How proficient are you with you non-dominant hand?

[UncleEJ]

How much are you able to do with your non-dominant hand?

 

I am right-handed but have inflammatory arthritis in that hand. DH is always telling me to use my left hand for more tasks to help elevate some of my pain, but I can't seem to do much with my left hand. One of the big things that aggravate my hand is vacuuming. I try to use my left hand, but then end up switched back to my right, almost without my noticing. Same with most other tasks. I just can't seem to use my left hand proficiently. 

 

I am just curious if it's just me, or are other just as gimpy with their non-dominant hand lol. 

 

Edited for spelling. 

Edited April 20, 2017 by UncleEJ

[maize]

I can vacuum left handed. I can eat left handed. Things that require fine control such as writing are hard, and things that require strength are hard. Otherwise it's just a matter of a little more focus and effort.

Edited April 20, 2017 by maize

[Seasider]

Very agile with gross motor skills, not as much with fine. I think that may be in part to eye dominance that is different from hand dominance.

[HomeAgain]

I broke my right wrist in high school. It forced me for weeks to do everything left handed- everything from writing to one handed push-ups. I got nearly equal during those weeks and still am.

[AmandaVT]

I'm a lefty and can do most things with my right. Brushing teeth is the hardest and my writing isn't quite as good, but I'm fairly proficient.

[Matryoshka]

I am fairly ambidextrous. I can even write with my left hand; it's a bit sloppy and I lack stamina, but I think that's mostly lack of muscle conditioning. I remember I got stung by a bee on my right hand in high school, and I took a few tests writing with my left hand.

Edited April 20, 2017 by Matryoshka

[UncleEJ]

I think I need to work on this!

[Arcadia]

Even though vacuums are not right handed versions, I still find it easier to use the hand vacuum or dirt devil stick vacuum with my left hand.

I am a left hander forced to use my right hand since young by my dad and end up being as good as ambidextrous. It was useful to be able to write with my left hand when I had a bad cut on my right hand's pointer finger. My dad had forgotten I was a left handed by then and was shocked that I could still eat and get all my homework done using my left hand.

 

My brother can use both hands for sculpturing and other tasks but my parents have trouble using their left hand to open cans and other household tasks. It takes time to build up the ability to do routine tasks with your non-dominant hand.

[wintermom]

Swinging a baseball bat, golf club or tennis racquet, I'm alright using the left hand (along with the right).  I can type really well with the left hand. I can play piano with the left hand.

[Pam in CT]

I can do most things with both hands.  I knit both-handed (never have to purl!); if I'm on a ladder painting I do the right side with my right hand then flip over and do the left side with my left hand (don't need to move the ladder as often!).  I eat with the fork left-handed and the knife and spoon right-handed since that's how the table is set (I notice a lot of Europeans do this also); if I'm gardening I work whatever task I'm doing on the right side right-handed then flip over to the left left-handed (except for my spiffy Felco clippers which don't work well left-handed).  I write with my right hand, but I can write perfectly neatly left-handed, it just takes a little longer.

 

One of my kids is just like me (on this dimension, lol, not generally), one of them is quite dominantly left-handed, and one of them -- the most artsy and right-brained of the lot -- is dominantly right-handed.  Genetics are weird.

[Lawyer&Mom]

I often find myself holding a toddler in my right arm and therefore using my left hand to sign her out of daycare. The result is chicken scratch scribble. Not impressive.

[theelfqueen]

When I was bored in High School I taught myself to write with my left hand... and to use chopsticks with both hands.

 

 

[lailasmum]

I can write legibly with my left hand but it's slow. I normally write with my right hand. I have some cross dominance though so I think it's played into having a bit more fine control in my left hand because there are some things I do left handed.

 

My mum is left handed but was forced to write with her right hand and she's ended up close to ambidextrous.

Edited April 20, 2017 by lailasmum

[Closeacademy]

I generally do lifting tasks and other things that require strength with my left hand while doing things that require more finesse with my right hand. If I had to I could write well enough with my left. 

[J-rap]

I'm not very good at using my non-dominant hand.  But, it is amazing how your brain can learn to use it when forced.  When my dh became paralyzed on his right side, he was forced to switch to his left arm/hand.  It was very difficult at first.  Over time, he has become nearly as efficient with his left hand as his right.  His handwriting is not quite as good, but it is very close.  In fact, it's almost strange how similar it is...just not quite as neat.

[KungFuPanda]

I'm TERRIBLE.  I'm having a heck of a time learning to knit continental (never mind learning to crochet) because my left hand is non-cooperative and the yarn slips through my long, slim fingers.  I TRY to do some things just to even out the workout, like vacuuming or scrubbing counters, but it's ridiculous.  I can eat with my left hand, and don't bother switching hands when I cut something with my right, but I'm certainly not going to handle a knife with my left.  

 

I'm hopelessly right-sided with everything.  Sometimes in dance workshops I'll get a left-handed choreographer and it's always a little confusing until it clicks that they're defaulting to the "wrong" side.  I do wonder if those dances look more 'correct' to a right-side-favoring audience member.  

[AnnE-girl]

I'm left handed and able to do most basic tasks with my right hand, aside from writing. I think that living in a world designed for righties makes this easier because I've always had to adapt. I got even better after having babies who nursed constantly and I had to feed myself even when they nursed on my left side.

[Χά�ων]

I struggle with strength on my non dominant side but for some odd reason I can crochet and so a few other minor crafty things with that side.

Beyond that I excel at dropping everything I am holding with the non dominant hand.

[Audrey]

Very.  I think I am ambidextrous, but I've never had that qualified. I can do almost anything as well with my left as my right hand.  My left handwriting is slower and slants the other way, but it's quite recognizable as my handwriting.  I can stitch left-handed almost as easily as right-handed, just a bit slower. Tasks requiring less fine motor skill bear no difference either hand.  

 

I theorize that the agility is due to music.  I have played piano since I was 4 years old, guitar since my pre-teen years, and various other instruments throughout my life.  I find it fairly easy to learn a new instrument that requires dexterity (but I cannot play any brass instruments -- I simply CANNOT make the required buzz for the mouthpiece). 

[Pam in CT]

I can write legibly with my left hand but it's slow. I normally write with my right hand. I have some cross dominance though so I think it's played into having a bit more fine control in my left hand because there are some things I do left handed.

 

My mum is left handed but was forced to write with her right hand and she's ended up close to ambidextrous.

 

 

Yes, I'd forgotten about cross dominance -- both I and my ambidextrous daughter are left-eye dominant though we write with our right; and certain things -- throwing a frisbee, throwing out an arm to cushion a fall -- I reflexively do left-handed.

 

A decade or so there was a bit of a hum in OT and some PT circles about co-morbidity between cross dominance and a slew of motor and processing issues that I remember being Of Concern to me (since it was Too Late for my then-tween daughter and far too late for me).  But, meh.  It doesn't appear to be a hot topic anymore.

[Hypatia.]

I'm right handed but tend to eat, vacuum, and use my left hand for most things other than writing. I have essential tremor and it's mainly my right hand that is affected.

[Word Nerd]

I only write with my left hand. I do almost everything else with my right hand. My sister writes with her right hand but eats, uses scissors, and does some other things with her left hand.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Not very.  I can do tasks not requiring fine motor for the most part, but otherwise..nope.  And I certainly do not prefer that.

 

 

 

 

[SKL]

I can do everything with my left hand, but not as well as with my right.  When I was young, I used to practice writing with my left hand in order to see whether / how it changed my brain.  (Maybe I should try that again, as my brain is changing with age.)  My left-handed writing looks like elementary school script, but it's legible.

 

I got into the habit of eating with my left hand while using my right to work / play on the computer.  It allows me to go longer between hand washes.  :P

 

Think of the things you do habitually with your left hand.  If you're like me, you use it ably to type, play music, open bottles, operate your car windows and locks, make the beds, tie shoes, untie knots, and lots of other things.  You should be able to get into the habit of using it for things like vacuuming.  Just keep trying.  :)

[Tanaqui]

Very much not.

However, your dexterity (or sinistry, if you prefer!) will improve the more you use your other hand. In this way, handedness can be a bit of a vicious circle - you prefer to use a certain hand for some, most, or all tasks, so you do use that hand, so that hand becomes quite skilled at that task and the other one doesn't. If you use your left hand, it will become more skilled.

 

Since you seem to have trouble building this new habit, it might work better to tie your right hand or something. Just loosely, so you can use it if you want - but so you're reminded not to use it when you don't want to.

[greenbeanmama]

I'M a lefty, but there are certain things I do right handed. I hold babies/toddlers in my right arm so my left is free to do other things. Can openers are easier right handed because they're designed that way.

 

I had severe carpal tunnel in both wrists. The surgeries have had slow recoveries, with a few complications with the left hand. So, I'm becoming more accustomed to using my right hand, simply out of necessity. It is a frustrating process!

[PuddleJumper1]

I was meant to be left handed but was one those children forced to use their right hand (not my parents fault - they were just following doctors suggestion and knew no better). I can do most everything with my left hand. The writing is not pretty or quick :) but if I needed to I could train it I think. 

[HTRMom]

My non-dominant arm is stronger than my dominant arm because I always carry the baby on my left hip while doing things with my right hand. I could vacuum with my left, but my wrist would get sore pretty quickly. I can carry things left handed and eat with a fork acceptably in private.

 

 

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[rebcoola]

I am pretty good with my left hand most tasks are only slightly slower, sloppier, whatever.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I can vacuum left handed. I can eat left handed. Things that require fine control such as writing are hard, and things that require strength are hard. Otherwise it's just a matter of a little more focus and effort.

Same here.  I broke my right arm twice as a kid, and had to learn to write left-handed as well as lots of other things.  I remember my teacher being shocked that I took a spelling test left-handed.  She had excused me from the test and was shocked that I could not only write well enough, but fast enough to keep up with the test.  I did have to concentrate pretty hard on each letter.  I am out of practice though. 

[UncleEJ]

Very much not.

 

However, your dexterity (or sinistry, if you prefer!) will improve the more you use your other hand. In this way, handedness can be a bit of a vicious circle - you prefer to use a certain hand for some, most, or all tasks, so you do use that hand, so that hand becomes quite skilled at that task and the other one doesn't. If you use your left hand, it will become more skilled.

 

Since you seem to have trouble building this new habit, it might work better to tie your right hand or something. Just loosely, so you can use it if you want - but so you're reminded not to use it when you don't want to.

 

DH suggested I put a sock over my right hand to remind me to not use it when I vacuum. 

[Tanaqui]

That sounds like a fine idea, and a lot less restrictive than tying it! I was thinking a very loose tether to your belt loop with a sash.

[foxbridgeacademy]

I can do sports type things left handed golf, pool, cartwheels (although that one has been awhile), I can't throw darts or write with my left hand. My maternal g-mother is left handed and both my mom and sister are pretty good with their left hands.