Joint Hypermobility + Pencil Grasp

[@smilewhenyoureadthis9925]

Thanks so much for this video! As an adult with Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (borderline hEDS) who has struggled her whole life with hand craps from writing, seeing you actually show how egg grips fit in the hand and what they are used for was so helpful! Egg grips didn't exist back when I was first learning to write (or at least my occupational therapist did not know about them) and unfortunately every other type of grip I tried when I was 6-10 years old made it harder for me to control the pencil so I gave up on looking for grips entirely. Strangely, what helped me was a combination of playing a musical instrument (which strengthened my fingers), using mechanical pencils (which were wider and softer to grip than standard HBs), looking for pens that were a perfect balance of light pressure but not so smooth they were slippery, and writing almost exclusively in cursive. I'm of the generation that did not learn cursive in school (well, my private school taught it, but it was taught so poorly no one ever wrote with it voluntarily) but I taught myself when I was 11. My writing speed was abysmal and I had heard cursive might help. My printing is really neat but it is so slow and painful! With cursive I can write almost as fast as I can type (albeit messily hahaha), and I managed to write my AP English exam (about 10 pages, double spaced) by hand while only getting a cramp near the end. When I print my hand cramps after a few sentences since I have to squeeze my wrist to control my joints. I highly recommend learning cursive for people with hypermobility. The slant fits easier in the hand, the movements are more natural with less stop and start, your wrist can be so much loser, and if you lose control of the pen for a sec it just looks like a pretty flourish.

[@TheOTGuide]

Hello and apologies for my delay! Your comment somehow slipped under my radar. Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I'm glad to hear that the video was helpful for you. It's amazing how you've adapted and found solutions that work for you over the years. Egg grips can indeed be a game-changer for many, but it's also fascinating to hear about the unique ways you've managed your Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD) and hand cramps. Playing a musical instrument to strengthen your fingers, using mechanical pencils, and finding the right pens are excellent strategies. Your experience with cursive writing is particularly insightful. It's great that you were able to teach yourself cursive and find it so beneficial. The fluidity of cursive can indeed make it easier on the hands compared to print, especially for those with hypermobility. Your point about the slant and natural movement is very valid, and I hope others with similar challenges can find inspiration in your story. Thank you again for your thoughtful comment and for sharing such valuable advice. If you have any other tips or experiences to share, I'd love to hear them! -Dana

[@claudinaroncoli149]

Love this video, Dana! Super helpful. I love those egg-shaped grips, too. Whoo hoo! Nearly 20K followers! I love that your channel is growing so much! I am not on KZbin as much now that I'm not doing teletherapy but I need to keep watching your awesome vids! And everyone--smash that like button! 😄

[@TheOTGuide]

Omg, Claudina! This comment has turned my day around. Thank you so much for being so incredibly kind and supportive. Comments like these inspire me to make more videos!!

[@ellenfretz4096]

Agreed… I watched earlier today…we OT’s enjoy / appreciate your skills and your ability to share with others…Thank You…

[@TheOTGuide]

Aw, as always, thank you Ellen! I have been slow to release videos (just got married, been out of the country, life has been crazy!) but I'll be back with more soon! (Let me know if you have any video topics you'd like me to address)

[@ellenfretz4096]

@@TheOTGuide congrats to you… wishing you years of love joy and spending time on a porch .. relaxing and chatting with your …Best Friend…

[@lesliealoian387]

Good to see you back👍🏼

[@TheOTGuide]

More to come!

[@mlodamwahh]

Great video! Good review for me as a school-based OT. What happens down the line for students with hyper mobility ? Do they just use an accommodation (pencil grip) forever ? Most of my students with hyper mobility are not changing their grasps despite strengthening exercises

[@TheOTGuide]

Thank you so much! Also, so sorry for the delay - my life has been crazy! It's hard to say what happens down the line, it definitely depends on the person. Some people build up strength and change their grasps permanently, some stick with pencil grips, some use cognitive strategies to remind themselves to hold the pencil in a more ergonomic, safe way, and some rely on accommodations like typing or speech-to-text. It's tricky, I've seen it all! Let me know if you have any other strategies that help these individuals :) Thank you so much for watching my video, I appreciate you! and happy holidays!! -Dana

[@smilewhenyoureadthis9925]

@mlodamwahh I know I'm really late to this, but I am adult with a hypermobility disorder who was once a student with it, and I know a few other people with similar conditions. It is very common for young children to be hypermobile but most outgrow the condition by the time they are teenagers and stop needing supports. For those that don't outgrow it (like me), strengthening can help but it can only go so far. Hypermobility disorders are connective tissue disorders and cause all sorts of other internal problems like overactive muscles that seize up randomly and cause chronic pain. For students that already have chronic hand pain, strengthening exercises can actually make the hand pain worse because stronger muscles can contract more. As well, some people are so hypermobile even if they had the strongest hand muscles in the world they would still have stability issues. When you are hypermobile enough, something as simple as writing can completely dislocate your finger. So yes, many hypermobile teens and adults will continue to use accommodations like pencil grips and ergonomic pencils forever. Without proper supports, others may just continue to struggle, holding their pen incorrectly (or too tightly, like in my case. My grip is fine but I squeeze really hard) for the rest of their life. Many just accept that writing means wrist cramps and they just have to grit their teeth and suffer through it. Many will write really slowly or illegibly. Others will just avoid writing, and opt for computer keyboards and smartphones, maybe even voice-to-text. Many high schools in the US and Canada (idk about other parts of the world) allow for students to use laptops in class, or have accommodation programs for certain students. By the time students leave secondary school, they can use computers in university and look for jobs that don't involve writing. Inability to hold a pencil is mostly a problem in earlier grades where computers are not allowed. Some students may also find trying out a different writing style helps more. Some hypermobile people need to print while others (me) swear by cursive. Some prefer different angles to their slant when writing cursive. Having a desk at the proper height, a good chair with back support, an angled writing surface, wearing a compression sleeve or hyperextension braces on the knuckles and wrists, taking constant breaks, and trying different pens, ink, and paper types can also help. It really is just about experimentation and accommodation. There is no one-size fits all and you can't force it. For some hypermobile people, there is no good solution and giving them access to computers, voice-to-text software, or having someone else take notes for the them is much more feasible than making them suffer through hand pain, illegible or slow writing, and risking dislocations and subluxations.

[@Chris-xu9qw]

What can someone do when this person is hypermobile but doesn't have access to the egg shaped? Is there any other way to hold a pen functionally ?

[@TheOTGuide]

Hey! You can also modify how you hold the pencil - one way that's functional is called the "adapted tripod grip." Here's the link to see what it looks like-

[@TheOTGuide]

teachhandwriting.blog/2018/07/05/the-adaptive-tripod-pencil-grip-for-handwriting/

[@Chris-xu9qw]

@@TheOTGuide Thank you very much but I want to ask you something when you write in an adaptive tripod should your hand lay flat on the surface or it should be at an angle like how you would normally hold a pen I've seen both and i don't know what to do.

[@LizardXWizard]

There's different kinds of Hypermobility, one is an inherented flexibility that doesn't have to do with weak joints, the other is Hypermobile Syndrome which is the one with weak joints, and also cause pain and discomfort. Im no expert of course, so I'm open to discussion, but if someone is simply naturally flexible, I'm doubtful that strengthening the joints would have much of an impact on that.

[@TheOTGuide]

Hey there, thanks for coming to the channel. I definitely see your logic. I haven't worked with any students who are so flexible they can't hold a pencil - to me that's indicative of a larger issue, usually related to their joints.

[@LizardXWizard]

I do not quite understand. Flexibility means that the joint has a wider range of motion than average, right? Of course, there can be an underlying issue, but there doesn't have to be for someone to have extended mobility in their fingers.

[@LizardXWizard]

I apologize if it seems like I am being technical, but I wish to understand this better.

[@smilewhenyoureadthis9925]

@@LizardXWizard haha I know I'm months late to this but as someone with a hypermobility disorder perhaps I can clear things up. Something like more than half of all children are hypermobile but will outgrow the condition by their teens. There are also many adults who are just naturally hypermobile and don't experience other complications. As well there are a number of medical conditions that cause hypermobility, such as Ehlers'-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD - my condition), Marfan Syndrome, Down Syndrome, MS, and some autoimmune conditions like Lupus. Hypermobility conditions like EDS often have a genetic component, but don't have to. EDS and HSD are the most common hypermobility disorders (and they themselves are considered rare conditions, estimated to affect 1/5000 people). They are connective tissue disorders that cause the body to produce defective collagen, which leads to over-stretchy joints and a whole manner of other problems like dislocations, chronic pain, and POTS, MCAS, IBS etc. Some people with HSD/EDS are so hyperflexible they use wheelchairs and experience multiple dislocations a week. Others, like me, present as able-bodied but things are just a bit harder for us. Our joints feel like they are sitting inside a bag of jelly. Strengthening exercises can help, because stronger muscles can hold our joints in place to compensate for weak ligaments, but if your ligaments are weak enough even with crazy strong muscles your joints still won't be perfectly stable. Still, some strength is better than none. For people without a medical hypermobility condition, strength in hypermobile joints in still important. A joint that has a large range of motion needs strong muscles to control it to prevent sprains and overextension, whether the hypermobility is part of a larger disorder or not. Many people who are hyperflexible already have strong muscles, especially when the hyper flexibility comes from doing ballet, yoga, or gymnastics or if the person is just a healthy, able-bodied adult. But kids and unhealthy or unfit adults, even those who don't have a disorder, can still have instability in their joints if their muscles are not strong enough to control them properly. Of course, strengthening can only do so much. A muscle may be strong enough but prolonged reliance on it could lead to fatigue. It can also cause the student to tense up while writing to activate the muscle (like me) which can cause cramps and more severe wrist injuries. So, long story short, strengthening the muscle is a good place to start but it will only get you so far - hypermobility disorder or no. If the problem persists or if fatigue becomes a problem, other solutions need to be looked for as well.

[@inaborges2990]

✔️ ｐｒｏｍｏｓｍ