ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´

Faint fingers

Question: Just after I wake up, my hands often feel very weak. A good stretch
is all I need to get rid of the feeling and, even without stretching, it passes
off within a few minutes. Does everybody feel this and how does it happen?

(continued)

Answer: With regard to the previous reply to this question (24 January), I
would like to reassure the questioner. I don’t think he has carpel tunnel
syndrome. It could be, but is more likely a more minor problem.

I would be interested to know the age of the questioner because, as a child
and teenager, I experienced precisely the effect described every morning. On
discussing it with friends, I found that more than half of them had encountered
the same thing. The effect diminished and finally disappeared before we turned
20 and we are all now in our mid-fifties. Neither I nor any of the friends I
have kept in touch with have ever suffered from hand or wrist problems and we
have variously played the guitar or bass, rock climbed, water-skied, windsurfed,
weightlifted and sat for long hours at computer keyboards, so we’ve all had a
good go at inducing problems.

Neil Buchan

by e-mail, no address supplied

Answer: Your correspondent describes how carpal tunnel syndrome can produce
problems in the mornings and says that the tendons can be divided surgically to
relieve the symptoms. Division of tendons will lead to permanent weakness of
flexion of the fingers and any surgeon who divided the tendons would be very
sorry indeed to have done so. What can be divided is the transverse carpal
ligament, which is quite a different matter.

However, your questioner said that a good stretch is all that he needs to get
rid of the weak feeling in his hands in the morning. Therefore his problem is
probably not caused by carpal tunnel syndrome, but simply the effect of lack of
movement—a loss of fitness overnight, if you like. The movement of the
hand in the morning will increase the proprioceptive feedback and wake up the
nervous system.

Christopher Gardner-Thorpe

Department of Neurology

Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital

Doh Tee La So Fah Me

Question: After a particularly heavy night’s drinking, I sometimes wake up to
find my customary high, nasal, tenor voice (no, it’s not very attractive)
replaced by something louder, clearer and much, much deeper—Kenneth
Williams has become Barry White. This usually lasts for several hours. Why? And
how can I replicate the effect without sustaining nightly brain damage?

Answer: The lowering of voice tone after a night of drinking is probably not
metabolic in origin, but caused by a subconscious relaxation of the vocal
chords. The vocal chords are similar to violin strings—higher tone is
produced by either shortening the strings or by increasing the tension. We
cannot change the length of our vocal chords, because this is determined by our
genes, so we tighten and relax them to alter the note.

I have observed that men who have nasally tenor voices when speaking are
often natural basses when singing, if they allow their vocal chords to relax.
Stress or nervousness can cause tension in the throat, making the voice tone
rise to unnatural heights. A good hangover will remove all other worldly
concerns and allow the vocal chords to unwind a little. A mild laryngitis will
also turn a nervous tenor into a more husky and natural bass.

Richard Burton, who was famous for his fabulously masculine voice, admitted
that when he was young he had a squeaky voice which he hated. So he stood on the
hillsides and shouted himself hoarse until he permanently altered his vocal
tone. This was a drastic measure by a determined young man (and one
thatNew ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´does not advise—Ed); perhaps taking up
singing would be a more natural recourse?

John Duley

London

Answer: Prolonged vocal abuse (such as talking while drunk in a noisy pub)
will leave your vocal chords slightly swollen the morning after. This is
analogous to finding your muscles are stiff after exercise.

Because swollen vocal chords are heavier, they tend to vibrate more slowly,
which lowers the pitch. As the chords recover, the fundamental pitch returns to
its higher value. This phenomenon is not restricted to weedy tenors.

Most people can learn to make their voices richer and more interesting,
although I wouldn’t recommend this approach.

David Cox

Ovingham, South Australia

Dawn misery

Question: Why do roosters crow in the morning?

Answer: In fact, roosters crow throughout the day, although crowing tends to
be more vigorous at dawn and decreases from late afternoon (about 3 pm) ons. I
have heard my roosters crow as late as around 5.30 pm (in summer). Crowing
begins at or just before the crack of dawn— as my neighbours will
testify.

This led me (with some persuasion from the local council) to soundproof and
lightproof the coop. Apparently, both the light and the sound of wild birds’
dawn chorus can stimulate crowing, which is a territorial response as well as a
means of showing off to females in the chicken run. Sound and lightproofing are
only partially successful, however, because the crowing seems programmed into
the rooster’s biological clock.

C. Crook

Preston, Lancashire

Answer: The majority of birds take part in what is known as the dawn chorus.
The singing is probably largely territorial. For about half an hour around
sunrise, more birds will be singing than at any other time of the day. The
average domestic rooster is considerably louder than other birds and is
therefore the most noticeable at dawn.

However, roosters do not always crow at dawn. If your questioner visits
Cornwall on 11 August next year, she will be able to hear the dawn chorus,
including the roosters, during the false dawn at the end of the total eclipse of
the Sun, which will occur during the middle of the day.

Jon Miller

Helston, Cornwall

Answer: Revenge for coq au vin.

Sean Kelly

Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire

This week’s questions

Heating disorder: I use hot water only in the morning and after work. Is it
more economical to leave my gas water boiler on constantly or to set it to come
on twice a day?

Susan Easton

Royston, Hertfordshire

Spot luck: Does eating sweet things really cause spots?

Morna Pugh and Andrea Walker

London

Tongue tied: What are those little flaps of skin arranged in two rows under
the tongue called and what is their function?

Anthony Booth

Grahamstown, South Africa