty lumpy & chattery, which irritates the affected knuckles. Any leads or tips (noting the earlier reply) for ways to manage and minimise the effects?

[DarrylH]

Hi Duck, I had this problem back in 2016, had to get help to get winter gloves off as it was so painful. Mine may be a bit different as it is mostly at the base of my thumb. I call it MTB syndrome as all MTB mechanical shifters are going to cause an RSI problem eventually.
To minimise the pain from bumps and vibration I went to Ergon GP2 handgrips which enable me to put more pressure on the heel of my hand.
My major problem was shifting so I tried XT DI2. Without it I would not be able to ride an MTB. Initially I tried a few different shifters (most switches from E bikes will work as a shifter) but best result was a left hand shifter with synchroshift (my left hand was fairly OK). A better result was achieved by removing the clicking ratchet bits from the lever so it becomes just a spring loaded lever. This was easily achieved by removing 3 screws to get the cover off and removing 1 C clip to remove the ratchet bits. In this form I think it would be OK to go back to my right hand as the spring loaded shifter is so much lighter to move - haven't bothered to try it yet. Hope this helps.