Conditions Which Affect the Hands, and May Cause the Need to Type With One Hand

• Unless your condition is permanent, you will not want to learn to type with one hand. Take this time to learn something else that will be useful once you are recovered, perhaps voice acitivation.
• To use most one handed typing systems, you will need to have good useage of at least one hand. Click here to learn how to type with one hand.
• If typing has caused you to lose the use the full useage of one hand, then using the remaining good hand to do double duty is a very bad idea! You need to work with a professional therapist to determine what in the way you type has caused your injury.
• Note the links on the left for all kinds of one handed issues.

Most common permanent conditions which cause the need to type with one hand are: birth defects, accidental amputations, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, stroke, and other medical conditions (see below).

Formal Titles of Medical Conditions At Birth Which Affect the Hand

limb anomaly, apical ectodermal ridge, AER, radial dysplasia, constriction bands, Holt-Oram syndrome, VATER syndrome, Fanconi syndrome, TAR syndrome, Aase syndrome, Nager syndrome, Treacher Collins syndrome, Roberts syndrome, intercalated phocomelia, amelia, phocomelia, acheiria, adactyly, absence of hand, absence of fingers, preaxial deficiency, cleft hand, syndactyly, Apert syndrome, Poland syndrome, acrosyndactyly, symphalangism, radioulnar synostosis, flexion deformities, camptodactyly, arthrogryposis, clinodactyly, delta phalanx, duplication, mirror hand, ulnar dimelia, macrodactyly, arthrogryposis multiplex congenita

Alphabetical List of Many Types of Medical Conditions Which Can Cause Permanent, or Temporary Loss of the Use of a Hand

A

Acromegaly ... enlarged hands, tight gloves

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ... loss of motor control in hands and arms

Angelman syndrome ... hand flapping

Autoimmune thyroid diseases ... hand tremors, shaky hands

B

Beriberi ... hand paralysis

Brachial Plexus Injury ... lost muscle control in hand, numbness in hand

Broken hand ... hand pain, hand numbness

Buerger's disease ... poor hand circulation

C

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ... hand numbness, typically thumb, index and middle fingers affected, not usually affecting little finger

Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disorder ... problems with hand function, mild loss of sensation in the limbs, fingers, and toes

Chilblain ... finger skin inflammation

Chronic Bronchitis ... clubbed fingers

Coffin-Lowry syndrome ... short, tapered fingers

D

Diabetes ... hand numbness, hand tingling

Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy ... numbness in hands, pain in hands, tingling in hands

Down Syndrome ... deep transverse crease of the palm of the hand, deep palm crease

Dupuytren's contracture ... hand contracture, one or both hands affected, gradually progression hand contracture

E

Emphysema ... finger clubbing

F

Fahr's Syndrome ... "pill-rolling" finger motion

Familial emphysema ... finger clubbing

G

Ganglion cyst ... numb hand

Gerstmann's Syndrome ... inability to identify fingers (finger agnosia)

Granuloma annulare ... ringed red bumps on back of hands

H

Hand neuropathy ... hand numbness, painful hands, tingling hands

Huntington's Disease ... Finger spasms

Hyperthyroidism ... hand tremors, shaky hands

Hypothyroidism ... hand paresthesias

I

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis ... fingertips enlargement (clubbing)

Inclusion Body Myositis ... finger muscle weakness

Incontinentia Pigmenti ... webbed fingers

J

Joubert Syndrome ... extra fingers

Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis ... hand joint pain, hand joint stiffness

M

Marfan syndrome ... long fingers, spider-like fingers

McCune-Albright Syndrome ... enlarged hands

Mobius syndrome ... missing fingers, webbed fingers

Multifocal motor neuropathy ... symptoms start in arms or hands

Multiple Sclerosis ... hand paresthesias, hand tingling

O

Olivopontocerebellar Atrophy ... hand numbness, hand tremor, hand tingling

P

Parkinson's Disease ... hand tremor

Polyarteritis nodosa ... hand paresthesias, tingling hands

Polyneuritis ... hand numbness, hand pain, hand paresthesias, hand tingling, limb tingling

R

Reiter’s syndrome ... shortening and thickening of fingers and toes

Rett's syndrome ... hand waving, loss of purposeful use of the hands, hand wringing, abnormal hand movements

Rheumatoid arthritis ... finger arthritis

S

Sickle Cell Anemia ... hand pain

Sjogren's Syndrome ... limb tingling

Soto's Syndrome ... large hands

Spinal Muscular Atrophy type III ... fine tremor of the fingers

Stroke ... limb tingling and loss of use. Strokes are the leading cause of serious disability among adults in the United States, according to a recent report by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes. It's estimated that 1 in 7 Americans will suffer a stroke at some point.

Syringomyelia ... loss of hand sensation

T

Tardive Dyskinesia ... involuntary finger movements

Thoracic outlet syndrome ... hand pain

Thyroid disorders ... hand tremors, shaky hands

Type 2 diabetes ... hand numbness, hand tingling

U

Ulnar nerve injury ... hand pain