Get the Hand Back: Hand Therapy in Tulsa, OK
Twenty-seven bones, thirty-four muscles and no margin for a generic programme. Certified hand therapists, custom splints made on site the same day, and your surgeon's protocol followed to the week.
Hands, Wrists and Elbows — Nothing Else
The hand is a small enough field and a complicated enough one that specialising in it is the whole point.
Twenty-One Years and a Very Small Field
Ironwright has been on South Boston Avenue since 2005, treating hands, wrists and elbows and nothing else.
The Certified Hand Therapist credential takes five years of practice, three thousand hours of direct hand experience and a formidable examination, and there are only a few thousand of us in the country. It exists because the hand does not behave like the rest of the body: the tissue planes are millimetres apart, scar bridges structures that must glide independently, and the window in which stiffness becomes permanent is measured in weeks.
That is also why our referrals come from surgeons. They know the protocol will be followed exactly, that the splint will be right, and that if something looks wrong at week three they will hear from us the same day.
- ✓Certified Hand Therapists on staff
- ✓Hands, wrists and elbows only
- ✓Splints fabricated on site, same visit
- ✓Direct line to the referring surgeon
Four Reasons Hands Are Different
The Window Is Short
A stiff finger joint at six weeks is usually recoverable. The same joint at six months frequently is not. Almost everything we do is a race against scar maturation, which is why we see post-surgical patients within seventy-two hours.
Scar Doesn't Respect Structures
Tendon, nerve and skin sit within millimetres of each other, and healing scar sticks all three together. Gliding exercises are not gentle range of motion — they are the specific work of separating structures that must move independently.
Protocols Are Surgeon-Specific
Two flexor tendon repairs can carry entirely different protocols depending on the suture technique. We keep the local surgeons' preferences on file and confirm anything ambiguous by phone rather than assuming.
Function Is Everything
Nobody needs a hand for its own sake. They need to do up a button, hold a fork, use a drill, play in a band. Goals here are always the actual task, and that is what we test against.
Half Clinic, Half Workshop
The splinting bench is the busiest surface in the building.
From Referral to Full Function
We Read the Report
Operative note, imaging and the surgeon's protocol, before your first appointment. If anything is ambiguous we call the office rather than guess.
Splint Made the Same Day
Measured, moulded and fitted in the first visit, with a wearing schedule you can actually follow and a number to call if it rubs.
Weekly Progression
Range, oedema, scar and strength measured every visit. The splint is adjusted or remade as the hand changes — usually three or four times.
Tested on the Real Task
Discharge is when you can do the thing you came in for, measured against your other hand, with a written summary to your surgeon.
Twenty-One Years of Hands
I cut two flexor tendons on a table saw and was told I might not get a working hand back. Twenty-two weeks, a splint remade four times as things changed, and I am back in the workshop. I can make a full fist.
My surgeon's office booked me here before I'd even had the operation, and I understand why now. They had the protocol, they knew the surgeon, and the splint was made and fitted the same afternoon I came out of the cast.
Thirty years of quilting and my thumbs had made it impossible. Not a cure — but a joint protection programme, two small custom splints and some honest advice about pacing, and I am back at the frame most days.
Night splint, nerve gliding, and a change to how I was working — and I did not need the carpal tunnel surgery I'd already been booked in for. They were straight with me that it might not work and it did.
What You Can Expect From Us
Most of our caseload arrives by surgeon referral, and we treat that relationship as the core of the practice.
Seen Within 72 Hours
Post-operative referrals are prioritised and slotted the same week, including Saturday mornings. Send the referral before the operation and we'll have the patient booked for the day the cast comes off.
Your Protocol, Exactly
We keep your preferences on file — suture technique, immobilisation period, when to begin active flexion. Where a note is ambiguous we call rather than interpret.
A Note Every Four Weeks
Range, strength, oedema, splint status and adherence, in one page. More often if something concerns us, and a phone call the same day if it's urgent.
We Flag Problems Early
A rupture, an infection, a fixation that looks like it has moved, a patient who is not wearing the splint. You will hear from us on the day, not in the discharge summary.
Splinting You Don't Have to Chase
Fabricated on site, so a patient never leaves in a temporary and never waits for an orthotist. Dynamic and static progressive designs in-house.
Honest Discharge
When a hand has reached its ceiling we say so and stop, with the measurements to support it. We would rather send a patient back to you early than bill twelve more visits into a plateau.
What Patients Ask Us
What actually is a Certified Hand Therapist?
A CHT is an occupational or physical therapist who has practised at least five years, accumulated three thousand hours of direct hand therapy, and passed a comprehensive certification exam. It is re-certified every five years. There are only a few thousand in the United States.
Do I need a referral?
Oklahoma has direct access, so you can be evaluated without one. For post-surgical care we do want the operative report and the surgeon's protocol — that isn't bureaucracy, it genuinely changes what we're allowed to do in week two.
Is the splint included?
Yes. Fabrication, fitting, adjustments and remakes across your course of care are all included, and most people go through three or four. Straps and repairs afterwards are free — just walk in.
How long does hand rehab take?
A trigger finger might be four visits. A flexor tendon repair is twelve to sixteen weeks of closely-staged work. A distal radius fracture is usually eight to twelve. You'll get a realistic range at the first visit and we re-forecast at each re-test.
Can I avoid carpal tunnel surgery?
Sometimes, genuinely — night splinting, nerve gliding and changing what's aggravating it resolve a meaningful proportion of mild to moderate cases. We'll give it a fair trial of six to eight weeks and tell you honestly if it isn't working rather than stringing it out.
My hand is stiff a year after the injury. Is it too late?
Harder, but frequently not hopeless. Static progressive splinting can recover range from mature scar, just more slowly. We'll measure, tell you what we think is realistically achievable, and let you decide whether it's worth the months.
Get Seen This Week
Bring the operative report if you have one. If you don't, bring the hand.
South Boston Avenue, Tulsa
Tell us what happened and whether there's been surgery. We'll call you back within one business day.