I Do Not Have A Double-Jointed Thumb
June 23rd, 2004
It’s true. I am a freak.
I have run into about sixteen people over the last two weeks who all have double-jointed thumbs. At the drop of a hat they can hold both their hands up in mid-air and flick their thumbs out of whack in a weird dance-like rhythm that is both intriguing and nauseating all at once.
Most people with double-jointed thumbs are extremely proud of that fact. Like it’s some kind of talent that they could go on the road with, or make a living with. Of course, not being a part of the underground cult that is all about double-jointed thumbs, I may very well be wrong. Perhaps, just like the Blue Man Group, there is a group of double-jointed thumb artists who, not unlike STOMP, do musical numbers strictly with the percussion that comes from the sound of a double-jointed thumb getting tweaked.
In fact, somewhere at this moment there is probably a casting director who is desperately seeking an actor or actress who can speak in a British accent and who just happens to have double-jointed thumbs so that they may be the next Bond villain who dispatches his enemies with the “flip of a thumb.”
Somewhere at this moment there is a group of double-jointed and weird-talented people sitting down in a corner booth at a local Denny’s showing off their double-jointed thumbs, limber (I can twist it upside down) tongues, yoga-like feet behind their heads, Cirque du Soleil-esque hole in their throat (after a tracheotomy) karaoke singing talents and much much more.
I just don’t happen to be one of them.
So what can you do?
Comment by Andrea — June 23, 2004 @ 8:07 pm
Yeah, I want to know, too. I have a crazy talent: I can turn my feet somewhat backwards. It’s creepy.
Comment by Lena — June 23, 2004 @ 8:33 pm
I have double-jointed thumbs, so there!!!!!
Comment by monkeyinabox — June 25, 2004 @ 9:29 am
i could bend my fingers back and turn my rist all the way around. and also in the middle of my fingers i could some how suck the skin in wich looks very wierd. most people say my hands are gollum hands (character out of lord of the rings). it does not bug me at all becaue i like gollum.
Comment by sheryl_gollum — June 27, 2004 @ 3:23 am
Not only can my thumbs bend back, but they can bend to touch my wrist and bend around my hand. Same goes for my other fingers. I can touch my palms to the floor with my feet together without bending my legs. I can pend only the tips of my fingers too. i can bend my body back and form an upside-down “U”. Oh, and about the tongue thing at the bar: do you mean making the tongue fat? Because I am able to do that. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of yoga. Maybe I should?
Also, my arms can dislocate and the elbows will be perpendicular with the shoulder on the other side. At times (when I am not lazy) I can place my foot behind my head. Don’t assume I am double-jointed. I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. VERY rare. Look it up on Google or Dogpile.
(E ys cunno ev oui drehg E ys pnykkehk…)
:’(
Comment by Miles — December 15, 2004 @ 1:47 pm
Miles — this is very troubling news.
Comment by Pauly D — December 15, 2004 @ 2:01 pm
I have had a life long interest in double jointedness.
I would love the chance to correspond with any of you who are so blessed.
Thanks.
Jeff
Comment by Jeff — December 19, 2004 @ 1:04 pm
I was about 8 years old when I realised that I was special, as I have double jointed thumbs. My sister’s son (Lachlan - 13 years old) also has double jointed thumbs and I have just realised that my own son (Tim), who is almost 2 years old also has double jointed thumbs. Unfortunately Tim does not yet realise that he too is special. It is only the boys in our family that have double jointed thumbs, which makes me think that it could be an X and Y chromosone thing.
Comment by Scott — May 20, 2006 @ 5:06 am
I am double jointed at both knuckles of my thumb, I’m not proud of it or anything, people always say it looks wierdo but it really comes in handy when I’m playing bass guitar. As far as being blessed or special because of it, I don’t know about all that.
Comment by Thomas TallChief — June 15, 2006 @ 11:38 am
i am double jointed. i can bend my thumb right back and turn my wrist in a 360 degree circle. i can also do this weird thing with my fingers were all the joints like bend its hard to explain and also i can lick my elbow 2 ways which everyone i know is suprised as it is ment to be impossible.
i am proud:)
Comment by rach — June 24, 2006 @ 12:25 pm
II also am double jointed. I can bend all my fingers back to my wrist. Lock my fingers at all joints. Also my shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, ankles, and toes. Just becareful in the future. As a child i was a championship baton twirler using my fingers and wrists practicing and in competition. As an adult i am feeling affects of stiffness and pain.
Comment by deb — June 26, 2006 @ 1:11 am
I am double jointed with my thumbs! i can make it (only 1) lie back flat on my wrist. I can make the tips of my fingers bend while keeping the rest straight un-assisted. I can also bend my fingers back 90* and tuck my thumbs behind my hands. Its fun ‘cuz i can freak people out with it. I only found out that i was double-jointed when i met someone who was. So when i tried i could do it! I love it because it makes me different to others.
Comment by Niki — October 20, 2006 @ 1:17 am
Hi,I just found your page,I’ve been extremly DJ since birth and could/still do most things like put my legs behind my head,bend right over backwards and put my head between my legs and all the others like fingers,hands and feet tricks etc it use to be a party trick now im 36 years old it can corse problems in bad weather like pain and some times my joints just come out of place
Comment by Lilly — October 29, 2006 @ 8:10 am
I am double jointed in the bottom knuckle of my thumb and every one thinks it is cool.I can bend my thumb back and my bottom knuckle of my thumbs on both hands will pop into my hand on the other side of my knuckle.
Comment by Destiney — November 7, 2006 @ 12:44 pm
ha ha! i was just looking on google to see if i could find other people who have double jointed thunbs and i came up on your site! its sooo cool!!! i like popping my thumbs, since im doble jointed when i pop them i can pop them from all three thumb joints at once, its a great sound!
Comment by Jesus T. — January 19, 2007 @ 12:38 pm
I’m double jointed in only my left thumb as is my brother and my father. it’s strange that only the left thumb would be double-jointed. pretty much everything is double jointed including my elbows. it’s pretty fun, not many people have double jointed thumbs or elbows.
Comment by Hillary — February 27, 2007 @ 8:05 am
Omg omg omg
im so happy right now
i was talking to my friends about this yesterday and I can do the same thing as Nicki, above. I can bend my thumbs all the way back and put them on my wrist, i can bend my fingers, the tips, without moving the rest of my fingers and i can bend my fingers back 90 degrees on my hand. i love it, so fun to freak people out. BTW, im 17, so this is a super cool trick to show off
Oh, and i thin only my left thumb is double jointed, cant check my right one, its in a cast
Comment by Olga — March 8, 2007 @ 8:01 pm
It’s not an X any Y chromosome thing, it’s one of the other chromosomes. If the chromosome in the pair is dominant then the person has double jointed thumbs. If the other chromosome is dominant then the person has ordinary thumbs but can pass it on to their children.
I had a mate at work who’d damaged her leg due to excessive gymnastics as a small girl, she was saying one day she could pop her hip out of its joint. When I told her “but you can’t do THIS, can you” and showed her the thumb (something I did actually think was rather pathetic by comparison with what she could do), she almost threw up.
Comment by Disgustin' Justin — May 2, 2007 @ 2:13 pm
haha i feel pretty proud right now. i can disclote my thumbs, and they happen to be double jointed as well. i can turn my hand 360 degrees and also spin it that far aswell. i can dislocate my knuckles. snap my pinky so the knuckle comes through my palm. i can bend only the top of my fingers while keeping the rest of it straight ( [ it looks like that minus the little line at the bottom). haha yeah im pretty much a freak
Comment by Julia — May 4, 2007 @ 9:33 am