The Hand Therapist

Excellent service! Michelle was able to explain my injury so clearly and helped me understand my treatment plan. I really appreciated understanding how the injury to my finger had impacted its function, and how the various massages, stretches and strengthening exercises would support its recovery. Would definitely be coming back and seeking her support if I sprained my finger again - rather than just assuming it would heal on its own. I would not have had such a great recovery without Michelle’s expertise! Thanks Michelle!

I would like to thank Michelle for the help and support she has provided me over the last number of months in helping me reduce the pain and increase the mobility of my hands, which had become quite painful due to osteoarthritis. Michelle analysed the issues i had and came up with a treatment plan to help strengthen the muscles in my hand resulting in me greatly improving the use of my hands and with much reduced pain levels. I would recommend Micheĺle to anyone with similar issues.

I'm a musician and a guitar teacher and struggled with RSI/carpal tunnel symptoms for months before finding out about The Hand Therapist. Itried a few GP's and they all told me the same things. Take ibuprofen....rest (not really an option for me with my job!) They didn't really take it seriously, and it was to me. I had been recommended certain books that were...pseudoscience-y and just hard to put any faith in. I was fed up waiting for a physio appointment through the NHS when I found out about Michelle and decided to book a virtual appointment.From the start Michelle was professional while being super nice and friendly. It was clear that she is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about what she does. I then had an in person appointment and Michelle had told me to bring my guitar. I thought that was really great. We looked at how I hold the guitar when I'm playing, my posture when playing etc. (all things that could have been causing symptoms).But I think the main thing was that I was finally talking to someone that knew what they were talking about...and took it seriously. I got a clear 'diagnosis' and some exercises tailored to me that I could start doing daily. She also never told me that I had to stop teaching and playing music (very reassuring!!) Everything was focused on how I should move forward.Michelle made me an exercise programme with the exercises I could do daily. I really committed to the programme and within about a month...and for the first time in a while I started to feel mostly back to normal.Now, a few of months on, I no longer have any real symptoms. I'm not anxious that my hand is going to continually get worse and eventually just give up on me, like many will tell you if you are suffering with problems like I had!Recently I had another virtual appointment with Michelle and she talked me through what I should be doing moving forward.Now I'm in a position where I'm feeling like my hand is back to normal and I know how to take care of it. I've actually learnt a lot of things that I wouldn't have known if I hadn't had this problem and gone to Michelle.Michelle is so great at what she does and I don't think you'll get this kind of help anywhere else in NI when it comes to hands. It's worth parting with a little bit of money to get some actual help and to be taken seriously. I had 3 appointments, only one of them being in person and for me that was really at it took. My hand is doing great and I'm very, very grateful. Thanks so much Michelle!

Last year I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis which impacted the flexibility and strength of both my hands. I have been seeing Michelle at The Hand Therapy clinic in Holywood and my hands are massively improved showing greater flexibility and strength. Michelle’s approach to my therapy has done wonders for my hand strength and more importantly, she has slowly built my confidence to a stage where I am now able use my hands fully for everyday tasks. A brilliant resource in the North Down area. Give Michelle a call if you have any problems with your hands!

I couldn’t have asked for a better Hand Therapist than Michelle in the Holywood clinic. Extremely professional, knowledgeable and caring. Always reassuring and always there if you had any questions. Would highly recommend, you can’t go wrong! Thank you Michelle!

I had a very good experience at The Hand Therapist. After injuring my hand around 12 months ago while playing football and having problems ever since I was suggested to visit a hand specialist (something that I was not aware of). Browsing the internet I found The Hand Therapist.Michelle, over 3 sessions, used her brilliant expertise to help give a diagnosis to my injury and supplied me with multiple exercises to help regain the strength, movement and flexibility back into my hand.If anyone has experienced an injury in their hand, I would highly recommend visiting The Hand Therapist.

I attended Michelle to get help with correcting a problem with fingers on my hands. The service provided was very professional, knowledgeable and friendly. I was unaware that dedicated hand therapists where available prior to meeting Michelle and really grateful to her for the treatment plan implemented which has been successful. Thank you.

Following surgery after sustaining a fracture dislocation of my left elbow, I discovered uncomfortable tension in my left hand and lack of mobility in my index finger.Michelle’s knowledge and expertise, through a personally tailored program of guided exercises has made immeasurable difference and has improved my dexterity and confidence completely. Her warm, reassuring approach made sessions enjoyable and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her as an excellent hand therapist.

I had been suffering from osteoarthritis (OA) in both of my index fingers for several years and have had several steroid injections with limited effect. After exhausting my GP options I came across The Hand Therapist by accident and have been working with Michelle for about 6 months now. In that time, she worked on reducing joint swelling, strengthening the affected tendons & muscles, and increasing my mobility. Having just been discharged I have regained about 80% of mobility in my affected fingers and now able to perform tasks from opening jars to using the rowing machine again. Having been told by more than one GP that I would have to live with the effects of OA, the improvement is nothing short of transformational. I now have the toolkit and knowledge to continue working against the effects of OA and cannot recommend Michelle highly enough if you have any issues with your hands.

TFCC/ ECU/ OVERALL DECONDITIONING FROM LENGTH OF INJURY.I injured my wrist at work around november time 2023 and was having trouble/pain doing even routine tasks such as brushing my teeth and eating.I’ll try and be concise here, I basically seen a number of Physio’s, osteo and had an MRI nobody really gave me a solution but I kept trying to find someone/thing that could help.I then luckily came across Michelle’s practice and from day 1 I felt like this was different, she specialises in only the hand to shoulder area and was confident she could get me sorted.Michelle tailored my exercise program every step of the way and has found a route back to get my wrist close to 100% and I am still finding improvement.She is a true specialist a very good listener and goes the extra mile, if you are having any kind of hand, wrist or arm issue do not look any further than this.Just to add: all of my appointments were video calls.Thanks again,Craig.