Mirror movements

[Kevin3007]

I am a 40 year old male in Wisconsin who has had bimanual synkineses/mirror movements from birth. I'm wondering if A)there are different severity levels and B)what percentage of the population as a whole has this. I have read about this condition on this site and a couple of others, but have never met anyone else who has this and in turn, I've been curious about these two things for a long, long time. Thank you for reading.

[simplyme59]

Dear dr_simran,  I just read your reply to Kevin in the year 2008. Are you still linked to this site? I am 54 and also have mirror movement. I live in Marshfield,WI and would like to know more about this. I have all the complications that go with this and want to see an EXPERT on this. How do I go about finding one? I do check Dr.journals for research and have uncovered some info through out my life. I know Parkenson's and rectal cancer are highly probable in my future because of the absence of an identified protein. Arthritis, ADD, motion sickness, and lower back and neck problems are common with this and I have all five. As the years add up, they all get worse. I would love to talk to you. I have 2 degrees and can't find anything I'm physically able to do anymore. Thank you, simplyme59

[val_lynn04]

This is a very old forum, but I'm a 25 year old female living in Indiana and I've had bimanual synkinesis for as long as I can remember. I've broken my right hand on a couple of occasions (boxers fracture) and experienced much difficulty doing anything with my left hand.  I had pins in my hand and everytime I did anything with my left hand it felt like the pins were working their way out of my right.  I just recently discovered that Im not as strange as I thought...  I've played the saxophone for years and have became very good. I picked up on it rather quickly.  I've tried the guitar and my right hand locks up on me (which I thought could have been from the broken hand)  College and highschool writing assignments were always a chore since my left hand would cramp up on me while my right one was doing all of the work.  Swimming is nearly impossible and as mentioned above, when one hand is carrying something heavy my opposite arm muscle tightens as if it's carrying something as well. I'd love to find more information on this but it seems to be nearly impossible.  I have a mild version of it, but at times it's worse than others.  I think i'm going to go to the library and look up some more information since the internet hasn't been much help.  If I learn anything new, I'll be sure to keep you informed.

Valerie

[Niklaus]

There is now a group on facebook for People with bimanual synkinesis.

[Niklaus]

I'm turn 50 in January 2009 and also have bimanual synkinesis. I know this is hereditary, because a paternal great uncle had it. I have no symptoms of Kallmann's syndrome  and I also have a mild form of sub-cognitive synesthesia.
I was told as a child that this is very rare, by a GP who had heard of it. A far as I can tell this is rare enough that it has not been possible for any serious scientific study.
My great-uncle seemed to be able to fight it better than I ever could, so I suspect there are different levels of severity. I have read of some with this that can play musical instruments quite well. I tried keyboards and guitar as a form OT, but I'm not very good at either.

  I think we should start a forum for this. Maybe we can gets some answers by comparing our experiences.

[kat77415]

I'm 31, female and currently living in Oregon.  I am so excited because all my life this has just been some weird thing that no one had ever heard of.  Im my junior year of college, a cat bit my hand pretty bad right on the large knuckle of my little finger of my right hand.( the one where the finger meets the hand) I went to the er but they just said that it will heal on its own and didn't do anything.  Well of course it got infected and while it didn't pose any threat to my health, it hurt like crazy.  I couldn't even think about moving my hand without incredible pain.  Needless to say that I also couldn't move my left hand either.  This really really sucked because  I was working as a waitress and a chemistry student.  I couldn't even lift a glass for at least a week.  They still let me work because luckily I had some nice coworkers that helped a lot.  I did have to drop a chem lab and a biochem class though because there are some things that you just can't do left handed or even just one handed.  It seems like a large price to pay for a very small injury.  I have never broken a bone so i can't compare the amount or type of pain to an infection in the joint but let's just say that i really hope that nothing happens.  

[Kevin3007]

Hello,

I'd like to learn more about what happened in the aftermath of your hand injury, as I've always wondered what would happen to me if I broke an arm or wrist or something. Also, what is your age/gender/state?

Kevin
Janesville, Wisconsin

[kat77415]

I am actually online right now trying to find out the frequency of bimanual synkinesia.  I just found out that name yesterday.  I am so excited to finally hear of other people.  I wish I would have found this years ago.  I used to live in New Orleans.  For the most part, my life has been normal and very functional.  The only time I have had a problem is when I injured my right hand and was effectively unable to use either hand for weeks.  I had to drop college classes and everything because I couldn't function.  It is nice to hear about others out there.  

[hatchhome]

Hello Kevin,  I cant belive I am talking to someone else that lives with what I have.  I am 28 male living in New Olreans Louisiana.  My mother has the same thing and so does my 5 year old son.  I grew up not having a clue wht I was born with, (my mother never reserched it) and went until I was 23 and my son was about to be born.  I wanted to know some of the same stuff as you, how rare is it and is there anyway to stop it or relive some of it.  I went to almost ten different specialists before finding one doctor that told me it was hereditary bimanual synkinesis.  I have not been very sucessful in my research so far, The only clue I have is it is the crossing of the fibers between the left and right brain, the average brain has about 90% that cross as it controls the body, ours has more like 95% to 100% in severe cases. It is most common in people that have severe metal retardation (im assuming you don't have that) :-)  I was told by a doctor about a way to fix it was through a labotomy (seperating the right and left brain) but this carries risks and the side affect is alain hand syndrome and thats worse in my book.  Please write me back,  sounds kinda crazy but it would be nice to have someone I know that deals with this.  I live a normal life but it has its problems.  I am a professional firefighter for NOFD and almost all my coworkers know about the CRAZY HANDS as they call it and I go through plenty of **** for it ( all in good fun)  I THINK  thanks for reading this Kevin and please write me back.

[Kevin3007]

Thank you for the post. However, I am well aware of these details. I was looking for specific answers to the questions in my initial post.

Thank you,

Kevin

[dr_simran]

Hello dear,
Hereditary bimanual synkinesis is as its name implies an inherited movement disorder affecting the hands and fingers. In this condition repetitive voluntary movements of one hand are accompanied by involuntary mirrored movements of the other hand.
Individuals affected by this condition do not notice this until it is noticed by others, and it may effect their performance at particular bimanual tasks such as playing the piano, typing or climbing ladders.The symptoms vary from person to person.
This condition may be associated with the the X-linked form of Kallmann's syndrome
Refer http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=-2006253558
Best