Jacob Lenox is an Occupational Therapist and Certified Hand Therapist at our Independence clinic location.
Meet Jacob Lenox, an Occupational Therapist and Certified Hand Therapist at our Independence, Missouri clinic. He shares his loves for the Tigers, what it takes to become a CHT and more! #ARCPTplus #OTMonth
Posted by ARC Physical Therapy+ on Friday, April 20, 2018
He went to the University of Missouri-Columbia for both undergraduate and grad school, so naturally, he is an avid Mizzou Tigers fan. After graduating, he worked in California for two years, then headed back to Missouri, to work with us at ARC Physical Therapy+.
Jacob was the first participant and graduate of our unique Certified Hand Therapy Fellowship Program. He got his necessary 4,000 hours of upper extremity treatment of the shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand and passed the comprehensive tests.
“I was fortunate to come in as a guinea pig to do the first formal fellowship program involving some side-by-side treatment, clinic, and doctor shadows. We did monthly meetings for four hours involving education and independent projects, which really allowed us to dive into the different parts of the body, to talk about the anatomy, the physiology, but also innovative and fundamental ways to treat it.”
Jacob sees a range of patients each day. Because ARC Physical Therapy+ specializes in workers’ compensation, about 90% of the work he does is in rehab treatments involving post-surgical or conservative treatment, ranging from anyone who has minor injuries to more complex injuries.
A lot of the work Jacob and his team do is to help people get back to doing everything they were able to do at work before their injury. For some, the process is easy, taking only five or six visits. Others can take anywhere from three to six months to get them to do the heavy-duty tasks their work requires.
Jacob really enjoys helping individuals with shoulder rotator cuff repair. When they come in, they have no independent use of their arm. “It’s a very long process, but typically these people come in and have not only lost part of their upper extremity, but they kind of have lost their identity of themselves. Getting them back to doing everything they’re able to do requires a good therapist and a friend and a motivator to get them through every step of the process.”
With a shoulder rotator-cuff repair, a therapist needs to make sure the rehabilitation process goes smoothly throughout the months of therapy. It’s imperative that the patient is not compensating or habitually using the arm in a bad way to ensure they have no problems in the long-term.
When Jacob isn’t at the clinic, helping people get back to full function, he’s active in a variety of ways. In addition to training for a half marathon, he enjoys golf, tennis, pickleball, volleyball, and he is even involved in a weekly bowling club.
“I used to live in California for two years, so I love to be hiking and on the beach. I love to travel — I just got back from a trip to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.”
As a very active guy, he likes to motivate his patients to get back to a place where they can not only function well with fine motor skills, but also get them back to doing everything they want to do. For example, if someone has an interest in golfing, he can tailor his therapy sessions to get them to start back with putting and working towards getting back to being able to hit a long drive.
If you have any occupational therapy needs, contact Jacob’s clinic in Independence, Missouri at (816) 373-2845.
