The World’s Largest Hands: Each Hand Weighs 9.5 kg, A Lifetime of Pain
Duangjai Samaksamam, a 59-year-old shopkeeper from Surin province in Thailand, is believed to have the world’s largest hands. Each hand weighs about 9.5 kilograms, a heavy burden that has swelled her limbs for more than five decades. This rare condition has left her with constant swelling and intense pain. "My hands are so heavy that I can hardly lift them to comb my hair or wash my head with shampoo; it is very difficult," she says. "Getting dressed is also very hard and painful."
In This Article:
Twenty Years Hidden from the World
For the first 20 years of her life, she hid from the world, ashamed of how her hands looked, and she rarely left the house. She did not attend school during this time. Circumstances later forced her to stop hiding in order to earn a living and care for her parents. She took on the responsibility of running the family grocery shop and supporting the family.
Hope Comes and Goes: Surgeries That Couldn’t Cure
Doctors around the world have shown interest and attempted to shrink the swelling with surgical procedures. Several attempts have been made, but none have produced a lasting cure, and the patient’s condition continued to worsen even after multiple operations. Some doctors told her that the only way to move freely would be to amputate her hands, but she refused, saying she does not want to lose her hands.
A Medical Enigma: Macrodystrophia Lipomatosa, Spreading from Shoulder to Fingertips
The condition is macrodystrophia lipomatosa, a very rare disorder that causes enormous fat deposits to grow along the limbs. Plastic surgeon Dr. Eiju Uchunuma described this case as extremely uncommon: both hands are enlarged and heavily swollen, and the disease appears to extend from the shoulder to the fingertips on both hands. The cause remains unknown, and, therefore, it is considered incurable. Today, Duangjai continues to live with the burden while managing her family shop and caring for her parents, a testament to resilience in the face of medical mystery.
