Fine Motor Skills: Function, Tasks, Role & Diseases

When fine motor skills no longer function, this often happens insidiously and is not noticed by the affected person at first. Examples are when the sewing needle suddenly slips out of the fingers or the small screw can no longer be held. The cause research is sometimes difficult, because there are quite a few diseases that are responsible for the failure of fine motor skills.

What is fine motor control?

Fine motor skills define, for example, the perfect interaction between the hand and fingers and cannot be replaced by anything. Fine motor skills develop by the age of three and are formed at about 4 ½ years of age. It defines, for example, the perfect interplay between hand and fingers and cannot be replaced by anything. If we observe children under about 4 years of age doing puzzles, we see that they have difficulty holding the individual pieces in their hands. The older they get, the less difficulty they have with this task. As adults, we take it for granted that we can hold a pencil in our hand and write with it. Fine motor skills then function perfectly. If we want to insert a thread into the eye of a thin needle, we wet our fingers and it happens almost by itself. Functioning fine motor skills can be compared with the so-called “fingertip feeling”. Even though this is a phrase that does not have to be taken literally. Without a good feeling in the fingertips, fine motor skills do not work.

Function and task

Each limb of the hand has its individual task and cannot be replaced 100% by any graft. If the fine motor function fails, difficulties arise, for example, when guiding the soup spoon. This also applies to the use of knife and fork. Moving the car then also becomes a problem. The steering wheel no longer lies securely in the hand and as soon as an obstacle appears or a squall grabs the car from the side, the driver no longer determines the direction. There is hardly any professional activity that can be performed satisfactorily when fine motor skills fail. At a young age, the decline in fine motor skills can be treated by special gymnastics and taking anti-inflammatory medication. In most cases, the diagnosis is that patients suffer from osteoarthritis. This is a sign of wear and tear on the joints that is often very painful. Medications help the pain be tolerable, but do not stop the disease. There are good surgeons who specialize in the accompanying symptoms of the decline in fine motor skills. However, since no one can predict a satisfactory outcome for surgery on the hands and fingers, the risk lies solely with the patient.

Diseases and complaints

The muscles in the joints, which are already quite weak, weaken with advancing age. People who suffer from loss of fine motor skills notice this deficiency every day. They can hardly wring out a rag and can no longer pursue even their favorite hobbies. Gardening is hardly possible or only possible with pain. Even peeling potatoes or vegetables is described by those affected as very laborious. Unfortunately, arthrosis in the fingers often means that they are disfigured by ganglions and knots. Certainly, both “blemishes” can also be operated on. However, the risk is high. Nobody can guarantee that after the operation the fingers will move normally again and that there will be no impairments. If you do not want to undergo surgery, you can beautify your fingers with jewelry. Several designers specialize in creating spiral rings that discreetly hide knots and overhanging bones. There is no question that those who like to do a lot of manual work will suffer from the decline of fine motor skills over the years. Professions such as gardener, precision mechanic or accountant are also almost predestined to suffer from a decline in fine motor skills. Any heavy physical activity inevitably leads to this. In many cases, overloading of the spine also plays a role. For example, herniated discs in the cervical and thoracic spine also lead to a decline in fine motor skills.