What is a functional aid?
An individual hand or arm tool that makes it easier for you to perform a specific activity (e.g. eating, cycling, etc.).
Physiotherapy
We train you in the daily use of your functional aid.
Make an appointment
Make an appointment over the phone or send us a message!
Functional support for hands
There’s no such thing as impossible!
Personal functional aids are used to treat amputations or congenital deformities in the upper extremities. Primarily, they fulfil the purpose of a functional tool that is intended to perform a frequently recurring activity. The aim of these special aids is to enable a desired everyday function, such as eating, cycling or writing. In principle, we can build every conceivable aid according
to your individual requirements – from violin aid to fishing aid to tennis or basketball aid.
Example treatments
What everyday aids are there?
Bicycle steering aid
With a steering aid for bicycles, most children can learn to cycle despite an arm or hand deformity. The custom-made tool compensates for the lack of arm length and restores a proper ability to guide or steer. A steering aid can basically be mounted on any bicycle, running bike or tricycle.
Eating aid
An eating aid offers the option of holding utensils such as a fork or spoon. The use of a universal adapter means that different utensils can be used and easily exchanged.
Writing aid
A silicone writing aid allows you to guide pens safely. Thanks to the elastic material properties, pins with different diameters can be used. Of course, there are also writing aids for typing on a PC keyboard.
Music aids
Enya wanted to learn violin as a very little girl. Because she has dysmelia on her left arm, it was impossible for her to hold the violin bow. We have created a stylish violin-playing aid for the student – in purple and pink with an integrated clef symbol.
In principle, we can build a suitable aid for every musical instrument that can be adapted to the user’s hand or stump. In this way, even children, adolescents and adults with dysmelia or amputation can play or learn an instrument.
Music camp for children with dysmelia
“I don't want to get ice cream – I’d rather keep practicing!” The seven-year-old Magdalena, who bravely blows into her one-handed flute, sums up the enthusiasm of the music camp participants perfectly. We would never have thought that 20 kids between the ages of 6 and 16 could set up a concert so harmoniously and full of enthusiasm with such a wide variety of instruments, voices and disabilities!
Sports aids
Are sports an important part of your life? We will do our best to find a suitable solution for you so that you can practice your sport despite a missing or malformed hand. We have already built a wide variety of sports aids:
- basketball aids
- skiing aids
- table tennis aids
- swimming aids
- riding aids
- and much more.
Sports aid for archery
Nick has dysmelia on his right hand. Despite this disability, he wants to practice his favorite sport, archery. We built him a silicone sports aid that he can use to string his bow and shoot the arrow at the right time.
At the age of 30, Martin breaks his neck. Since then, he has been paralyzed from the chest down and is likely to be wheelchair-bound for life. Since he has no finger function and only limited arm function, it initially seems impossible for the young man to ever pursue his great passion – fly fishing – after his accident again. How is this possible if he can't hold the fishing rod or the string, let alone turn the reel? But Martin doesn't give up. For fifteen years he searches for a way to grab the rod – unfortunately to no avail. Then the fly fisherman finally finds us. We manufacture a fly fishing aid for Martin.
Trade article
30 reasons: Orthosis project to improve the hand function of a fly fisherman with tetraplegia
Authors: M. Schäfer, B. Kapeller, R. Wagner, J. Schützinger, R. Schütz, K. Mader
Source: ORTHOPÄDIE-TECHNIK Sonderdruck 03/19, Verlag Orthopädie-Technik Dortmund
