11/29/2004: Extra fingers and toes

[jinx]

Originally Posted by Wombat

It's one of the most common abnormalities. Often the extra digit gets snipped off just after birth, the wound heals up with no sign of a scar.

Our elder kiddo was born with poly, syn, clino and camptodactyly on (of?) one hand (right), and syn and clinodactyly on the other. Our younger kid lucked out I guess and only got camptodactyly on a few fingers of both hands.

And we have a barn full of polydactyl cats, they aren't uncommon at all in places where they weren't burned as witches.

[capnhowdy]

Every day I find a new reason to be thankful.
I had a friend as a child who was polydactyl.
In childish innocence I joked about how he had an edge on the rest of us.
He said his life was probably more complicated than someone with one LESS digit. Hard for me to imagine. I had practically forgotten about this dude.....

[Uryoces]

Originally Posted by capnhowdy

Every day I find a new reason to be thankful.
I had a friend as a child who was polydactyl.
In childish innocence I joked about how he had an edge on the rest of us.
He said his life was probably more complicated than someone with one LESS digit. Hard for me to imagine. I had practically forgotten about this dude.....

Gloves are not the gift of choice for this person I take it.

[Karenv]

You'd think extra fingers might come in handy. My husband was born with a tail. They just clipped it off.

[KronKyrios]

What a timely pic... i was just trolling for "image of the day" sites and found this pic was recently posted here. *I* have a double thumb on my right hand.

I have plenty of pics, and lots of little anecdotes... and yeah, gloves are a problem item... i usually buy a size up, and deal with the sloppiness of the other fingers, or cut a split in the thumb. Certain brands are better than others.

Bowling balls are a problem, so i had one special drilled for me... the guy spent eight hours drilling it (at least 6 attempts), but it still didn't turn out right.

And scissors! I have to turn them around and use the finger side for my thumbs and put one finger thru the thumb-hole!

[Karenv]

Originally Posted by KronKyrios

What a timely pic... i was just trolling for "image of the day" sites and found this pic was recently posted here. *I* have a double thumb on my right hand. ...!

Wow, as an acupuncturist I wonder what happens to the meridians that go down the thumb. Certainly the lung meridian, but the large intestine meridian which goes through the cleft between the thumb and first fingers might be affected too.

Is the second thumb fully functional? (How about using leftie scisors if you need to use them backwards?)

[Uryoces]

Originally Posted by KronKyrios

What a timely pic... i was just trolling for "image of the day" sites and found this pic was recently posted here. *I* have a double thumb on my right hand.

I have plenty of pics, and lots of little anecdotes... and yeah, gloves are a problem item... i usually buy a size up, and deal with the sloppiness of the other fingers, or cut a split in the thumb. Certain brands are better than others.

Bowling balls are a problem, so i had one special drilled for me... the guy spent eight hours drilling it (at least 6 attempts), but it still didn't turn out right.

And scissors! I have to turn them around and use the finger side for my thumbs and put one finger thru the thumb-hole!

Koala bears are similarly endowed. Aside from gloves and scissors, is it more of an asset or hinderance having a multi-thumb?

[wolf]

I was thinking that perhaps an exacto knife or rotary cutter of some kind would be far easier to deal with than scissors.

They are my preference for paper crafts and also pattern cutting, and I have the conventional number and arrangement of digits.

[KronKyrios]

Well, I don't know anything about acupuncture...

I did get an x-ray, and can tell you that the bones seperate at the first section. So, each thumb has two bones and one joint of it's own. The split is right at the base of where the side of my hand is (directly below the left side of my index finger). I have feeling in all parts... there are no dead-spots.

I can't use right-handed scissors very well with my left hand, because of how they are designed... the pressure you exert in the natural scissor-using posture keeps the blades together... if you use them in the wrong hand, it actually separates the blades as you cut, making it very difficult to cut anything. So, that also makes using lefties in the right hand impractical.

Xactos are fine, but I don't cut enough stuff to make it necessary. Most of my cutting is done with a mouse.

I am definitely Right-Handed. I am not skilled in much of anything with my left.

As for other tasks, having double thumbs seems mostly neutral. I don't have any great advantages... yeah, I can pick up one extra item when my hands are full... whoopdie-do... Sometimes, they come in handy while tying my shoes. The muscles are pretty strong, but i can't move each thumb independantly. I can barely bend them down, at all. I can pinch them together hard enough to draw blood (on someone else)... but i can't bend them.

I find that I use one thumb for some things, and the other thumb for other things... usually whichever one is closer, consideriing the task. For example, I use the inside thumb when writing, and the outside one to press the spacebar.

Kenneth

[BrianR]

I am still waiting for my attaboy for NOT posting my picture of a man with two you-know-whats. And it's not a fake either.

Brian

[xoxoxoBruce]

No forked tongue, Brian?

[Troubleshooter]

Originally Posted by BrianR

I am still waiting for my attaboy for NOT posting my picture of a man with two you-know-whats. And it's not a fake either.

Brian

That one belongs in the WTF section...

[Karenv]

Actually it looks like an extra little finger is more functional than an extra thumb, especially if you can't bend the thumb.

I guess for the acupuncture I'd use an extra needle on the extra digit.

[wolf]

Didn't you post a link to that somewhere else, bri? Coulda sworn I'd seen that one.

[KronKyrios]

Good question about scanning x-rays, jinx... I have never tried it, but i imagine someone at a copy center would know what to do... let me know if you find a good method, and I will try it for my x-rays... if i ever find 'em again.

There is one other nuisance I can think of, off-hand. The nails on the insides of the thumb rub together during daily chores, and will end up splitting tone nail or the other, usually right at the quick, sometimes below it.

In the long term, if I develop arthritis, I am sure that is going to be a problem spot. I remember when I was a kid, and I first started popping my knuckles, it hurt like hell to pop my thumb(s).

To go back to an earlier thread of this topic, I did not have my extra thumb cut off at birth because they did not know which thumb would be dominant. They decided to let it grow and see. When they finally decided that they could cut off either, and it would be the same, I was able to put my own two cents in... I specifically remember crying my eyes out, thinking they were going to take it away from me.

I still feel the same, now. It is so much a part of me, i would never consider cutting one off. When I was a teenager, I got into numerology, and found out my number was 11, based on other factors... but i didn't believe in coincidences at the time. I dont believe in numerology now, but I am still fond of the number 11, because it expresses my individuality.

______________

I'm Unique... just like everybody else.
- Kenneth