Barlow, S.J., Scholtz, J. & Medeiros (2020). Wrist weight-bearing tolerance in healthy adults. Journal of Hand Therapy, xxx currently in press.
The Skinny
Wrist pain and instability are common occurrences and can occur with acute or chronic injuries. This leads to significant dysfunction, including the inability to tolerate axial loading through the upper extremity. There is no reported clinical test for hand therapists to measure axial loading from decreased wrist stability. The purpose of this study was to determine normative values for non weight bearing upper extremity.
In the Weeds
465 subjects were enrolled in the study from around the world. Healthy adults ranging in age from 18 to 64 were enrolled in the study. Exclusion criteria included current wrist pain or a history of wrist pain, previous wrist fracture, rheumatoid arthritis, breastfeeding, and/or pregnancy.
For testing, the subjects were in a standing position with the elbow and wrist in extension. They were asked to press down on an analog scale making sure their middle finger pointed toward the 12 o’clock position. This was done a total of three times on both of the upper extremities.

Bringing it Home
This study defines wrist weight-bearing tolerance norms for healthy adults, including males and females in the age range of 18-64. Knowing the weight-bearing norms could help identify wrist pathology and be another objective measure to support various hand therapy interventions (weight well hand therapy).
This study was well done, and there was a large sample size from various locations around the world. One potential conflict was cited in the article
“journal policy and ethical obligation require reporting that one of the authors of this paper (MW) is the patent owner of a company WristWidget. The business may be positively affected by the results reported in this manuscript.” (Barlow & et al, 2020).
Overall I really enjoyed reading this article, and I can say that it will impact my clinical practice. Nice job!
If you are going to purchase a scale, I would recommend making sure it has a large area to place the hand without covering the dial or numbers (mine doesn’t have enough room to keep my hand on the black area without cover the numbers). Also, make sure it is analog, not digital!
3 Comments
Leave a Comment
More To Read
A Hand Therapist’s Role in Nutrition Education for Wound Healing
By Brittany Day Role of nutrition in wound healing Nutrition plays an important function in the biological factors that contribute to normal wound healing (wound care nutrition). Patients without nutrient dense diets may experience diminished cell production, collagen synthesis, and wound contraction. There is sparse scientific evidence that explores the exact science behind nutrition and…
Assessing and Improving Grip with the Squegg
Assessing and Improving Grip with the Squegg By: Megan Prather “Grip training is made fun” In hand therapy we are always looking for engaging new interventions to use with patients. The Squegg is a dynamic grip-training tool that can be used with clients both to assess grip strength and to improve strength across sessions. This…
What is the real job of the Lumbricals?
Crowley, J. S., Meunier, M., Lieber, R. L., & Abrams, R. A. (2020). The Lumbricals Are Not the Workhorse of Digital Extension and Do Not Relax Their Own Antagonist. The Journal of Hand Surgery. The Skinny: What do the lumbricals do? There is a long-standing belief that the lumbricals act as a counterforce to the…
Hand Therapy Article Review: The Radial Synergy Test, An Aid to Diagnose de Quervain’s Tenosynovitis
Chihua, L., Langford, P.N., Sullivan, G.E., Langford, M.A., Hogan, C.J., & Ruland, R.T. (2021) The radial synergy test: an aid to diagnose de Quervain’s tenosynovitis. HAND. epub ahead of print;1-6. doi: 10.1177/15589447211057297 Rapid Review By: Case Peters The Skinny: de Quervain’s tenosynovitis is a common pathology that involves swelling and thickening of the tendon sheaths…
Sign-up to Get Updates Straight to Your Inbox!
Sign up with us and we will send you regular blog posts on everything hand therapy, notices every time we upload new videos and tutorials, along with handout, protocols, and other useful information.
What are the norms?
What is the result?
Am I wrong …………I could not find the weight bearing norms? You did a nicht Job 🙂 thank you for the Article…