My signature gets funkier and funkier -- should I be worried?

[Jingthing]

Getting older and rarely need to sign anything these days, such as checks.

Really, it's not legible and most of the letters are just not there.

I just can't make my hand do it anymore.

Perhaps if I sat down for several hours I could probably improve it, but that's not a NATURAL signature.

So when I DO need to sign something I am noticing that my signature gets less and less like anything I signed in my younger days.

I grew up in a school where we learned to write in cursive and my cursive was OK. Today I can write in BLOCK LETTERS at full competency.

But my signature -- it's really a mess.

Other than issues of it not matching anymore in banking and identity situations, is this a sign of a MEDICAL problem?

[Dr Robert]

perhaps the rise of the keyboard has taken away our capacity to write-or maybe its that we dont practise more earthy pursuits with our right hand as much as when we were younger-use it or lose it as the expression goes

[Jingthing]

perhaps the rise of the keyboard has taken away our capacity to write-or maybe its that we dont practise more earthy pursuits with our right hand as much as when we were younger-use it or lose it as the expression goes

I am hoping it is only a use it lose it issue.

I agree the keyboard, etc. is the thing now.

However, I find it a bit troubling that the block letters which I also very rarely do are still totally there, but the cursive signature is almost totally gone. I am guessing the control is from a different part of the brain.

Yes I can scribble SOMETHING but it is such a mess. and I know a mess is OK and common for signatures, but it's just that my mess ain't the same mess as 10 years ago by a long shot.

Edited October 30, 2013 by Jingthing

[LemonSqueeza]

perhaps the rise of the keyboard has taken away our capacity to write-or maybe its that we dont practise more earthy pursuits with our right hand as much as when we were younger-use it or lose it as the expression goes

I am hoping it is only a use it lose it issue.

I agree the keyboard, etc. is the thing now.

However, I find it a bit troubling that the block letters which I also very rarely do are still totally there, but the cursive signature is almost totally gone. I am guessing the control is from a different part of the brain.

Yes I can scribble SOMETHING but it is such a mess. and I know a mess is OK and common for signatures, but it's just that my mess ain't the same mess as 10 years ago by a long shot.

mine has become 2 squiggles, and if i have to repeat it through a sheaf of docs ans in thailand you so often do, it gets far worse. Signatures develop.

the biggest issue is that for many thais that do not need to sign things frequently, a signature is their name carefully printed and they do not understand how a signature can evolve through repition

[Jingthing]

The original signature of the current U.S. treasury secretary:

It's not legible but it is at least crisp.

His signature is on U.S. currency. He had to make it more legible after he got the job.

Edited October 30, 2013 by Jingthing

[richard_smith237]

I can't remember the last time I wrote a sentence by hand - everything is keyboard, I now type much much quicker than I could ever write.

Signatures: Mine too also is hardly legible, its morphed from reasonable looking signature to nothing more than a squiggle, my 6 year old nephews can copy it... The annoying part is - each time I wish to transfer a decent sum of money my Bank insists on a Fax with a Signature (Internet, Phone Banking or an E-mail with a digital Signature won't do).

[NancyL]

Yes, it could be an issue -- if you have to close a bank account and your current signature doesn't look like the signature you used when you opened the bank account AND the bank manager wants to play hard ball about not letting the money leave her empire.

I've seen it happen twice now with elderly people I've assisted who decided it was time to return to the home country and wanted to close out their 800,000 baht retirement accounts. Turns out that bank managers are "graded" by the accounts on deposit at their branches and if they lose a big one they have to make it up somewhere.

Another trick is to compare your signature with the black-light signature in the passbook or your signature in your 10 year old passport, or (better yet) your ancient passport copy used when you opened the account. Oh yeah, that old passport gives them another excuse not to give up the money. If the customer doesn't have the old passport, then you have to go to the consulate/embassy and get a $50 letter stating that the new passport is for the same guy as the old passport that was used to open the account.

I suggest you see both a neurologist and your bank manager if you have substantial bank balances.

[Jingthing]

I'm not really worried about the bank account issue here, but thanks.

I am interested in what it might mean medically. Is this symptom really enough to seek out a neurologist?

[Bikkii]

I really hope not! I was at the embassy last week applying for a new passport as the old one had run its course. Had to re-sign my signature 3 times, each one getting worse than the first before the lady just gave up.

Not sure why this happened, been quite a good boy over the last ten yrs and narcotic use minimal.

[Jingthing]

Does anyone have any links about this topic? I searched a little and couldn't find anything about it.

[mommysboy]

No you should not be worried about your signature. But it is worrying that you should be worried about being worried.

[Dancealot]

Do what I did, JT:

When I fixed my new passport I wrote my name in block letters as a signature.

This saves a lot of trouble

[WitawatWatawit]

Don't rule out neuro - talk to a doc. Discuss traction followed by special exercises, if necessary. Turned my life around, after years of fake heart attacks and numerous other symptoms. It's the modern disease of too much time in front of the computer and not enough exercise, weakening the neck muscles. These days I still go to a chiro twice a month, and it works for me.

[FBN]

Medically this would be defined as "loss of fine motor skills" which implies that not only the signature would be affected but also other fine motor functions of the hand. If not, in your case, it may simply be a "lose" issue.

If so, it may be an early manifestation of a carpal tunnel syndrome; strong association between this developing and keyboard use..

May be worthwhile to have an EMG test done to exclude carpal tunnel syndrome and a neurologist exam to test other fine motor skills.

[Jingthing]

Interesting. Thanks for that.

Well, I was never a person who really had much in the way of fine motor skills in the hand. Never great at detail work that involved good coordination.

Carpal tunnel would I think mean there was some pain involved which I didn't think I had but now thinking about it there is some soreness on the right handed mouse using wrist also needed for signature.

Years ago I did have keyboard/mouse related carpal tunnel and serious pain related to my computer based profession and wore a support thing for some months anyway. Maybe there was permanent physical damage.

Sounding to me (isn't self-diagnosis fun) like some kind of combination of aging, not practicing signature, a baseline of poor coordination, possible permanent carpal tunnel damage from decades of computer work. I guess none of this should be too surprising.

I guess I'll watch to see if other things are being effected.

The more I am thinking about this the more I am feeling that it probably is related to computer use related physical damage.

Edited October 31, 2013 by Jingthing

[NancyL]

NO, I'd suggest seeing a doctor and maybe going for some OT sessions. Loss of fine motor skills can affect other areas, like meal preparation, handling money, grooming, self-feeding, using a mobile phone, etc.

Think about all the old guys you see who have totally turned over money management to their Thai GF. You know, where the GF handles the ATM card, pays bills at the restaurant, makes all the phone calls, etc. Do you really want to turn over your life to someone like that? In many cases, it's because their fine motor skills are so shot, they drop their ATM card, can't hit the buttons on the ATM machine or the phone, can't pull money out of a wallet, etc. They should have started with OT ten years before when they first started to notice the problems. Instead, they've left themselves wide open for financial exploitation.

Please, go see a doctor.

[FBN]

Pain is not really one of the aspects of carpal tunnel; if it does occur it is quite late and by then there should be some numbness and muscle atrophy in the hand already.

The other aspect, for readers of this thread (not necessarily yourself) is that loss of FMS in the older person may also be a sign of early onset Parkinsons so a neuro exam is a good idea.

[dazk]

my signature has also degraded to a couple of squiggles over the years also my hand writing is now block capital only maybe because of the lack of hand writing we do now days

[Bikkii]

NO, I'd suggest seeing a doctor and maybe going for some OT sessions. Loss of fine motor skills can affect other areas, like meal preparation, handling money, grooming, self-feeding, using a mobile phone, etc.

Think about all the old guys you see who have totally turned over money management to their Thai GF. You know, where the GF handles the ATM card, pays bills at the restaurant, makes all the phone calls, etc. Do you really want to turn over your life to someone like that? In many cases, it's because their fine motor skills are so shot, they drop their ATM card, can't hit the buttons on the ATM machine or the phone, can't pull money out of a wallet, etc. They should have started with OT ten years before when they first started to notice the problems. Instead, they've left themselves wide open for financial exploitation.

Please, go see a doctor.

What is OT?

[Jingthing]

OT? Occupational therapy?

Thanks for your concern. The thing is I REALLY don't have ANY other concerning symptoms related to the use of my hands. So no I'm not going to rush out to a doctor about this unless I notice something else. Cheers.

One thing I will try to remember to do is to test out whether practicing my signature for some minutes can improve the legibility the next time I think I'll need to do some signatures. That will be interesting to know if practicing can improve it. I reckon it can but right now I'm not even motivated to do that.

Edited October 31, 2013 by Jingthing