A Right Hander Becomes Clumsy AT Doing Tasks With His Left Hand
I’ve been dealing with a case of tennis elbow this week.
I don’t know what caused it to suddenly flare up, but it’s been a challenge to get through everyday tasks.
It hurts to type, it hurts to hold something that weighs more than an ounce, it even hurts to text. Yes, to text. (Ouch in more ways than one, right, especially when trying to make a date for the weekend!)
Naturally, being one who likes to avoid pain if at all possible, I’ve been finding myself having to do things with my left hand. And let me say I’m not very good at doing tasks such as washing the dishes left-handed – the suds are going everywhere!
But I’m getting by because that’s what we humans do – when confronted with one of life’s little speed bumps. we adjust to the situation.
My biggest fear has been in shaving. Because I don’t have full range of my right arm, I’m forced to shave with my left hand. I’ve had visions of slicing up my face and neck as if I were a sushi chef and walking out of the bathroom with my face covered in bloodied toilet paper. But so far – thankfully – I’ve managed to come through it unharmed.
I’ve also been performing another regular bathroom function involving toilet paper with my left hand. These are things you don’t think about when you go about your everyday life but must be confronted when you get an injury.
When doing petty much anything left-handed that I normally do with my right, I feel as if I’m a child again, just learning how to perform a function. I keep expecting one of my parents to come in from another room, grab my arm and say “no, it’s done this way.” It’s amazing how much we depend on one arm or hand while the other is so useless.
I first experienced the tightness a week ago but five days ago it became more prominent and painful. There is no cure for tennis elbow, of course, just ice, ibuprofen and using it as little as possible. Avoiding whacking it against a wall, table, door or other object is also important to its cure.
It’s almost all better now and I’ll go back to my normal right-handed routine soon but I keep thinking that maybe I should use the left hand more often for everyday functions to see if I can develop any skill in it.
After all, you never know when it may come in, well, handy.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.