In A Man from the South,
an American soldier and older South American man make a bet with his Cadillac and
the soldier’s little finger being the rewards. Before they could complete this
bet, the old man’s wife comes back and informs them that he has taken many
people’s fingers over the span of a few years. In the end, we find out it is
her Cadillac and that she is missing four fingers.
If the soldier lost the bet and, in turn, his pinky finger, many of his daily occupations would be impacted such as getting dressed, writing, tying knots, pulling rope, and lifting weights. Biomechanically, his hand function would be affected as he would lose a great bit of grip strength without all his fingers. The little finger is important for full prehension (taking hold of an object), pulling, and pushing objects and body weight. Opposition (the action of bringing the thumb to fingers) is an important movement for pinching and gripping. Without this ability, the soldier would have trouble with occupations like doing push-ups, holding a row and using it in water, writing, opening tight jars, and holding heavy dumbbells. A piece of equipment he could use for opening jars would be a rubber gripper. These are low tech devices that would require less grip strength from the user. This would address the soldier having quality of life, an outcome outlined in the OTPF-4, because if he had to have help opening jars to eat certain foods for the rest of his life he may not feel as independent and content.
Additionally, the man’s wife had to make changes to her daily life and routines after being left with only her thumb and one finger. It was mentioned that she was returning from getting her hair done, and it’s possible that she did her own hair before she lost those fingers. She would not be able to hold her hairbrush or style her hair in the way she wants without proper grasp and pinching abilities. She could attach a universal cuff to her hairbrush to help with keeping the brush held firm to her hand and completing this task independently.
Hey Amberlee!
ReplyDeleteI liked how you focused on the biomechanical aspect of the impact of losing the pinky finger. Not many people realize how much we rely on our pinky for everyday tasks. I do think that using the rubber gripper would be very beneficial for the soldier to use for opening things. He would be able to get lots of tasks done that he couldn't do befrore. For the wife, using a universal cuff would be perfect for her to use! It would bring her great satisfaction and it would increase her quality of life!
Great job ! :)
Hello Amberlee,
ReplyDeleteThe universal cuff idea for the wife to help brush her hair is a great modification! She'd be able to do so many more routine tasks (eating, brushing her teeth, etc.) with the cuff on its own, that way she would not struggle as much with gripping these everyday items and complete them more effectively. Any kind of physical activity involved with being a soldier ultimately affects him without his pinky, but I wonder if they have modified sizes of rubber grippers available for bigger tasks (rowing, dumbbell lifting, pulling rope)? That way, he could assist his grip with different tasks using the same kind of equipment. Awesome post!