Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with limbs

Hands?

chara — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 19:52:14 -0800

How do I make a low-cost, yet somewhat realistic-looking severed hand/foot? I need a severed hand as a finishing touch to my halloween costume, but since the rest of my costume will be homemade, I'd prefer that the hand be as well. My only requirements are:

1) as cheap/low maintenance as possible. I don't want it to cost me an arm and a leg....(haha! I'm sorry, I know that was wrong, but I just had to...!!!!)

2) not too heavy, as it will be hanging off my butt all evening

Any tips, tricks, suggestions? I've seen some directions on instructables and other places, but they seem a little too labor intensive.
Thank you, wonderful mefites!

Is there a condition where your joints and limbs need to be weighted down?

pinksoftsoap — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:50:39 -0800

My friend has a strange condition where he feels a need to have weight placed on his body. Is there a definition and reason for this? Here is his explanation:

I'm in need of a medical diagnosis.

Symptoms:
All my life, I've had this need to have pressure and friction placed on my limbs. It's mostly confined to my feet and hands, but it also involves my whole arm and legs. I have a need, usually at night, to have someone sit on my hands, feet or knees. I would then move those limbs around to create friction with the clothes.

Contrary to some suggestion, it is not a sexual fetish for I get no sexual pleasure from the sensation. It is simply a deep seeded desire. At times, I think my joints hurt if they haven't had weight on them in a long time. It is not Restless Leg Syndrome.

I've had this condition ever since I can remember. Is there someone who has this also and is this a named condition?

Neurological disease identification help?

unrequited — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 06:06:04 -0800

Does anybody know the name of the neurological disease which breaks the connections of your passive feeling nerves but still leaves you able to control your limbs? I remember seeing a documentary about a guy who had this rare (about ~50 people in the world?) disease which left him unable to feel where his hands or other parts of his body. In order to do day-to-day tasks, he would have to look at his feet to walk, and at his hands in order to pick up things, and only by keeping his eyes on his limbs could he consciously control them. Otherwise, they'd float or spasm.

Please help identify this medical condition

convex — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 11:19:57 -0800

My older brother was born with a medical condition that I would like more information about. Being from a third world country does not help finding a label or diagnosis for it, so I will try to explain it as best as I can and hopefully someone will pinpoint it. I have been a US resident for a while and I am unfortunately not with him to see a doctor and find the answers that I need. From what I know it is incurable but who knows, maybe there is something out there that can help him out. As a baby he looked normal, but as he started growing up, he was not able to use neither his left hand nor left leg. It is not paralysis, but almost the opposite, tight muscles, as if the tendons are short, his hand as well as leg are shorter than his right ones, and the muscles are always tight, he can't even open his fingers unless forces it with his right hand.

Since there is not so much activity the muscles are smaller as well. From what I know from asking my mother, she said something about the midwife not helping him breath well when born. I can only assume that he was born normal but due to maybe lack of oxygen some damage happened.

I estimate his IQ as 95-100 SD 16, not as brilliant, tends to forget a lot, but everything else functions normally.
I am suspecting that it is a common medical condition because I have seen a person with exact conditions before.

He is now in his 40's and he has seen a doctor that performed a surgery to extend his tendons, on both arm and leg, to release some of the pressure, and he underwent a long physical therapy, unfortunatly the improvement was very minimal.

Thank you.

On Pins and Needles

Monster_Zero — Sun, 28 Mar 2004 16:44:12 -0800

Occasionally, when I sleep, I stick my arm under my pillow and rest my head on it (a leftover habit from having it in a cast years ago). I've gotten used to the confusion of having a numb, dead arm for a few minutes in the morning, but what's bothering me lately is something I remembered hearing a while back - which is that if you cut off circulation to a limb (put it to 'sleep') for long enough it can 'fall off' or suffer a similarly nasty fate.

So, can any sort of permanent, horrible damage result from what I'm doing, or is this just bunk?