We've all been there... the leaves have fallen, flowers have turned brown, and winter is just around the corner. Here in Wisconsin we have one or two nice weekend days (if we're lucky) to get outside and clean up the yard before the snow comes. So naturally, what do we do? We over-do it, spend all day outside doing yard work and then wake up the next day with low back pain.
Here are some of our favorite tips to prevent this from happening, so you can still enjoy the Packers game without sitting on a heating pad or even worse, spend the next day looking up local walk-in clinics in search of a cure...
· Break up your yard work. Do no more than 30 minutes of raking, then go find something else to do like cut down dead branches, then go back to raking. Varying your activities is most effective at preventing overuse injuries. Take a break if you think you need one.
· Avoid twisting motions. Stagger your feet and shift your weight front/back and side to side instead of moving through your trunk and back. That means move those feet more!
· Keep your rake and trimming tools close to you. The further your hands are from your trunk, the greater the stress you are putting on your spine and back muscles.
· When lifting heavier branches or pushing your wheelbarrow around, keep your stomach muscles tight and engaged. Be sure to lift and push with your legs and if you have heavier things to move, find a partner to help you.
· When picking branches up off the ground, use a technique we call the golfer’s lift. This involves you staggering your feet and lifting up your back leg as you reach down (if balance allows) to minimize how much you are bending through your trunk/waist.
Too often people “just deal” with their back pain or any other injury, thinking that it will eventually go away on its own. It is usually these common overuse injuries that can turn into chronic pain when not treated right away. Doing things like rest, using ice and/or heat and taking over-the-counter pain medications can help reduce the pain but not treat the cause. By not treating the cause of pain, your Saturday yard work marathon can turn into a chronic, nagging problem. If you did your best to prevent and treat your lower back pain (or any other body part) and aren’t noticing improvement, then come see us sooner rather than later. We do typically have same or next day appointments available for these exact reasons. Happy raking!
