By Dorothy Rosby

For your reading pleasure I will now present a brief history of my elbows. You’re probably thinking you’d rather read the history of elbow macaroni and you’re not too keen on that either. But stick with me and you’ll never take your elbows for granted again.

I sure don’t. I’m currently suffering through my third bout of tennis elbow. If you think I must be an accomplished tennis player since I clearly have the elbows for it you’re right.

Not really. I haven’t even seen my tennis racket in years and I’m not sure I’d know what to do with it if I found it. No, I am living proof that you don’t have to play tennis to get tennis elbow. Tennis elbow is just easier to say than lateral epicondylitis, its official name.

And you know how it sounds more glamorous to say you broke your leg water skiing than it does to say you broke it tripping over the coffee table on your way to the couch? I think it also sounds more glamorous to call inflammation of the elbow tendons tennis elbow than it does to call it picking up branches after a big storm elbow.

I suspect that’s how I got this round of tennis elbow. Turns out any activity that involves repetitive use of the forearm can lead to tennis elbow. That’s why painters, plumbers and cooks are all prone to it and why you should avoid painting, plumbing and cooking.

As a right-hander, I had the good sense to have my first attack of tennis elbow in my left arm. But a few years later I got it in my right elbow. Up until then, I hadn’t given southpaws a thought unless I bumped elbows with one at a dinner table.

But I soon learned that it’s a right-handed world. That’s understandable. Right hands are easier to use. Ninety percent of us think so anyway. That explains why many of the devices we use were designed for right-handed people. Left-handed folks become adept at using their non-dominant hands while the left hands of us right-handers hang at our sides like lazy relatives.

But my right elbow screamed at me every time I used it. Or maybe that was me screaming. Either way, I was forced to do more with my left hand. Eventually I saw my injury as an opportunity to become ambidextrous. I thought if my elbows shared the workload in the future, maybe they’d both stay healthy. It was a good plan but like all good plans it would have worked better if I’d stuck with it. Alas, as soon as it felt better, I began taking my poor right elbow for granted again.

I regret that now that I’m on round three of tennis elbow, and for the second time, it’s in my right arm. I’m back to using my left arm whenever possible and aspiring to become ambidextrous.

If you’re right-handed I challenge you to do the same. Try brushing your teeth with your left hand. It’s messy, but cleaning the toothpaste off the bathroom mirror with your left hand gives you even more practice using it.

Use your left hand to spray aerosols like hair spray, cooking spray and spray paint. It’s not as hard as you’d think if accuracy isn’t too important to you.

Buy yourself a pair of left-handed scissors. I did and I’m proud to say I’ve only stabbed myself in the leg once since I started using them.

Try moving your computer mouse to the left of your keyboard like I did. When I first tried using it, my cursor flitted around the screen like a bumblebee. But I keep trying. And when I get frustrated I can just move it back to the right side of my computer for a while. Or toss it across the room. With either hand.

Dorothy Rosby is the author of Alexa’s a Spy and Other Things to Be Ticked off About, Humorous Essays on the Hassles of Our Time and other books. Contact her at www.dorothyrosby.com/contact.