Being a fairly clumsy girl, I am very accustomed to how disabling it is to have my hand wrapped in an Ace bandage or cast. (I've broken each wrist once and sprained each wrist between 5 and 8 times.) Since I couldn't exactly plaster myself up with a fiberglass spica, I went the softcore route and used an Ace.

I wrapped my right hand up in a mummifying way (Fig. 1) and not the traditional medical way, because I wanted to immobilize my thumb as well as my fingers and hand. Then I set about my day. All the pictures were taken by my husband, who deserves credit for not ever showing annoyance as I pestered him all day to both do things for me and take pictures of me trying to do things.

There were some things I just couldn't do at all, and by that I mean I was rendered incapable of even attempting them. For instance:
1) I couldn't use my can opener to open a can of soup. (Fig. 2) There was just no way whatsoever.
2) I couldn't play Xbox 360 at all (Fig. 3) because every game I play requires both the left analog stick and the buttons on the right to be pushed, usually simultaneously or damn nearly so.
3) I couldn't drive my car because I drive a manual and I need my right hand to shift. (No picture because I didn't attempt it and didn't think to stage it.)

There was one thing that I was able to do half-heartedly. I was able to type and do my internet shenanigans (Fig. 4) but it took 5 times as long, easily. I use a laptop with a touchpad, and my left hand was completely stupid and untrained when it came to dragging the cursor around and clicking. And don't get me started on typing. Hunt...peck...hunt...peck. I had to write in all lowercase.

Surprisingly, out of all the tasks I attempted, writing came the easiest. Before I wrapped my hand up, I wrote out a sample of my normal handwriting. Once I was disabled, I tried to write with my left hand. (Fig. 5)

In summation, my experience was much like any and every time I have had a hand immobilized: I had a new found appreciation for my wonderful, talented, effortless, dominant hand.

[[Voo]]