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Doctor Strange’s nerve damaged hands
As Doctor Strange is the first Marvel hero with physical disabilities to get a solo film in the current cinematic universe-. Though, yes, Tony has a heart condition and panic attacks from PTSD in the films and we have Daredevil (who is blind) on TV- I feel it’s important to understand certain aspects of Doctor Strange’s condition.
There have been complaints about the “inconsistencies” of his hands shaking in the new live action Doctor Strange movie as if they should be shaking constantly or as if this is no big deal at all.
Serious nerve damage of the hands would cause more than just occasional tremors. There’s actually a lot to it.
We’re specifically told that Doctor Strange had been in the wreckage for some time before they were able to get him out and to the hospital for surgery. This unfortunately increases the likelihood and extent of permanent nerve damage.
Nerve damage in the hands can cause a type of palsy (the involuntary tremors) but it also causes several other things too that are also detrimental to functioning as a very precise and agile surgeon.
1. Tremors. As established, every so often his hands will shake. Common with nerve damage this happens as a synaptic response to anxiety or stress due to the signals from the brain not communicating properly with the nerves of the hands and visa versa. The result is something similar to a machine having a short circuit and the electricity shooting off unpredictably, causing unpredictable synaptic responses. Sometimes it can be random. Sometimes it can be anxiety or stress related where the tremors happen when he feels a surge of negative emotion, a new useless involuntary reflex. The synaptic responses don’t react correctly to stress-induced stimulation, which could trigger the tremors. This can also lead to fatigue, joint problems and muscle spasms in the hands and lower arms.
2. Loss of fine motor function. Fine motor of the hands is the agility within your palms and fingers to perform delicate and precise tasks with your hands. The hands have the most precise network of nerves in the body (outside of the brain itself). In fact the reason batwings function better than those of a bird are because bat wings have a a bone and nerve structure very similar to hands.
Even if Doctor Strange could control the tremors the fine motor skill has been greatly reduced. In the 2007 animated Doctor Strange movie he had difficulty turning the key to the door of his own apartment and in both the animated movie and recent live action movie we see that he cannot trust himself when shaving his beard, at least not with his old fashioned straight razor.
In both the 2007 animated Doctor Strange movie and 2016 live action movie he has to practice writing his own name and even then it comes out as the sloppy, awkward writing of a small child, whereas his handwriting used to be smooth and graceful. The precision and muscle strength is gone, as we see from the scenes of him in rehabilitation in the live action movie.
3. Loss of Control. Not quite the same as the tremors, loss of control is when the hand (or fingers) either clench up or abruptly lose grip on an object without warning. This can also be reflected in involuntary movement or lack there of, when he forgets to concentrate, and even if he does. The most common depiction of this with Doctor Strange is the sudden loss of grip of an object such as simply turning a door knob. This also entails the ability to raise the fingers he wants to at the time he wants to. Sometimes lifting fingers up will result in the total collapse of the finger toward the palm or the curl down of the finger when it wants to be pointing up toward the sky. Focusing on one finger could cause involuntary motion or loss of motion in other fingers. This is why Doctor Strange uses a hands free phone in the 2007 animated Doctor Strange movie after his accident. Controlling multiple fingers at once could be difficult.
In the live action movie the magical casting poses we see Doctor Strange in are not necessarily deliberate but working with his new physical limitations.
4. Sensation / lack of sensation. The loss of sensitivity in the hands is very common with nerve damage. You can be holding something but curiously, to you, the hand feels empty. Or physical contact could feel like thousands of tiny needles touching the hand. Sometimes it’s been described as feeling as if the hands are asleep, the tingling feeling of a limb being asleep. Or worse yet, that rubbery sensation when you sleep on a limb and it’s lost circulation and you seem just barely (if at all) able to control it and it does not feel like it’s actually a part of your body. There can feel like many needles are piercing the hands, or numbness, or tingling. There could even be a lack of sense of touch at all where he can only tell he’s actually successfully pressed or touched something by watching with his eyes. Imagine touching the surface of a balloon and not actually knowing if what you are touching is soft or hard and only really knowing you are touching it from sight, or getting phantom improper signal transmissions such as touching a soft fabric and your brain is telling you that the sensation you are feeling shouldn’t be soft cotton but rather abrupt needles of pain. It is very likely Doctor Strange has experienced all of these in varying degrees. This cannot be good for someone who conducts surgery.
5. Weakness. As described in the Doctor Strange: Strange Origin graphic novel and as shown by his rehabilitation scene in the 2016 movie Doctor Strange’s hands are now physically very weak. He is more likely to hurt himself than hurt another person if he attempts to punch someone. This is confirmed in the Doctor Strange: Strange origin graphic novel in which Wong chastises him that he would have been better off using a brick rather than hurt his own hands and accomplish nearly nothing.
6. Muscle spasms. The combination of tremors and nerve damage itself could lead to occasional (and potentially painful) spasms of the muscles of the hand or fingers. This can also lead to the hand locking up in a grip or pose against his will or releasing a grip or pose against his will. Cramping up or seizing up is a feature of this.
7. Paralysis. The Palsy that causes the tremors also will cause occasional paralysis where the hands will (for a time) seem utterly useless- like they are just there for show. It can be frustrating as this is not necessarily a constant thing and can come on at any time and there is always the fear that one day it may be permanent- which is sometimes a possibility with some forms of nerve damage (though admittedly it likely won’t happen to Doctor Strange but he may irrationally fear it, just the same). You could be telling your finger to simply move and both hands are perfectly still despite your best efforts. And there is no telling when the paralysis will come on or how long it will last.
8. Alien hand Syndrome. Besides the hands occasionally not responding to do what he wants them to do, sometimes they might react or move as if on their own accord. Fingers twitching or grabbing things that they shouldn’t. And sometimes this can happen with the frightening combination of lack of sensation from nerve damage so that it’s like watching another person’s hand doing things against your will.
9. And probably the most petty (For many). Unpleasant scarring from the seven surgical attempts to repair his hands. (which may be why he wears the gloves in the movie’s bonus scene).
10. Emotional trauma and humiliation. The emotional trauma and humiliation from his loss of being able to conduct surgery, or even keep a steady grip on a glass of water or a pen is extremely great. There’s nothing more embarrassing for some people than needing help to do basic things. It can lead to anger, frustration, lashing out, or as we saw from the animated and live action movie, financial ruin with the obsession that what he has is not good enough and should be better. He even attempted suicide in the 2007 animated movie due to depression from his disability before he came to terms with it.
11. Unpredictability / Unreliability. Nerve damage can be unpredictable, from sudden sensation or lack-there-of to tremors, to sudden release of a grip, to an abrupt tightening of grip (though rarely the latter), to sudden limp paralysis, to tingling and pain or no sensation at all. And it’s very hard to guess when any of these symptoms might kick in. One moment you could seem fine, the next not or one moment you could be having great difficulty and the next they seem okay.
Note: Yes, I know things are handled differently in the comics, which is why this post is specifically in regard to the 2016 live action movie and the 2007 animated Doctor Strange movie.
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Glacier Bay National Park by Matt Howard
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Decorating!🎄🐈⬛ I hope you all are eagerly waiting for the Holiday season! This will be my first holiday in Japan, I wonder if I can find a tree somewhere to bring home and decorate😅 By the way I just now launched a Holiday Sale in my shop! Prints are 3 for the price of 2 + washi tapes, sticker sheets and the Shikishi art book are also on sale for the first time! I hope you check it out💕✨
