Like most people, you probably have a dominant hand and are right- or left-handed. Your right- or left-handedness is determined by your brain: if your left brain hemisphere is dominant, then you are right-handed. If your right hemisphere is dominant, then you are left-handed. Your dominant hand automatically makes you most handy, has the best fine motor skills and gets things done the fastest. It is therefore logical that you automatically use it the most.
Overload of strain?
Have you ever given thought to how frequently you use your dominant hand and what it sometimes has to endure? It is often only when you are unable to use your dominant hand that you realise how dependent you are on it. You are literally “handicapped”. In such a situation, you have no choice but to use your non-dominant, less skillful, hand. Therefore it is good to realise that there is no harm in switching hands, even though it is not necessary (yet). And not only because it can sometimes be very handy to be “ambidextrous” (two-handed), but also to prevent all the problems caused by strain.
Physical complaints
By switching hands regularly, you can ensure that complaints and injuries are less likely to occur. Especially with prolonged, repetitive movements like certain sports or office work. Moving your mouse with the same hand for hours on end, for example, can lead to painful cramps. If you regularly make this kind of unilateral movement, it can lead to persistent complaints such as repetitive strain injuries. By switching hands from time to time, you can prevent this. You give your cramped hand a chance to relax and get the circulation going again, allowing muscles to recover. By this switch the joints in your non-dominant hand become more flexible and the tendons and muscles are trained.
Sport for the brain
Did you know that using your non-dominant hand puts your brain to sport, so to speak? This is because it involves stimulating both your brain hemispheres, which improves the connections and thus the cooperation between the two. This enhanced cooperation has the great advantage of improving your cognitive functions. In concrete terms, your motor skills and coordination will improve, and you will definitely notice this in sports and other physical activities. In addition, your concentration and creativity increase considerably. Handy at the office!
Healthy habit
It is clear that alternating right and left is a healthy habit that can also be very useful. Maybe you are lucky enough to be ambidextrous by nature. If not, know that you can very well teach yourself ambidexterity through practice and training. Above all, start experimenting and find out what works best for you. For example, use an ambidextrous mouse, such as the vertical R-Go Twister. That way, when using the mouse, you can prevent complaints and are developing extra skills at the same time! Sounds like a healthy challenge, doesn’t it?
