What is hand therapy?
Hand therapy is focused rehabilitation for the hand, wrist and fingers, the part of you that touches almost every task in a day and gets noticed the moment it stops working. A tendon that flares every time you grip. A finger that will not straighten after a cast comes off. Numbness that wakes you at two in the morning. A wrist that aches through an afternoon of typing. Your evaluation here starts with the tasks that have become difficult, then works backward to the tissue causing them. Your doctor of physical therapy checks joint motion finger by finger, tests how the tendons glide, screens the nerves that run from your neck through the elbow into the hand, and measures grip and pinch so progress becomes a number instead of a guess. Treatment blends skilled hands-on work to free stiff joints and scarred tissue with graded exercise that restores glide and rebuilds strength in the right order. Small joints are unforgiving, so dosing is the whole job. Push a healing tendon too hard and it swells. Do too little and it stiffens.
You do not need a physician referral to begin. Massachusetts has direct access to physical therapy, so you can book an evaluation with us directly. Some insurance plans still require a referral for coverage, so we verify your benefits before your first visit and tell you in writing exactly where you stand. We accept Aetna, ASHLink, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Fallon Health, Harvard Pilgrim, Mass General Brigham Health Plan, Medicare and Tricare, along with Workers' Compensation and auto injury claims. Flat self-pay rates are available if you are not covered.
