A couple of weeks ago a member of our Vent Family made a comment that she was having problems with her hand(s) while Venting. This problem was made worse by the fact that she has arthritis in her hands.
There are a couple of ways to approach this problem. I too have issues related to arthritis in my hands. First a disclaimer. I am not a Dr. nor am I a health professional. That said, there is an increasing number of Doctors online who have come out with one suggestion. (Personally, I absolutely love tomatoes. I can stand over the kitchen sink with a salt shaker in one hand and three or four tomatoes lined up on the counter. In short order the tomatoes are gone. This is always the best during harvest season when the tomatoes are fresh from the garden.) The Doctors online have now come out with this suggestion. For arthritis – AVOID tomatoes. There is a chemical in tomatoes that absolutely inflames arthritis. Since abandoning my love affair with tomatoes, I know that for me, the arthritis has become much better. Shucks. I sure miss the little red devils.
Now, for the stuff that I don’t have to worry about my credentials being called into question. One of the major things in the design of JETs puppets is the mouth ball. When you put your hand in the mouth of the puppet, you will notice immediately that the four fingers in the upper part of the mouth are curved over a “ball” for your hand to rest on. Take your hand and shape it so that the four fingers are in the shape that they would be in the puppets mouth. Now take your thumb and touch the tip of the thumb to the tip of your forefinger. Your hand is now shaped like an “O”.
Without moving your upper four fingers, drop your thumb so that the shape of your hand now resembles a “C”. Look at your hand. With the hand in the shape of a “C”, bend your thumb at the first joint on the thumb. With your thumb bent in this position, move the thumb up and down so that the shape of your hand goes back and forth from a “C” to an “O”. The only thing that should be moving is the joint on your thumb closest to your hand. This should be the only motion needed to “power” the puppets mouth.
If you practice this, in a short time you will become very comfortable with this technique. You will find that the strain on your hand is much less than it was before.
Hope this helps. We will talk again next week.
Steve and JET