Grip strength

Lateral epicondylalgia appears to be multifactorial in origin, while the clinical picture is fairly uniform. Furthermore, only 5% of the people suffering from tennis elbow actually play tennis, and therefore, the condition may rather be referred to as lateral epicondylalgia (LE). There are many studies done for physiotherapeutic management of LE. Ultrasound and wrist extensor exercises remain a mainstay in the management of LE. There are some studies suggesting a relationship between scapular muscles & LE. AIM: To assess the additional effect of scapular muscle strengthening over conventional treatment in the management of Lateral epicondylalgia. METHODOLOGY: Subjects who met with inclusion & exclusion criteria were divided into 2 groups. The experimental group was given scapular muscle strengthening exercises in addition to conventional treatment and the control group was given conventional treatment for LE. Grip strength measurement was done using Jamar's hand-held dynamometer & pain intensity and functional ability was scored using patient-rated tennis elbow evaluation (PRTEE) score on 1stday & after 3 weeks. RESULTS & CONCLUSION: Significant improvement was found in both the groups. Scapular muscle strengthening showed significantly more reduction in pain, functional disability and more improvement in grip strength than conventional treatment. Thus, scapular muscle strengthening must be included in rehabilitation plan of a patient with LE.

Study Design: Cross-sectional research design. Introduction: Clinical practice continues to use normative data for grip and pinch measurements that were established in 1985. There is no updated norms despite different hand usage patterns in today's society. Purpose of the Study: Measuring and comparing grip and pinch strengths with normative data is a valid method to determine hand function. This research was implemented to compare the grip and pinch measurements obtained from healthy millennials to the established norms and to describe hand usage patterns for millennials. Methods: Grip and lateral pinch measurements were obtained from a sample of 237 healthy millennials (ages 20-34 years). Results: Strength scores were statistically lower that older normative data in all millennial grip strengths, with the exception of the women in the age group of 30-34 years. Specifically, this statistically significant trend was observed in all male grip strengths, as well as in women in the age group of 20-24 years (bilateral grip) and 25-29 years (right grip). However, the lateral pinch data reflected was similar to the older norms with variances of 0.5-1 kg. Conclusion: Current data reflect statistically significant differences from the norms for all male grip measurements, as well as for women in the age group of 20-24 years (bilateral grip) and 25-29 years (right grip). No statistical significance was observed in the independent-sample t tests for the lateral pinch in men of all age groups. Statistical significance was noted for lateral pinch for female age groups for the left hand (20-24 years) and for bilateral lateral pinches (30-34 years). Level of evidence: IV.

The aim of the present study is to examine the effects of diabetes related soft tissue hand lesions such as Dupuytren's disease, trigger finger and limited joint mobility (LJM) and the reduced hand strength on the functional disability of the hand in type 2 diabetic patients. Forty-four type 2 diabetic patients and 60 age and sex matched controls were included in the study. Subjects were examined for the presence of Dupuytren's disease, trigger finger and LJM. Grip strength was tested first with Jamar dynamometer followed by pinch strength measurements using by a manual pinchmeter. Electrophysiological studies were performed in both groups. Duruöz Hand Index (DHI) was used to assess the functional hand disability. The mean DHI score of the diabetics was significantly higher than controls (p<0.0001). Dupuytren's disease, trigger finger or LJM was not correlated with DHI in diabetic patients (p>0.05). The grip and pinch strengths were significantly lower in diabetic patients than the non-diabetic controls (p<0.05) and the grip and pinch strengths were negatively correlated with DHI in type 2 diabetic patients (p<0.001). Dupuytren's disease, trigger finger and LJM did not cause to functional disability of hand but low hand strength was found to cause functional disability of hand in our type 2 diabetic patients.