Little Finger, Big Impact

    In the short story "Man from the South" by Roald Dahl a soldier made a bet. This bet he made had his own pinky finger on the line. If the soldier lost the bet and had his little finger chopped off, he would be more likely to drop things while participating his daily occupations. He wouldn’t be able to participate in anything that required him to lift heavier items that he once was able to lift. If the bet resulted in a chopped off pinky, his overall hand function would be impacted: he would have a significantly weaker gross grip strength, and ulnar nerve damage which can result in the loss of skin sensation along the outer part of the hand as well as affect the functioning of the flexor carpi ulnaris and flexor digitorum profundus. The pinky finger attributes about 50% to your gross grip strength and if it were to be removed the soldier would now have only half of his previous total grip strength and maybe even less due to ulnar nerve damage. The ring finger would also be significantly affected because typically the pinky and ring finger work together on the power of the grip and without the pinky’s support it can’t exert as much force as it once did. All of this damage would be a significant change for the soldier.

In occupational therapy something that I would suggest that might help him participate in his occupation of being a soldier would be a limb difference aid. This device uses Velcro straps to secure the palm of your hand onto whatever you wish. There is a strap that will secure the device around your wrist then you can strap the inside strap to the desired object you want in your palm, then there is a final long strap that will secure the item in place. This adaptive device would help the soldier lift heavier items such as weights in the gym or lift/pull himself up using his grip. This device would address the occupational performance of the soldier by allowing him to continue working out and lifting heavy objects that are needed for his occupations in daily life.

Unlike the soldier who thankfully got to keep his pinky finger, the man’s wife has experienced finger loss, but it is the loss of 3 fingers. We know that this woman had only her thumb and one other finger. By only having two fingers the wife would have difficulty performing many occupations that involve any kinds of grip such as cooking, hygiene care, and even driving her Cadillac.  A device that would be very helpful for the wife’s situation is a small item gripping aid. This device is a glove that fits the wrist and hand. It has a palm pad with a plastic clamp and Velcro so the item the wife is trying to hold will be secure and she can control the movement of it with her wrist instead of her fingers.

Information on adaptive devices found at: https://www.activehands.com/shop/