The gardening and yard work season is now full on which is bringing back patients into my office who have hurt themselves out in the yard. There are several tips I can give you to help avoid back pain while gardening.
My first suggestions is to break it up into manageable chunks to avoid hurting your back and causing pain. While I know time is precious, a five hour stretch of weeding is going to put anyone into misery. It isn’t worth it. Weed for an hour, then go on a bike ride or walk and come back to it. That will keep you from causing yourself a lot of pain. Doing smaller bits more frequently will help keep your spine healthy and free of pain.
Secondly, walking is basically the cure for most yard work related back pain and misery. Do your yard work, then take the pup on a walk to work out the kinks and get your spine moving properly again. Don’t just crumble into a lawn chair or couch, it will cause you to stiffen up.
Third, enlist the help of a wonderful and greedy neighbor kid. If you have a retaining wall to build or a rocky border to place, there are plenty of 10 year olds who would happily carry your rocks or shovel mulch for $10/hr. I know, I have provided employment services to nearly every 10 year old in the neighborhood. You get to sit back with a book and lemonade and they get the opportunity to learn a work ethic
and make money. It’s a great way to avoid back pain from yard work or at least limit it because you can certainly find yard work to do while they are doing the heavy stuff. If you've been doing it yourself, I recommend these stretches: https://www.activefamilychiropractic.com/post/old-man-stretching-video
Inevitably, home ownership causes pain. Yard work especially causes back pain. Seeing a chiropractor on a regular basis will help your spine work better and keep you healthier. It will also keep little back problems from becoming big back problems.
If you would like help, book your new patient appointment online here https://www.activefamilychiropractic.com/booking-calendar You can also learn more about my Plymouth chiropractic office at https://www.activefamilychiropractic.com
Comments