Our Services

 

Extend provide a comprehensive therapy service, including hand therapy, shoulder physiotherapy and return to work services. Our therapists work in collaboration with some of Queensland’s leading hand and upper limb surgeons to provide an ‘all-in-one’ service, from wound care and early rehabilitation after surgery, to return to work or sport. We use a team approach for therapy, working with clients, treating specialists, other health professionals and employers/case managers to achieve optimal outcomes.

 

Hand Therapy

Hand therapy is a specialised clinical area of occupational therapy and physiotherapy practice. Your hand therapy treatment will include a thorough evaluation of your injury or condition, advice on managing your condition, individual therapy sessions and ongoing re-assessment to monitor progress and assist with achieving goals.

Hand therapy uses techniques from both the traditional occupational and physiotherapy disciplines to provide comprehensive care for the upper limb. Techniques that may be used in your therapy include:

• wound care, include dressing changes and removing sutures/staples
• oedema (swelling) management
• custom made thermoplastic splinting, both static and dynamic
• casting
• scar management
• desensitisation and sensory retraining
• exercise therapy, including home exercise programs
• self-management strategies, such as joint protection, for arthritis
• continuous passive motion (CPM) machine use and hire
• use of modalities, such as ultrasound, laser and TENS.

 

Shoulder Physiotherapy

Our physiotherapists are highly trained and skilled in the assessment and management of shoulder and upper limb conditions.  We see a large number of shoulder patients, both for non-surgical and post-surgical management.  Therapy treatment sessions are aimed at improving shoulder biomechanics to minimise symptoms and prevent recurrence.

Common shoulder conditions that we see at Extend include:

• impingement/rotator cuff disease
• acute instability
• multi directional instability
• cervicobrachial (neck/shoulder) pain
• acromioclavicular (AC) joint dislocations
• frozen shoulder
• all post surgical shoulders.

 

Return to Work

Our experienced occupational and physiotherapists can:

• conduct work site visits, including an analysis of the impact of an injury on a person’s ability to perform their usual duties
• design suitable duties plans and graded return to work programs in consultation with employers and employees
• review workplace set-up (ergonomics) and provide advice regarding modifications and specialised equipment to enable performance of some workplace duties
• facilitate transferable skills assessments and host employment placements for people who cannot currently return to their previous role.

Return to work services are available for anyone, not just people receiving hand and upper limb rehabilitation. Please see Contact Us page for referral form.

 

Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy

In addition to our specialist upper limb rehabilitation services, we can provide musculoskeletal physiotherapy services for other areas of the body. Our physiotherapists are trained in all aspects of musculoskeletal physiotherapy, from low back pain to sprained ankles to headaches. They can also:

• undertake gym visits and prescribe individualised programs, including strengthening, conditioning, and/or work hardening
• provide supervised hydrotherapy sessions.

 

Inpatient Services

You may be seen by an Extend therapist as part of your inpatient care following an injury or surgery. Our therapists visit a number of hospitals in Brisbane, including the Brisbane Private Hospital and St Andrew’s War Memorial. Hospital inpatient therapy will usually be arranged by your treating specialist or surgeon as necessary.

 

Surgeon Co-appointments

Extend’s hand therapists and physiotherapists also see people as co-appointments with hand and upper limb surgeons in the Brisbane Hand and Upper Limb Clinic (Brisbane Private Hospital Specialist Centre) or at Queensland Combined Orthopaedic Specialists (The Wesley Hospital). Your treating surgeon will usually arrange this.