Speaking &
Media

Michelle Razo & Her Proximity Blindness Framework

Ms Razo returned to the More Than Just A Hand podcast for a second conversation with Blair Agero, continuing directly from the first episode. This part centres on the framework she has become known for in her teaching: proximity blindness in upper limb clinical reasoning.

She works through how the concept shows up in day-to-day assessment, why the immediate site of pain is so often the wrong place to stop looking and how she guards against it in her own clinic. Along the way she also explains Razo's Kiss, another of the concepts she uses in her teaching.

Hand Therapy Consultancy in the UK

Ms Razo joined Blair Agero on the More Than Just A Hand podcast to discuss her career path in Hand Therapy, the differences in clinical practice between the United States and the United Kingdom and her transition from NHS employment to establishing a specialist private practice in Belfast.

The conversation covered differential diagnosis in upper limb presentations, the role of the specialist Hand Therapist within the wider rehabilitation pathway and Ms Razo's clinical use of "proximity blindness". Ms Razo has applied this concept from attention research to Hand Therapy assessment, having first introduced the clinical application publicly at the 2025 International Hand & Wrist Congress in Dubai. The episode is part of a series profiling Hand Therapists working internationally.

Victim of Nice attack runs marathon for hospital that rebuilt his hand

Laurence Olding, 33, shattered his right wrist in 12 places escaping the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice in July 2016. Following complex reconstructive surgery at Guy's and St Thomas', including an advanced keyhole technique performed in only a handful of UK centres, Laurence underwent months of rehabilitation led by Ms Razo and her colleague. He made a full functional recovery and went on to run the London Marathon in April 2018, raising funds for the trust.

Ms Razo is named in both the Evening Standard article and the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust press release as one of the Hand Therapists who led his rehabilitation.

Across Borders: Global Perspectives in Hand Therapy

Ms Razo was featured in the Winter 2025 edition of the ASHT Times, the official quarterly news publication of the American Society of Hand Therapists. The feature brought together hand therapists from across the world to share their unique perspectives on practice, highlighting both the challenges and innovations within their local contexts. Contributors offered clinical pearls and insights that transcend borders and enrich the shared profession of Hand Therapy.