Best way to become ambidextrous

[WPOZZZ]

I learned to wipe with my left when I had frozen shoulder.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by RANDY P

Shaun's been getting some strange.

rjp

Better not let Ms Right find out! Being a natural lefty ... I do some things wrong .... err.... right?

I don't think I could shift gears with my left hand tho' .... ' cause that just wouldn't be right either...

Heal up guys!

[rfuerst911sc]

Dude good luck healing . I am a mess , I write left handed . I throw a ball left handed . I bat or kick right handed/footed . I bowl with either hand . But can drink with either hand

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

Dude good luck healing . I am a mess , I write left handed . I throw a ball left handed . I bat or kick right handed/footed . I bowl with either hand . But can drink with either hand

Same here .... except I don't bowl... I have a beer in both hands ... a two-fisted fisherman

[Erakad]

I feel your pain, I'm 6 months into a full thickness rotator cuff tear...on the right shoulder! Restricted to a sling and couldn't move it for 6 weeks, took 3 months before I could move it without pain. 6 months out, still slowly getting my strength back...can now lift about 15-20 lbs. Doc tells me it will take at least a year to heal completely....physical therapist was at more like 18 months. It's amazing how well you learn to use that left hand!

Good luck my friend!

[syncroid]

I'll be one winged come mid November. Getting my claw fixed on my left hand. Dupuytren's Contracture. Good thing I am right handed.

Get well soon Shaun.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Thanks for the well wishes everyone. Went to the doctor this morning and based on the swelling, bruising and range of motion against pain, the nurse practitioner thought it may be ruptured. She tried to schedule and ultrasound to confirm today but I never got a call.

Oddly enough, it's felt pretty good today using it for sanding and shooting some Cerakote. So maybe a miracle is in the works.

Dan, I hope your fix goes well, left hand or not, I think we take health a little too much for granted, at least I do.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by Erakad

I feel your pain, I'm 6 months into a full thickness rotator cuff tear...on the right shoulder! Restricted to a sling and couldn't move it for 6 weeks, took 3 months before I could move it without pain. 6 months out, still slowly getting my strength back...can now lift about 15-20 lbs. Doc tells me it will take at least a year to heal completely....physical therapist was at more like 18 months. It's amazing how well you learn to use that left hand!

Good luck my friend!

Thanks Rob and I wish you all the best in your recovery and take all advantage of physical therapy. I have had friends and family who didn't and regretted it.

[Baz]

Best wishes for all you guys on the mend.

Hey, I'm in the "walking wounded" club as well. Slipped and fell backwards on the front steps 2 weeks ago and my ribs took a beating. Finally today sought medical advice and they took X-rays and gave me a Tramadol Rx, which seems to be helping a bit with the pain.

No word yet on what the X-rays showed but at least I have some help with the pain management!

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

Thanks for the well wishes everyone. Went to the doctor this morning and based on the swelling, bruising and range of motion against pain, the nurse practitioner thought it may be ruptured. She tried to schedule and ultrasound to confirm today but I never got a call.

Oddly enough, it's felt pretty good today using it for sanding and shooting some Cerakote. So maybe a miracle is in the works.

Dan, I hope your fix goes well, left hand or not, I think we take health a little too much for granted, at least I do.

Often, it's an MRI that gets done to rule out a distal biceps tendon tear, though an ultrasound can work as well. But if there's no biceps tendon palpable in the antecubital fossa and there was a lot of pain and bruising initially, then most likely the distal biceps ruptured. Though sometimes people can confuse the lacertus fibrosis for an intact distal biceps tendon. Does your right bicep muscle look any different than the left side? People with a distal biceps tendon rupture sometimes get a Popeye deformity of the upper arm as the biceps muscle scrunches up.

How long ago was the original injury? Ideally, if you have surgery, make the utmost effort to get it done within 3 weeks. After 3 weeks, if you have a complete rupture with proximal retraction of the biceps tendon, the biceps muscle may become accustomed to a shortened length. Then, at time of surgery, it may be difficult to pull the biceps back out to length, necessitating an interpositional tendon graft (to act as a bridge between the tendon and the bone). I usually use a cadaveric Achilles tendon for that (I always ask that one be ordered and available if necessary), but there are other options possible (like using your own tensor fascia lata or palmaris longus tendon). I've never had to use an interpositional graft with a surgery less than 3 weeks. I usually don't need one even on a surgery more than 3 weeks out from injury, but the few times I've used a tendon graft, it was always for a delayed injury.

There are about 3 or 4 main ways to reattach the tendon. The engineer in you will geek out at the theory behind each of them. But all methods are stronger (tensile strength) than the original bone-tendon junction.

Recovery is usually pretty complete. The expectation is that you can do everything again. But recovery will take 4 months. First 6 weeks, you just work on range of motion--no weight at all. 2nd 6 weeks is light strengthening: 1-5 pounds. 3rd 6 weeks is strengthening back up to normal. It's a long slog. Good luck.

Interestingly, you mention that pain may actually be subsiding. The traditional thinking is to operate on everyone who has a distal biceps tendon rupture. I was chatting with Milan Stevanovich, the professor from USC. He mentioned that they once followed a cohort of patients who never had surgery. (It's USC--there are a myriad of ways patients don't get proper/timely care or get lost in the system at a place like that.) Surprisingly, most of them did pretty well. He tried to write a paper, but it never got accepted anywhere--he thought because there's no glamour or money to be made in not doing surgery.

The biceps tendon's main function isn't flexing the elbow (there are other muscles that can do that, too), but rather supinating the forearm (turning your palm upwards), such as in turning a screwdriver or doorknob. So if you can still lift and turn screwdrivers (and not have pain) despite a ruptured distal biceps tendon, then maybe surgery isn't necessary.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by Baz

No word yet on what the X-rays showed but at least I have some help with the pain management!

Half of rib series x-rays don't show a fracture even when one is there. But unless there's a complication, there's not much to do for a rib fracture other than pain control, so just hang in there for the 6 weeks or so it'll take the rib to heal.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Often, it's an MRI that gets done to rule out a distal biceps tendon tear, though an ultrasound can work as well. But if there's no biceps tendon palpable in the antecubital fossa and there was a lot of pain and bruising initially, then most likely the distal biceps ruptured. Though sometimes people can confuse the lacertus fibrosis for an intact distal biceps tendon. Does your right bicep muscle look any different than the left side? People with a distal biceps tendon rupture sometimes get a Popeye deformity of the upper arm as the biceps muscle scrunches up.

How long ago was the original injury? Ideally, if you have surgery, make the utmost effort to get it done within 3 weeks. After 3 weeks, if you have a complete rupture with proximal retraction of the biceps tendon, the biceps muscle may become accustomed to a shortened length. Then, at time of surgery, it may be difficult to pull the biceps back out to length, necessitating an interpositional tendon graft (to act as a bridge between the tendon and the bone). I usually use a cadaveric Achilles tendon for that (I always ask that one be ordered and available if necessary), but there are other options possible (like using your own tensor fascia lata or palmaris longus tendon). I've never had to use an interpositional graft with a surgery less than 3 weeks. I usually don't need one even on a surgery more than 3 weeks out from injury, but the few times I've used a tendon graft, it was always for a delayed injury.

There are about 3 or 4 main ways to reattach the tendon. The engineer in you will geek out at the theory behind each of them. But all methods are stronger (tensile strength) than the original bone-tendon junction.

Recovery is usually pretty complete. The expectation is that you can do everything again. But recovery will take 4 months. First 6 weeks, you just work on range of motion--no weight at all. 2nd 6 weeks is light strengthening: 1-5 pounds. 3rd 6 weeks is strengthening back up to normal. It's a long slog. Good luck.

Interestingly, you mention that pain may actually be subsiding. The traditional thinking is to operate on everyone who has a distal biceps tendon rupture. I was chatting with Milan Stevanovich, the professor from USC. He mentioned that they once followed a cohort of patients who never had surgery. (It's USC--there are a myriad of ways patients don't get proper/timely care or get lost in the system at a place like that.) Surprisingly, most of them did pretty well. He tried to write a paper, but it never got accepted anywhere--he thought because there's no glamour or money to be made in not doing surgery.

The biceps tendon's main function isn't flexing the elbow (there are other muscles that can do that, too), but rather supinating the forearm (turning your palm upwards), such as in turning a screwdriver or doorknob. So if you can still lift and turn screwdrivers (and not have pain) despite a ruptured distal biceps tendon, then maybe surgery isn't necessary.

Thank you so much Al for all the time and attention to put this down, I really appreciate it! I sent it to my doctor via their online portal. Looking forward to getting a firm diagnosis on strain vs tear.

[jcommin]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Even better is to have a mother who is left handed and teaches you to do everything left handed and you find out youare rigjt handed in first grade when the teacher says, "Why don't you try writing with your right hand."

Toby,

This is a mirror of what I experienced. I'm a left-handed, the only one in my immediate family. My mom tried to get to write with my right hand. As a young elementary schooler, my handwriting was your horrible. I was taught cursive in the 3rd grade by a teacher that was right-handed. And I struggled. My penmanship grades were terrible.

Things changes in HS. I took 2 years of drafting where I learned how to print. My mom later told me she was worried that I would fail at it. That was a very long time ago, but my printing skills are very good. Cursive, not so much.

I absolutely hated the right-handed only chair/desks went I was in college. I would use the desk on my left to write. It is a right-handed world, and you see the awkwardness of lefties when they write. Keyboards leveled that playing field.

There are 2 things that are more natural to a lefty: driving a car and flushing a toilet where most levers are on the LH side.

[vash]

Best way? Your way is temporary I hope you feel better quick.

Best way is to be born left handed, and Chinese. I’m legit ambidextrous. I can use chopsticks well with either hand. I can’t write well, but I used to. I definitely can wipe my ass goofy. I can cast a fishing rod either way.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Half of rib series x-rays don't show a fracture even when one is there. But unless there's a complication, there's not much to do for a rib fracture other than pain control, so just hang in there for the 6 weeks or so it'll take the rib to heal.

Thanks, Rick. Always appreciate your take on all things medical!

[herr_oberst]

Fun Fact - scissors are left and right handed.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Half of rib series x-rays don't show a fracture even when one is there. But unless there's a complication, there's not much to do for a rib fracture other than pain control, so just hang in there for the 6 weeks or so it'll take the rib to heal.

Diagnostics are in. Broken rib.....

[herr_oberst]

Dang, Baz! That looks painful! I hope you have support and don't have to do everything on your own! Heal up soon!

(Jeez, when did everyone decide this is the year to suffer an injury?)

[A930Rocket]

Good news on finding the break.

What’s the round circle on the left side of your chest?

Originally Posted by Baz

Diagnostics are in. Broken rib.....

[Baz]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

Dang, Baz! That looks painful! I hope you have support and don't have to do everything on your own! Heal up soon!

(Jeez, when did everyone decide this is the year to suffer an injury?)

Thanks, Herr Oberst.....I will have to do some delegating on stuff I usually do. Not happy about that but I'm sure it will all work out.

So true about the injured reserve list here!

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

Good news on finding the break.

What’s the round circle on the left side of your chest?

Thanks - no idea about that big spot. Must not be important or would have been mentioned in the report....