What is a Hand Therapist?
A hand therapist is a registered occupational therapist or physiotherapist who specialises in the rehabilitation of patients with conditions affecting the hands and upper limb.
A hand therapist’s high level of specialization requires advanced post-graduate education and clinical experience. This enables him or her to help patients return to a productive lifestyle following injury, disease or deformity affecting the hand.
An experienced hand therapist can evaluate and identify problems affecting the upper limbs. He or she can provide advice regarding exercise, preventative care, aids to daily living and ergonomic consultation.
A hand therapist often works alongside surgeons, planning and implementing post-operative care in order to hasten patients’ recovery following surgery. (British Association of Hand Therapists 2025)
Shane O'Carroll is a CORU registered Occupational Therapist and accredited hand therapist. He currently works as a clinical specialist occupational therapist/ hand therapist in University Hospital Waterford.
He qualified with a Bsc in occupational therapy from Robert Gordon University in 2011. His specialization in hand therapy begun in 2013 in Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge. He completed a Msc in hand therapy through University of Derby in 2020.
He has extensive knowledge and skills working as a hand therapist across a number of public and private hospitals in areas of orthopedics, plastics, burns, and rheumatology.
