One tapers from base to tip and has an oval nailbed. The other hardly tapers at all and the nailbed is almost round. For the most part, my hands look kind of square and blocky even if I let my nails grow.

I would not be able to do it if limited to the front and palms, they are pretty much standard fare and not distinct.

My thumbs are very short. My hands are square. I have bone spurs on the front of both of my index fingers, and a small mole on my left index finger. My palms have distinctive markings, too.

Or maybe I just know my hands.

I have seen pictures of other people's fingers and thought for a moment they looked like mine, but I can figure it out pretty quickly.

Also, on the thumb thing, I slammed my left thumb in a car door when I was about 6 or 8 or 10, and the left one is significantly shorter than the right one. And they don't...match, I guess is the word. You know how you can put your index fingers side-by-side and they look basically like mirror images of one another? Well, my thumbs look like they're from two different hands...lol.

I have some distinctive scars, too.

Of all my body parts, I think my ears would be the most difficult for me to pick out.

is just hogwash. Unless you have scars or a ring on you can’t single them out from a bunch of similar hands. Similar age, size, sex.

My mother always told me that chipped polish on a woman's hands made her look cheap. That stuck with me. I am in the nail salon in a flash when my nails start to chip.

I need a nice pedicure, too, but that can wait but not too long because my toenails are starting to grow much too long. And I'm vain about my feet, too.

I guess I'm hopeless...

due to any injury so I could pick it out even in the dark.

Having seen them under bright light and magnifying glasses a LOT. Besides, I could recognize them by the various scars I have acquired over the years.

One problem with your original post - I cannot put my hands together in prayer - my fingers have never allowed me to flatten them against one another in that position. So the classic "prayer" position is impossible and attempting it is painful for me.

memories(scares).

.... arthritis has deformed my fingers. I could pick them out of a lineup, no problem.

They have done so much over the years. It was all I could do to kiss and hold my Mother's hands while she passed away and she too had severe arthritis . Her hands were beautiful, as I am sure that others will find your hands priceless

kept waking me up they hurt so bad. It's now 3:30pm and they are still throbbing. It'll subside eventually but it'll be back with a roaring vengeance.

... or even medical marijuana where you live? It works as a medicine for pain.

actually hopeful (it is, indeed!), I have done and will travel to Colorado or Nevada or California to find relief. However, since I don't have regular access to REAL CBD compounds, I have not been able to begin experimenting with it. Since I am not bound to this place (except for a few friends and my political activism), I am not ruling out moving, if even temporarily, to one of those states. I'm not a gambler, but I really like Las Vegas. I would enjoy the entertainment and the city seems fairly clean when you're driving the Strip or other boulevards. I come from trees and the Atlantic coast/Chesapeake Bay, so the difference in scenery is a culture shock for me out there. I just recently returned after spending December and January exploring the southwest. The weather was superb but I have never experienced a full-on summer day there. I'm not really an extreme heat person. Denver would be my second option.

Confidence seems high and we are hopeful we'll see some action on legalization in the next legislative session. Maybe I can hold out here and work whatever levers I can to make it happen.

and thanks to having been a teen-aged boy, my hands also knew me.

As a result my hands are a mess of small and large scars that render them probably quite recognizable in a comparison line-up.