Medic demonstrates the 30-second hand test that could reveal if you have a hidden brain tumour

By JOHN ELY DEPUTY HEALTH EDITOR FOR MAILONLINE

Published: 11:06 BST, 7 May 2025 | Updated: 11:26 BST, 7 May 2025

A simple 30-second hand test could reveal if something is seriously wrong in your brain, a medic has claimed.   

British doctor who goes by the name ‘Medifectious’ on TikTok demonstrated how to perform the test in a clip viewed almost 200,000 times.

It involves taking one hand and rapidly flipping it palm side up and down on top of the other  palm for a few seconds before swapping hands and repeating the motion.

This is designed to pick up signs of a condition called dysdiadochokinesia which is the inability to perform rapid alternating movements.

Having dysdiadochokinesia is a sign something is wrong within the cerebellum, the part of the brain responsible for controlling coordination. 

This includes a tumour pressing on the tissue within the brain or a problem with the nerves themselves. 

One person who vouches for the test is TikTok user ‘Char’s TT’, who filmed her unwell boyfriend being unable to perform the motion in a clip that has been viewed over 1million times.  

‘Those are the hands of my brave boyfriend who has a brain tumour,’ she said. 

The test involves taking one hand and rapidly flipping it palm side up and down in the other hand for a few seconds before swapping hands and repeating the motion

She added: ‘He was diagnosed about three years ago and because it’s slow growing and he’s in an area where there is limited neurosurgeons, he’s been waiting a very long time to have it removed.’ 

She shared the clip to raise money to have her boyfriend’s growth removed privately, a procedure that can cost nearly £30,000. 

In his clip demonstrating the motion, Medifectious said: ‘Everyone should be able to do it.’   

‘If you can’t do this you might want to get yourself checked’. 

He added that some patients are able to do the motion perfectly with one hand but have problems with the other, depending on the underlying cause. 

Dysdiadochokinesia can be triggered by multiple conditions such as brain lesions—which can include tumours—or illnesses that damage nerves in the brain like multiple sclerosis. 

Cancerous brain tumours are the deadliest form of the disease for children and adults under 40 in Britain—claiming 5,300 lives every year, about 15 every day. 

But even benign brain tumours—which unlike cancerous ones don’t spread to other parts of the body—can still be deadly if they grow within sensitive brain tissue. 

Over 12,000 patients in Britain are diagnosed with a brain tumour each year, and about half of these cases are cancerous.

The most common brain tumour symptoms are headaches, drowsiness, vomiting and vision problems, caused by the growth increasing internal pressure in the skull. 

Other signs include mental and behavioural changes, weakness in one side of the body and vision and speech problems. 

However, medics emphasise that the exact symptoms of a brain tumour vary depending exactly where the growth is located. 

People who experience brain tumour symptoms, especially a new different type of headache or a worsening one, should contact their GP for advice.

While the issue is unlikely to be caused by a tumour they still need to be checked.  

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Medic demonstrates the 30-second hand test that could reveal if you have a hidden brain tumour

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