Thread: benign tremor

Out of curiosity, does anyone have a benign tremor, slightly shaky hands, that makes straight razor shaving a bit more interesting?

Have you been drinking...........?
To be honest, when I started I did occasionally have shakey hands but now I don't have any problems. I think once you are used to the actions your muscle memory works well to prevent them.

Actually, I have an intention tremor of unknown cause aka primary tremor. I think it runs in my family, I remember my grandpa had it pretty bad, my dad a little, and I got it pretty good.

When I hone sometimes, I need to set it down and walk away since I start shaking the more I try to concentrate.

When I shave, I try to stay "loose" and not focus so much since it makes it worse, the harder I try to hold still. Every so often I have to set the razor down, shake my hands for a few sec. and try again.

Still easy to deal with, and the better you get at shaving, the faster you get, thus making the problem negligible. Unless I have been drinking and smoking, in which case, screw it.

Wow, I can't believe the timing on this.. I was finally getting up the courage to bring this up when I came upon this thread. Yeah, I have primary tremor pretty bad. Bad enough that my co-workers will sometimes ask me why my hands are shaking. It's not really that bad while shaving, but it makes honing two-handed necessary. It also makes my hand writing *really* bad.

Reminds me of the old cartoon where the old man is bringing a straight to his face to shave, his hand is violently shaking up until the moment the straight reaches his face, at which time his hand goes rock steady!

Originally Posted by joke1176

Actually, I have an intention tremor of unknown cause aka primary tremor. I think it runs in my family, I remember my grandpa had it pretty bad, my dad a little, and I got it pretty good.

When I hone sometimes, I need to set it down and walk away since I start shaking the more I try to concentrate.

When I shave, I try to stay "loose" and not focus so much since it makes it worse, the harder I try to hold still. Every so often I have to set the razor down, shake my hands for a few sec. and try again.

Still easy to deal with, and the better you get at shaving, the faster you get, thus making the problem negligible. Unless I have been drinking and smoking, in which case, screw it.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who has shakey hands and like you, the more I think about it,the worse it gets.It is getting better though.I actually haven't nicked my face that much so far apart from the very first go I had and I left myself with a little scar on my right cheek which is fading. I steady the razor by touching the tip of the handle with a finger or two especially when I do my neck.I finished off using my safety razor which I get more nicks from!My next shave with the str8 will be my 4th time.

Originally Posted by JMS

Reminds me of the old cartoon where the old man is bringing a straight to his face to shave, his hand is violently shaking up until the moment the straight reaches his face, at which time his hand goes rock steady!

That reminds me of yoda in 'Attack of the clones' Where he kicks major ass, wielding his light sabre like a 700 year old musashi. And then after the fight, he picks up his walking stick and shuffles off (or did he shuffle to the fight ). Anyway I thought it was a really neat story element.

Sometimes, especially after a cup of coffee. I just slow down a little bit and it also helps to make a quick mental image of the razor running steady and smooth. I have to do the same thing when I shoot rifle in the offhand position (standing) in competition.

I have a slight case of it. It runs on my father's side of the family. Makes straight razor shaving a bit of a challenge, but worth it!

Wow! I'm surprised at the feedback. Because I have a very slight tremor, which I only really notice while working under the microscope at work, I thought I would ask.

The good news is that if you've had this tremor all your life it's nothing to worry about! I've heard these tremors are more pronounced when your fatigued, or just finished exercising. Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants so there's no surprise the tremor is worse after these drugs are in the system. So I guess the moral to the story is to shave well rested, not right after lifting weights, and not just after a double latte or a pack of cigs!

I like the comment about visualizing, I think this is a great technique. It is well used in sports, and seems to work for those that do it regularly. Zig Ziglar described this in the 70's in a motivation book where he tells the story of the vietnam POW that plays golf in his mind to stay sane and then his game has improved when he returns home from the war. A sports psychologist wrote about this too, I think the book was titled "pursuit of excellence". I don't see why this wouldn't apply to shaving as well.

Dave