Posted on: 23 Nov 2021
A former patient at Queen’s Medical Centre has decided to donate funds for a piece of equipment that changed her life after breaking her hand.
Lisa Proctor broke her hand a few years ago, and after months of physio and occupational therapy, she noticed that it wasn’t improving as quickly as she had hoped.
She told us: “The Burns Unit at City Hospital had just purchased a LymphaTouch machine and I was invited to try it. I could see the results overnight as I was able to flex my wrist more, which I was struggling to do beforehand.”
“We’d used it a couple of times before the UK went into lockdown, and I was really appreciative that I got a chance to use it as I was making progress in other areas with my wrist, but not being able to move it fully was quite concerning.”
“I used to get very frustrated with not being able to do things that I’ve always been able to do and was looking for any way I could speed up my recovery. I’m still seeing the changes in my wrist and I would say it’s about 90% of the way back to normal. It’s not even an expensive piece of equipment but it makes all the difference.”
Lisa presents the occupational therapy team with the LymphaTouch
A LymphaTouch machine is commonly used as a therapy device and helps break down scar restrictions and release tight areas after surgery and other procedures.
Occupational Therapist Jessica Smith, who treated Lisa, told us: “We originally used this piece of equipment for patients who have problematic scars and we believed scar tissue was one of the reasons why Lisa’s movement was hindered.
“Because like Lisa, we get a lot of wrist fractures, we would have to keep transferring the equipment from City to QMC or send patients that way, which wasn’t ideal either way.”
The team practice with the equipment
Lisa continued: “Patients who have operative scars suffer the most from movement issues similar to Lisa, and this provides them with a non-invasive procedure and removes the chance of needing another operation.“
Lisa made the donation towards the equipment as it made such a big difference to her and she wanted to give back to those who treated her after her injury.
“It’s not about me - I wanted to make a difference to the community and knew this piece of life-changing equipment would do that.”