Interesting blog article on hypermobile hands

[selenay]

This blog article popped into my Google Alerts today: They should do all assistive
technology this way.

It's interesting because the photos of the girl's hands are remarkably
familiar, particularly the way she holds a pen without her ring splints.
I've always been used to my hands aching after writing for a while and
nearly seizing up when doing exams, but it hadn't occurred to me until
recently that my entire writing grip is odd. Holding a pen steady when your
fingers bend backwards under any pressure is not easy unless you hold the
pen ridiculously tightly.

Over the past couple of years, I've taken to using a fountain pen when doing
any extended writing. It's impossible to press hard on the page without
bending the nib badly and that seems to be educating me to use a slightly
better grip, but it's not perfect. I don't think that I'm going down the
ring splint route, but looking at the way my fingers bend on the pen does
start to make sense of my illegible handwriting and the stiffness that my
hands quickly aquire.

Unfortunately, I've noticed that my hands are doing the same where I knit.
I use the index finger on my left hand to steady the needles and it's either
bending backwards or locking into a semi-bent position most of the time,
which is making that finger a bit sorer than usual. Maybe I need to look
into doing something about that finger, even if it's just when I'm knitting?

Ah, the joys of having a wacky body!

Comments

[historyterry.livejournal.com]

Those ring splits look really cool - actually kind of Gould-hand-device-y. And they look like they really do the job, too.

I thought finger joints were supposed to bend like that, though! Mine certainly do!

Txx

[selenay]

They are very attractive items. I'm not sure that my hands are bad enough to need them, but if I decided otherwise in the future then I wouldn't have too many objections.

I thought finger joints were supposed to bend like that, though! Mine certainly do!

Yes, well :-) I think I've commented before that there are bendy things that you can do that you shouldn't able to do. I have this (maybe not so secret) belief that you have hypermobility in at least a few joints, if not quick so generalised as I do. It isn't outside the realms of possibility that some of your knee problems are due to your knee bending in ways it shouldn't be able to, which is remarkably familiar! I think we agreed last time we discussed this that you were working on one medical thing at a time :-)

[djonma.livejournal.com]

That's really cool!
I've emailed the EU one to ask for prices!

[selenay]

Glad that it helped :-) They do look very nice and like they'd really help with overly bendy fingers. Let me know if you decide to get any - I'd love to hear your experiences.

[paranoidangel]

I think you should just cut your body off, it would solve all your problems :)

[selenay]

One could say the same about you ;-) Are you feeling better?

On the subject of, um, you...can you email me a list of what you current can't eat? I'm starting to think about menu preperation for your visit :-)

[paranoidangel]

Well, at the moment I could do with my head being chopped off as well as my body :) I am better than I was but still dizzy: http://paranoidangel42.livejournal.com/315411.html

I will send you an email now.