Losing My Grip

I’ve come to the point in life where I am losing my grip.  Literally.  I’m not sure about the figurative part.  I’m hoping I’ll be the last to know about that.  But the grip involved in unscrewing caps on over-the-counter drugs (like simple pain relievers for my frequent thumb and wrist agonies) have become all but impossible.

It’s an arthritis thing.  Since arthritis runs in Nyel’s family and he has been suffering the symptoms longer than I, he isn’t much help in the Gripping Department.  But he knows tricks and usually, between the two of us, we can open new bottles and jars of condiments without resorting to smashing them to smithereens in frustration.  Usually.

I often think how our opposable thumbs are one of the key factors in differentiating us and some other primates like chimpanzees and orangutans.  So, as I lose the ability to engage in opposable thumb activities, am I reverting in some crucial developmental way?

I was interested in reading about a study published in the journal Nature Communications that new research finds that human hands are more primitive than those of our closest primate ancestors, chimpanzees.  Apparently, human hand proportions have changed little from those of the last common ancestor of chimps and humans, while the hands of chimps and orangutans have evolved quite a bit — to the point that their thumbs cannot be used in an opposable manner.  Hmmm.

Well… that’s a relief.  I may be losing my grip, but I’m not returning to a more primitive state.  Yet.  In the meantime, hooray for gripping aids and what my mom always called “main strength and awkwardness.”  Seems to work every time.

 

One Response to “Losing My Grip”

  1. Sara Chase says:

    Sidney I have under the counter jar and bottle opener that is essential to me and the losing the grip thing! The one I have is a pampered chef item, but there are others out there!

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