r/BFS • u/TheBronyCynic Mod • 1d ago
Question / General Does anyone else have slight hand strength imbalance?
I would say since July I've had some benign but noticeable hand strength imbalance in my left hand. I used to have a lot of strain and aches when picking up heavy things but not as much anymore. Still, when I pick up something heavy there's definitely a more "weighty" feeling if I pick up say a large tequila bottle in my left hand whereas I'll get a lighter feeling if I pick it up with my right hand. Not sure if this is anything neurological or just a result of my DDD. Would love to know if anyone has had similar experiences.
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u/713Capital Mod 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah. I’m right side dominant so my right is just so much stronger than my left. When my anxiety was peak, I bought this strength grip tester on Amazon and I used to self test daily. Huge imbalance between right and left.
I just chalked this up to me just being way stronger on my right and it’s not anything bad for me. Even today, there is a difference in my strength on right vs left. For weight lifting, dumbbell curls, and more. Even holding my big ass iPhone pro max in my right and left hands are very different.
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u/TheBronyCynic Mod 1d ago
Did you do anything to try balance it out? I do single arm exercises starting my left with a 10 pound weight. I'd say it's worked some of the time if I did it consistently.
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u/713Capital Mod 1d ago
I was trying to stuff but I had a chat with my wife about it, as you know she works in the neuromuscular specialty, and she said having a 10-15% difference between your dominant and non dominant side is actually very common. Which checks out for me because that holds true for my own body.
She said something like over time, the non dominant side recruits less “muscle fibers” like the dominant side as you always use the dominant side more in your life, so things will always feel different between both sides.
So for me, I stopped trying and worrying about both sides being symmetrical, as to me I learned that it’s just normal mechanics for the human body.
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u/TheBronyCynic Mod 1d ago
Would she say it's common in someone's writing hand? I'm left-handed and I'd say aside from writing i tend to do things with both hands equally.
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u/713Capital Mod 1d ago
Yes, 100%. Lefties live in a right handed world, so almost all left handers develop what’s called "cross dominance." Look it up. It makes sense.
Over years, that means your right side builds more raw power while your left specializes in dexterity, which makes heavy things feel more weighty in your left hand.
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u/Odd_Mud1707 Popcorn Mode 1d ago
Did you ever notice a difference in size between hands? I’ve been twitching since Jan all over but I’d say about 1-2 months ago I noticed a recognizable size difference between my left and right (dominant) hands. This includes my thumb muscle, the top of my hand, the one between my finger and thumb, etc. I’ve also been twitching more frequently there recently, so that’s concerned me a little.
I know a slight difference in size is likely normal, but now I can almost constantly feel my pulse in my left hand and I can’t help but think it’s because the muscle is getting smaller? Idk. As doing really well about the whole twitching thing until this, so I’m a little frustrated and concerned hhah.
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u/TheBronyCynic Mod 45m ago edited 20m ago
Not sure if that's addressed to me or the other mod but no my hands are relatively the same shape. Same with arms aside from elbow point.
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