Compression garments can minimize scarring while the burn area matures, says Cynthia Lundy, PT, burn therapy supervisor at Intermountain Burn Center in Salt Lake City. Therapists often start with elastic wrap or tubular support bandages, then slowly progress to tighter compression garments when the damaged skin can tolerate it. While burns on any part of the body are challenging, hands are difficult to manage because multiple joints and motions are involved. Severe difficulties could mean a loss of function, stripping someone's ability to hold or grip items. Clinicians can address this problem by closely attending to the patient's positioning and splinting needs, as well as pressure garment fit.
Occupational therapists focus on hand function to improve proficiency with ADLs.
Healing hands gets even trickier when the patient is a young child. To get children to move despite the pain, most therapists use games and simple tasks such as throwing a ball, coloring or using building blocks. It's not pain and torture, but playing with specific goals in mind. The challenges of burn treatment are more than just skin deep. In most burn centers, social workers or psychologists closely monitor a patient's progress and emotional changes.