Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with hand

How dangerous is this glass in my hand?

shelayna — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:26:45 -0800

I think there's a piece of glass in my hand. Is this a bad thing? A few days ago I broke a glass on the kitchen counter. It shattered into millions of tiny little shards. I stupidly swept them into the garbage with my bare hand. I then, more stupidly, brushed my hands together to get rid of any pieces- forgetting that these were bits of glass that could hurt me. Well, one did hurt me- and I wasn't sure if it had entered my hand or not, but now I'm pretty sure one tiny piece did.

It's the palm of my hand, in the skin below my fingers, right between the index and middle finger. It looks like a little pimple, slightly raised and pink. If I push on it a certain way, it hurts. The little cut the glass made has already scabbed over, so if there were no glass in there, I don't think it would hurt anymore. It doesn't hurt unless, like I said, I press on it.

If there is a piece of glass in there, how bad would it be to just let it be there for a while? I really don't have time to go to a doctor for a few weeks- but of course, if it's an emergency, I'll do it. Can I let this go for a while, or am I in imminent danger?

The puzzling Palmaris Longus

jgwong — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:10:41 -0800

The Palmaris Longus is a notorious muscle of the hand since some people don't have it at all. Wait, what!? Yes, according to the Wikipedia, it is absent in about 14% of the population.

My anatomy book says this muscle does the flexion of the hand. My question is, are those 14% incapable of moving the hand that way? Do they miss something? Are they disabled in some way?

What is being solicited by this hand gesture in the streets of Baltimore?

That takes balls. — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:43:22 -0800

What is being solicited by this hand gesture in the streets of Baltimore? While driving through the urban wilds of Baltimore, I sometimes see sketchy looking women standing on sidewalks or medians, with one arm outstretched toward the street as if hailing a cab. But the hand of the outstretched arm has the index finger and thumb touching (perhaps as if holding a joint) and the hand waves up and down, much like Mr. Roper's hand gesture when talking about Jack.

Does this gesture mean, "Come get your drugs here"? Or "I'm looking for drugs"? Does it refer to pot or any particular drug, or is it something else like prostitution? I've only seen this gesture done in B'more, not other cities like nearby DC.

Bonus Wire reference: I once saw this hand gesture being done in the background scene of a Wire episode.

Shoe Fly, Don't Bother Me, or Mike Tyson?

thankyoumuchly — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 08:09:07 -0800

Why aren't tiny insects killed by the impact of a swatting hand? Why aren't tiny insects (flies, bees, mosquitos, etc.) killed by the force of the impact of a human hand, (or any other "solid" object...fly swatter, textbook, etc.)? For example, the following does not kill insects:

(hand) Solid Object -> Insect <> Air

I was thinking this may be due to a "cushion" of air surrounding the striking object, but I've also swatted insects directly into the pavement/concrete before and I've never seen one die this way either:

(hand) Soilid Object -> Insect <> Air -> Solid Object (concrete)

Crushing/clapping the insect in between my hands in mid air (or between my shoe and concrete) DOES result in death to the insect, but that seems obvious to me, see the following:

(shoe) Solid Object -> I >n >s e < c < t <- Solid Object (concrete)

. . .

So what gives? Why is this? It seems like most living objects larger than a mouse would not survive any of the above scenarios, but an insect can survive 2 out of the 3? Hell, a human can't even survive all 3 of these sometimes (a Mike Tyson punch to a human head in mid air may end badly). Surely my hand (relatively speaking of course) swats a fly in mid air with more force than does the force of the hand of Mike Tyson punching a person in the head?

What's the reason???

this grad school thing is a real pain in the hand

sararah — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:29:19 -0800

YANAD, but I'm having some noticeable pain in my right (dominant) hand in the muscle in between my index & middle finger knuckles on the back of my hand. I'm also writing my dissertation. The pain seems to be in the interossei muscle. Mousing (especially scrolling) and touch typing aggravate it, but I don't think the pain is ever really sharp, more of a dull tightness/muscle cramp. I'm not really having any other wrist/repetitive motion pain, just the hand muscle. I don't really have any other regular joint/arthritis pain. I have a decent chair height & I'm typing on a laptop.

Mostly I don't want to break my hand forever by ignoring it for the next few weeks. I'm almost done with the dissertation, but the comes the defense slides and probably another paper, so I'm going to be doing a lot of computer work in the next 6-8 weeks. I'm not really writing much in the evening so I am taking breaks then at least, and I could start icing it.

Should I go see the doctor about this? Or should I just go take some ibuprofen and quit worrying?

(Even though I went to the eye doctor, that time my eyeballs went sort of wonky from staring at the computer too much seems to have worked itself out ;)

Should a righty become a lefty again?

gwpcasey — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:12:19 -0800

Should a left-handed person forced, as a child, to be a right-handed person teach himself to be left-handed as an adult? A relation of mine was forced, innocently but ignorantly, to use his right-hand over his naturally predominant left hand. I only found this out recently and the guy has some difficulties in various areas of his life and it made me wonder if this might have something to do with it.

In any event, is there any benefit in this guy (now in his mid-30's) learning to write etc with his left hand? Scientific, anecdotal and completely baseless opinions are all welcome.

Thanks.

My hand hurts - help

chrisinseoul — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 08:10:53 -0800

My hand hurts, and I don't know why? You are not my doctor, but maybe this sounds familiar to someone and I can avoid sounding like a complete moron to the doctor... Again, I know you're not my doctor - but maybe this sounds familiar.

A few days ago, my left hand began hurting in an unusual way. Holding my left hand vertically (as if shaking someone's hand) and bending my thumb either way has become increasingly painful over the past few days. I first noticed while doing push-ups (my wrist / thumb area was too painful). At present, it is difficult to have confidence in holding a cup or anything of more than a couple pounds. A friend suggested I try a wrist wrap (like an ACE bandage of sorts), which hasn't done much to make things feel better...

I am left-handed, male, 27 years old. There's no family history of arthritis, and while I can't rule out carpal tunnel, my right hand is perfectly normal. Computer user, but not a gamer.

Suggestions? I plan to see a doctor sometime this week as my schedule permits.

How do I build a hand cranked projector?

tealeaf522 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:51:28 -0800

How do I build a hand cranked projector? I'd like to build (as easy as possible!) a hand cranked projector to show a simple 30-second film (no sound). It's for a Green project so I'm trying to use no electricity to show the film(s) and I think it would be fun if it used something like bike pedals or some such to crank away. I can't seem to find anything online like this...any suggestions?

Library job vs. My hand pain (not carpal tunnel...)

wowbobwow — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:27:28 -0800

My dominant hand has a painful, bony bump at the joint where my index finger and palm meet (the MCPJ) and I AM going to see a Dr this week about it. Can anyone recommend things I can do to help it not get worse? I cannot not type at my job. If you've had something similar where just one digit was out of commission, what did you do? I want something like a splint to keep it from bending at the base, but I can't find anything like it for the palmar-finger joint. I work at my keyboard constantly, and using the mouse is getting difficult. I've heard of ergonomic mice but I'd like to know people's experiences before I plop down some cash.

But also... WTF? I've had this thing for years but it suddenly grew to the size of a pea and started hurting. Can people even get bone spurs in their hands? Again, am seeing a Dr soon, but I've never heard of this sort of thing. I asked a similar kind of question on AskMe last year which turned out to be very helpful! My hope is to find a similar outcome for this query. Thank-yee.

Help me remember this foreign game!

Black_Umbrella — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 08:52:49 -0800

Does anyone know the game "kawanoo" or "Quano" (sp)? It is a complicated rock paper scissor type game that uses hand gestures along with words (african)? I cannot remember the rules in there entirety but it was like rock paper scissors...sort of. One player would say a word and match it with its proper hand signal. The other player had to match it at the same time to win and then that person could choose the next word/gesture.

It was a very fast paced game, ending in a matter of seconds as well as complicated due to the foreignness and complexity of the words.

Anyone know the game and the rules?

WTF is with my hands?

sully75 — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:45:32 -0800

I'm having periodic numbness in my hands, very minor. I'm a musician (violinist). I might have messed something up exercising. I recently started practicing a lot more. I'm trying to be very careful. Also I type a lot. And it's cold. I'm freaking out a little bit. I'm looking for some level headed advice.

Basically the deal is

January 11th I started a new practice regimen. I started doing 3 hours a day. 1 hour scales, 1 hour etudes, and 1 hour music (I actually play fiddle music, but I'm studying classical technique right now). It went great for about 12 days straight...no problems at all. I was so excited by keeping up with things that the next day I decided to start exercising too. My exercise of choice has been intervals of Burpees, squats, leg lifts and crunches.

So I did that one day and wore myself out, right after practicing.

The next day, I had two very short but rather severe feelings of pain in my wrist. It felt similarly to a muscle cramp in my leg. A feeling of having pulled a muscle.

It freaked me out and I took the rest of the day off and the next day from practicing.

I'm not sure if it was the practicing or the exercise. I'd had no pain from practicing, and the exercise was the new variable. The pain seemed to go away, but came back once when I was sitting on the floor and pushed myself up off the floor (bending my wrist against the floor)...which made me think it was the burpees (which are like crazy pushups...and where I might have been dropping myself on my wrists without cushioning myself.

Since then I've eased off on the practicing, but I'm experiencing periodic numbness in the hand that originally felt the pain. It's been very mild. I'd say if the numbness you feel when you wake up on your arm and it's totally dead is a 20, this is like a .5 The pain seems to have gone away.

This morning the numbness is slightly more intense. Maybe a 1 out of 20. But I can feel it.

The other thing is that there is a touch of numbness in my left hand, which I don't think I injured in any way.

I'm totally paranoid about getting carpal tunnel or tendonitis. So it's entirely possible this is psychosomatic. And I could see myself worrying myself into a tizzy about this.

Are there any good resources about hand diagnosis online? Or good exercises or info like that? I've been warming my hand before practicing and walking more instead of the high intensity exercise.

For the record, in the past violin teachers have told me that the fundamentals of my technique and my physicality are really healthy, and I'm working hard on playing without tension and being mindful of my wrists. I don't have access to medical care right now (no insurance, no money). I'd really like to get back to practicing. I don't think I'm doing anything really off the mark here. I'm almost wondering if the whole numbness thing is totally psychosomatic, and that the injury was just what it was and is gone, but I also don't want to injure myself further.

Any advice?

I'm wondering too if a certain amount of aches and pains are part of being a musician. I've been playing music for a long time and never really seen this addressed in a non-hysterical but also non-dismissive way.

Thanks!

Choosing hand sanitizers

saturn25 — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:26:49 -0800

Does brand name truly matter when shopping for hand sanitizers? Purell is the brand I automatically think of, but it seems that the drug store brand or other generic brands out there are cheaper. The ingredients seem to mostly be the same. And if I understand the concept correctly, it's mainly the alcohol in the sanitizer that kills the germs. So seriously, what is the difference between the brand name or generic? Is there a reason to trust a recognized name over a generic one? Does anyone have any preferences?

Touch typing, minus one finger

Jeanne — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 09:15:59 -0800

I'm losing the use of one of my fingers. But what I'll miss most is the touch typing. How to relearn it? In February I'll be having surgery for a benign bone tumor in my right pinky finger. Unfortunately, the tumor is close enough to the joint that my doctor says I'll lose the joint.

I'm a librarian in my day job and a novelist in my night job. I type a lot. Do you know of any resources for relearning how to touch type with one unusable finger? I know of one-handed keyboards, but it seems that, if I've still got nine fingers, it would be better to use them all.

(Super extra bonus question: if you have any experience with this kind of hand surgery, I would really appreciate hearing about pain levels and recovery time and when you were able to go back to work and anything else you think might be helpful. I'm mildly freaked out about this.)

How to treat split fingertips?

skechada — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 08:38:34 -0800

How to treat split fingertips? About once a month, I pretty routinely get a crack in my fingertip, at the corner where the nail meets the fingertip. It appears to go down through several layers of skin and is pretty painful for a few days. After moving in the cool air this weekend and handling dozens of boxes, my hands dried out and I've got (ouch) four split fingers.

Is there anyone else that gets these and if so do you have any tips at either preventing them or treating them? It doesn't seem that bandaids help, and I try to use moisturizer, but otherwise it's a guaranteed three or four days of pain regardless of what I try.

Numb fingers during sleep?

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 20:22:40 -0800

During sleep, I experience hand or finger numbness. It involves the first three digits mostly (thumb, pointer and middle). It is not due to sleeping *on* a particular hand (it affects the hands one at a time, I think) as I have experienced it on the uppermost hand when sleeping on my side. I have lower back issues and wonder if this is a symptom of damage further up and yes, I plan to see a doctor about it, but I would like to be as knowledgeable as possible before making an appointment. I am in my forties and have a family history of adult-onset diabetes (Can I test for this at home?) and MS. I don't sleep through the night due to the back issues and notice this several times through the night. Any suggestions for things to pursue with the doctor? (I do not have this problem during the day.)

Does anyone know shorthand?

sweetmarie — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:19:01 -0800

I'm working on a historical postcard exhibition and one of our postcards has some type of shorthand as the message. I was wondering if anyone could translate it? I don't know what type of shorthand it might be written in. Here's a link to a picture: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3046/3046872988_aaecc48b29_b.jpg

Thanks!

Quality goods made by real people

dance — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:36:19 -0800

Talented people making high quality goods (belts, wooden objects, pens, misc leather items , clothes, manuscript books, etc) at reasonable prices. A recent askme thread whetted my appetite for lovingly crafted objects created by real people who have a talent and a passion for their work, and are maybe selling on eBay...or via a personal website.
These things are perhaps made simply but effectively, or in a traditional way - and the seller's aim is usually not massive profit but just to see their quality goods used by happy customers.

Or maybe people who refurbish antiques, get them working again and sell them on?

A real world example is a man called David Naish who sells his high quality leather wallets, belts, pouches etc from a bridge in Jesmond Dene, Newcastle, England for very small amounts of money.

Fingertips. Fingertips. Fingertips. (I hear the wind blow...)

buriednexttoyou — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:15:29 -0800

What is wrong with the skin on my hand? I have had a history of dry skin on my hands, and of course it gets worse in the winter. There's something new this year, though. I've had these patches of itchy dry skin on my fingers for years now, but this is the first time it's had an effect on the growth of a nail. Here is a not very gross, but kinda big picture with notes as to what's going on. The right hand has several patches, the left only has a little patch on the ring finger. I've been moisturizing the hell out of it, especially every time I wash my hands.

Does anyone else have something like this? Is it something beyond just plain dry skin? What should I do to treat it?

Possible causes for pain in left shoulder, arm and hand for about two weeks?

Nelsormensch — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:49:37 -0800

My fiancée has been experiencing pretty severe pain in her left shoulder, arm and hand for about the last two weeks. She saw our family doctor last week and has another appointment tomorrow. We're looking for some more pointed questions to ask. Details inside. About two weeks ago, my fiancée started getting pain and soreness in her left shoulder. Severe pain in her left hand and arm soon followed. Since then, things have been consistently painful. She has difficultly picking up all but the lightest of objects and grasping smaller items as well. Even when the pain is milder, she still describes a feelings of severe "tension" or "tightness," especially in her hand.

Things generally feel better in the morning and get very bad in the evening. Additionally, and this seems significant, if she lifts her arms above her head, things feel *much* better. Not completely fine, but close. She's trying to avoid using her hands/arms as much as possible, but obviously 100% non-use isn't really feasible.

Our family doctor checked her out last Thursday, saying it likely wasn't an RSI, tumor or MS. She said something about acute inflammation, suggested taking Advil three times per day with meals and to come back in a week. The follow-up is tomorrow and things haven't gotten much better.

We'd like to ask about some specific things, but aren't exactly sure what. If I had to guess, I'd say it was a pinched nerve in her left shoulder. Anyone dealt with something similar?

I checked the archives, but couldn't find any shoulder/arm pain questions that seemed similar. Thanks!

HygieneFilter: should I always use soap when washing my hands?

XiBe — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:56:19 -0800

HygieneFilter: must I always use soap when washing my hands? My view is, I take a shower every day, hence my hands are cleaned everyday, because I use them to soap-up the rest of my body. Soap on hand = clean hands.

So, no need to wash my hands with soap before/after usual daily tasks, only if I get my hands dirty (before&after eating a burger, after fixing a pipe, before cuddling a baby, after cuddling a dog). For other daily tasks, I tend to rely on a rule of thumb of a good wash up with water and an inversion of the 42 seconds rule (ahem).

Case in point: the g/f saw me just washing my hand (w/o soap) after a quick pee, and insisted on my using soap (not just water) everytime from now on.

While I know it's more hygienic to soap-up rather than just water-up my post-loo hands, I always felt I was able to tell when my hands needed more than just watering, and thus was able to go about my duties faster

I know she's right about it, obviously, but am I that much wrong about my asumption?

What is this discoloration on my hand?

Damn That Television — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:44:39 -0800

I recently got a stripe of mild discoloration on my hand about a half-inch long. I am almost certain that it isn't a bruise, as it has been on my hand for about a month now. It has faded, but doesn't look like it's going to go away on its own. What caused it? More info: I didn't burn it, didn't spill anything unusual on it, I noticed it in the middle of the week so I didn't likely get it while drinking on a weekend, it doesn't hurt, it doesn't impair movement or rotation in any way. It's on the top of my hand, below my second finger where the thumb joins the hand.

looking for hand lettered signs in NYC.

abirae — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:07:23 -0800

Where can I get hand lettered signs in NYC? I want to get hand lettered signs made for a friend's wedding. Ideally I would like signs like those in old grocery stores and times square tourist shops. Here is a picture I found on flickr.

$6.99 sign

The sign at the bottom of the photo that says $6.99 is the kind of thing I am looking for. I have also seen much more complex ones that use a lot of neon orange and blue.
Where do all of the souvenir shops get them? I have tried asking at the stores, but no one seems to know.

It was more than a flesh wound.

Venadium — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:33:05 -0800

My turn: what movie have I been thinking about for the past 15 years or so? The only scene I can remember is some guy getting his hand chopped off in a cave or dungeon. Sometime around 1992-1994 or so, I was out grocery shopping with my parents. I ended up wandering into the store's video rental department, where they were playing this movie on the TV. The only part I'm able to remember in any detail was this: Some guy being held prisoner, chained, maybe had long hair. He gets led to this big rock, where they hold his arm down on top of the rock and chop his hand or arm off, with a sword or maybe a big axe. The cave or dungeon this took place in was very dimly lit (as caves and dungeons tend to be). I know that's not too much to go on but hopefully someone else has seen this.

Phantom Foot Thumb

Lownotes — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:03:12 -0800

Does anyone else ever feel the presence of a phantom thumb jutting out of the side of their foot? Since I was a kid, I've been able to create a phantom thumb sensation along the side of my foot at will. It feels like my foot takes on the appearance of a monkey foot, and I can distinctly feel the opposable toe/thumb.

Whenever I tell this to my friends, they also can feel it. Sometimes they have to hold out their hand and compare the layout of their foot to their hand before it kicks in. For most, this is disturbing.

Anyone else? Are there any references to this phenomenon in the science literature? Is this some strange vestigial evolutionary quirk? Is it some sort of body-mapping malfunction?

my dominant hand is no longer dominant. help!

melodykramer — Tue, 27 May 2008 02:23:47 -0800

i was in a very bad car accident this weekend and smashed my dominant hand and my non dominant shoulder. i've been told my dominant hand may not regain full functionality. any tips on getting through the next few weeks/months? any good car accident recovery stories? the car rolled 3 times and i am very lucky and thankful to be alive.

aside from my hand and shoulder, i am not physically injured. i shielded my head with my left hand as the car rolled. every time the car hit the ground, my left hand scraped the ground and now looks pretty, pretty, pretty gross.

of course i am visiting all sorts of ortho + hand surgeon people, but i'm quite concerned about my left dominant hand. i write a lot for work and pleasure and was 100 percent left sided.

compounding that is a bad tear in my right shoulder. the combo makes me armless except for my right hand, which has no range of motion while my shoulder recovers.

i am home with my parents but want to be as independent as possible. any tips/advice for the 1 armed lady? :P (this took forever to type.)