Tell me about your hands ...

[fyffer]

The southpaw thread made me think of this.

I was recently told by a female friend that I had very 'tender' hands, by which she meant that, for a man, they were rather soft and gentle. She didn't mean it as an insult, but merely reflected on the fact that most mens' hands were thicker, harder, more calloused, etc.

I have never really worked with my hands, except for the few years when I was a house painter, which isn't particularly hard on ones' hands. I've always tried to keep them in pretty good shape, inside and out. I use lotion. I trim my nails. I wear gloves when I do yard work and chop wood and build a fire. Am I a wuss? My livelihood (professional and avocational) depends on having my hands in good repair.

What about you?

[dwest]

I don't know. I can't see them through the actinic keratosis which I likely wouldn't have if I had wore gloves earlier in my working life. So yeah, you are a wuss 'cause everyone should have actinic keratosis And don't wear sunscreen either, or a hat. Hand lotions are for pansies and Methodists too. These suggestions are all courtesy of my plastic surgeon and dermatologists who like to go on expensive fly-fishing trips to the tropics and Alaska.

[Flyingcursor]

I have soft hands as well except for the tips of my left fingers and edge of my left thumb from playing mountain dulcimer.

[Innocent Bystander]

I've fairly soft hands. The fingers on my left hand are covered in little scars. These are mostly from various model-making activities when I was younger. There is a callous on my right wrist in line with my little finger, from leaning on drawing-boards. My right middle finger is noticeably thicker than than the other fingers, because it was broken and never re-set.
My sister sent me a book on palmistry a few years ago. I've dipped into it a few times but never read it through. I will say this, though. If you study palmistry, you always have something to read on the train.

[emmline]

Practical and serviceable, with long fingers. More bones than meat, and a cat scratch scar or two. Fiddle callouses on my left fingertips.

I like hats and suncreen. And gloves.

[Congratulations]

Mine are currently spotted with little burns from accidentally touching the steam wand after steaming milk.

And I bite my fingernails.

[jsluder]

My hands are usually a bit scratched and beat up, in spite of having a job that primarily entails typing on a computer keyboard. The scratches come from not always wearing gloves while doing handyman stuff around the house (or when scrambling over boulder fields on a hike).

There are only a couple of noticable scars, both on my right hand, and both reminders of a carefree (and careless) childhood afternoon: the little scar where the BB went in, and the bigger scar where the doc cut the BB out.

[CHasR]

I obsess about my hands.( & wrists) I manucure my nails to perfection myself, wear gloves ( usually fingerless gloves) 75% of the time, and wristies to bed ( took the metal pieces out: too stiff).
I mind constantly which way I pick things up, what& how I'm holding, and am consious at every moment of which way my hands are bending.
I limit my practice time, use relaxation + flexation exercises provided by a local hand centre, especially whan I have to perform for long stretches at a time. I can tell precisely when Im pushing their limits. I use moisturizer, lotions, and know when a good rub in the dirt is in order. I know which muscles to massage (and which not to)
, which tendons to flex, and when to apply heat/ cold. I use mousekeys, and touchpad and mouse in combo. I take fish oil daily. I can use the phrase 'synovial tendon sheaths' and know exactly what Im talking about. I use neosporin at the slightest scratch. By now you may think my hands are soft + delicate, but in reality they are hard + calloused, yet smooth and fragile. I can still lift 50 lbs with one arm, but not without wrist support.
Mrs ChasR has accepted the fact that I cant wear rings or watches. She says my hands are drop dead sexy. ( I wouldnt really know)
They are my greatest asset, which Ive never had quite enough money to insure properly.

[Coffee]

My hands are large, calloused all over except the pads used in piping and fluting. I lift weights several times a week, and I don't use gloves.
The knuckles are frequently red from bare-knuckle training on a heavy bag or targeting dummy. Right middle finger knuckle is about twice the size of all the other knuckles for some reason. I think I used to know why. Back of the right hand is somewhat scraped from a zipper on my riding jacket. There's a cut on my left thumb and I've no idea from whence it came. There's a mostly healed pinch wound on my right ring finger, at the tip, where it got pinched between two branches as I was cleaning up some storm damage on my property. All the fingernails are trimmed quite close.

[mutepointe]

I think you're on to something with this hand business. I only hang out with a few musicians and we never talk about our hands. Privately, I can bet, we all spend way more time on our hands than the average person.

I have standard issue, well proportioned hands. On a piano, I can stretch from a C to an F. I cut my nails weekly to play the guitar. I will occasionally emory board the callouses off my fingertips when they affect my guitar playing. The callouses get stuck on the strings.

I don't go in for none of that fancy manicure stuff but I do have very nice nails and often get accused of wearing clear nail polish. I don't.

I have great eye/hand coordination. I only wear a wide titanium wedding band.

I sometimes worry about losing the use of one or both of my hands and I think about which musical instrument that I could play then.

[Congratulations]

On a piano, I can stretch from a C to an F.

Wait--what?

Are you saying that a fourth is the biggest interval you can play? Are you saying you can play a 11th? Either way, I don't think of that as "standard issue."

[A-Musing]

My hands are typing this...

And they won't take the mental commands I'm giving them...

They're....they're....

Very beautiful, perfectly proportioned, and....and, well, just exquisite.

In a very masculine way, of course...

[Coffee]

I sometimes worry about losing the use of one or both of my hands and I think about which musical instrument that I could play then.

There's always singing.

[mutepointe]

On a piano, I can stretch from a C to an F.

Wait--what?

Are you saying that a fourth is the biggest interval you can play? Are you saying you can play a 11th? Either way, I don't think of that as "standard issue."

If you would pay more attention to ME rather than getting into cat fights with Jack all the time, you might remember me saying a few times that I'm a big person. For a 6'2" person, those are standard issue hands.

[rebl_rn]

Let's see. My nails are terrible, I don't take care of them as I should and they split/break easily, especially now as the colder weather comes. I would say as far as texture they are fairly average. I have club thumbs, which means my thumbs are short and wide. According to some internet sources, this means I'm a serial killer (as Ted Bundy apparently had club thumbs). Practically, they don't interfere much with day to day life except for some musical things like reach on a keyboard (which I play horribly anyway) and reaching around a guitar neck.