Looking For Hand Therapy in Dayton, Ohio?
Writing a card, opening a jar, or typing a long email can leave your hands aching or shaky. You may have been told your hands look fine, or that you should rest more and push through less. Hand therapy offers a more practical path.
Mermaid Well provides hand therapy in Dayton with Dr. Katie Jenkins, OTD, OTR/L, an occupational therapist. Her work centers on hypermobile joints, chronic illness, and the daily tasks your hands do from morning to night. This page explains what hand therapy involves, who it may suit, what a visit looks like, and what it costs.
What Is Hand Therapy?
Hand therapy is a form of rehabilitation that focuses on your hands, wrists, and arms. Occupational therapists and physical therapists both provide it. The aim is to help you do everyday tasks with less pain and more control.
A hand therapist looks at how your joints move, how steady your grip feels, and how you use your hands at home and at work. Care usually combines exercises for strength and control, ways to protect your joints during tasks, and supports such as splints or easier-grip tools. At Mermaid Well, hand therapy also takes your energy into account, because tired hands and a tired body often go together.
The result is a plan that fits your actual day, with steps you can use at your kitchen counter or your desk.
Who Can Benefit From Hand Therapy?
Hand therapy at Mermaid Well suits people whose hands struggle with ordinary life. Some of the situations that bring people in:
- Hypermobility or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Your joints move further than most, and your fingers and thumbs may feel unstable when you grip or write.
- Chronic illness with fatigue or pain. Conditions such as POTS and dysautonomia can change what your hands can do from one day to the next.
- Hand-heavy days. You type, cook, craft, or care for others, and your hands feel it by evening.
- Earlier exercises that flared your symptoms. A generic routine from past care left you sore, and you want a plan matched to your joints.
If you are recovering from a recent fracture, hand surgery, or burn, call the clinic first. The team can tell you whether this is the right place to start. Sudden numbness, weakness, or a red, hot, swollen hand needs a medical provider first.
Signs You May Benefit From Hand Therapy
You may notice one or more of these:
- Fingers or thumbs that feel loose or tire quickly when you write or type.
- An ache at the base of your thumb or in your knuckles after routine tasks.
- Cups, pens, or phones slipping from your grip more often than before.
- Hands that feel shakier or weaker on low-energy days.
- Joints that feel unsteady when you turn a key, open a jar, or carry bags.
- Exercises from past care that made your hands feel worse.
These signs have many possible causes, so an evaluation comes first. If the list sounds familiar, hand therapy in Dayton can help you find out what is going on.
How Hand Therapy Helps
Hand therapy may help ease strain on your joints, steady your grip, and make writing, typing, and cooking feel more secure. Many people also find they plan their days with more confidence once they know which tasks to protect their hands for. Your own results depend on your joints, your health, and how your days are built.
Joint protection
Joint protection techniques lower the load on unstable or painful joints during everyday tasks. You learn how to hold, lift, and carry so your joints take less of the strain.
Stability and fine motor work
Targeted exercises build control in the small movements behind writing, typing, and gripping. The goal is a hand that feels more secure during the tasks you repeat most.
Custom ring splints
A ring splint is a small, lightweight support worn on a finger. For hypermobile joints, it may help limit how far a joint bends. A fitting requires an evaluation first.
Energy pacing
Pacing means planning activity and rest around your energy. It helps you avoid spending everything on a good day and paying for it afterward.
Adaptive tools
Easier-grip utensils, pens, and other tools can reduce the effort behind small tasks. Your therapist suggests options matched to what you struggle with.
What to Expect at Your First Visit
Your story
Your day-to-day
Your plan
Our Approach to Hand Therapy
Dr. Jenkins builds hand therapy around the life you are living. Your plan includes options for good days and for harder ones, so a flare does not mean starting over.
Hand therapy here focuses on hypermobility, chronic illness, and fatigue. Joint protection and pacing sit alongside strength work, so your plan covers how you use your hands as well as how strong they are.
Care can also link with physical therapy. Mermaid Well offers both, and a group class called Hypermobile Hands and Feet is co-led by an occupational therapist and a physical therapist.
Meet Your Hand Therapy Provider
Dr. Katie Jenkins, OTD, OTR/L is a Doctor of Occupational Therapy. She earned her clinical doctorate at Kettering College and a Bachelor of Science in Education (Sports Science) from Wright State University.
She has completed a POTS Provider course, so she understands how dizziness and fatigue change what your hands can do on a given day. She is also trained in cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), a drug-free approach to sleep.
Dr. Jenkins believes therapy should fit into real life. She favors practical tools and at-home strategies that make everyday tasks a little easier. You can read her full bio on the Mermaid Well team page.
The Hypermobile Hands and Feet group is co-led by Dr. Kendra Lucas, PT, DPT, NBC-HWC, MCWC, a physical therapist and the founder of Mermaid Well.
Why Choose Mermaid Well for Hand Therapy?
Occupational therapy and physical therapy sit under one roof, so your hands and the rest of your body can be planned for together. Stephen Kathman, PA-C, offers direct medical care at the same clinic for people with complex or hard-to-diagnose conditions.
Visits run a full hour, which leaves room to ask questions and try things before you leave. Group classes such as Hypermobile Hands and Feet give you guided practice alongside your one-to-one visits.
The Dayton clinic welcomes people from Kettering, Oakwood, Centerville, Beavercreek, Miamisburg, and West Carrollton.
Related Services and Resources
- Occupational therapy covers energy pacing, home and workplace setup, and adaptive tools beyond your hands.
- Hypermobility physical therapy pairs well with hand work if your whole body feels unstable.
- POTS and dysautonomia care applies if dizziness and fatigue shape your days.
- Physical therapy with Dr. Kendra Lucas adds strength and movement support.
- Meet the Mermaid Well team to read each provider's background.
Hand Therapy FAQs
Hand therapy is occupational therapy applied to your hands, wrists, and arms. Dr. Jenkins is an occupational therapist, so your visit looks at how your hands work within your whole day.
It may. Joint protection, stability exercises, and supportive tools can help you do daily tasks with less strain on your joints. Results vary from person to person.
It can help you manage daily tasks. Pacing, seated options for tasks you usually do standing, and well-spaced routines may make your days more predictable.
It varies. After your evaluation, your therapist suggests a schedule based on your goals and how your hands respond.
Your plan is built around what your body can do that day, with options for good days and harder ones. Tell your therapist if anything flares, and the plan can change.
Bring any splints, braces, or grip tools you already use, so your therapist can see how they work for you.
Book Hand Therapy in Dayton
Your hands do a lot for you each day. Book a first visit for hand therapy in Dayton with Dr. Katie Jenkins and leave with a practical plan for gripping, writing, and typing. Bring your questions and the tasks that give you the most trouble.
This page is general information and not medical advice. Results vary from person to person, and no outcome can be promised. A first visit includes an assessment to check whether hand therapy suits you.
