Pain Free Gardening

With spring comes the blossoming of our gardens.  With the bloom of the season comes the heavy lifting, frequent bending and shoveling that is necessary to tend your garden.  And thus comes the aches and pains associated with all repetitive and strenuous activity.  Here are a few helpful tips to keep you outside enjoying your gardens and not doing it through a window while lying down.

Pre-Gardening

        Treat gardening like any other exercise and prepare like you would for the gym.  Light stretching and a warm up period will keep your muscles nice and limber.  A 10 minute walk around the block or even around the house, making a gardening plan can go a long way in getting your heart and muscles warmed up. 

Gardening Posture

           It is important you maintain good posture while gardening (or doing any activity, for that matter).  Improper posture can increase the amount of weight your joints must bear and this can lead to new pain or exacerbate old problems. 

            One of the most common ways people injure themselves is by using improper lifting techniques.  Click here for to see the proper way to carry the large bags of mulch and fertilizer.  If you will be carrying these bags more than a few feet make sure to use a wheel barrow. 

            Another common way to injure yourself is the repetitive bending over to pull weeds or digging with small tools.  It is better to sit down to do these tasks or kneel on one knee.  Always remember to keep your back as tall and straight as possible.  Also make sure you are taking breaks from bending.  If you weed one area, move on to something else before weeding the next section. 

            Lastly, try using shears and clippers that are spring loaded to open automatically to avoid putting strain on your wrist, forearm and shoulder muscles. 

Post-Gardening

           Stretching after your workout (gardening in this case) is often times more important than stretching before.  So make sure you have some sort of cooling down routine for when you are done.  Repeating your stretches and a nice 5 minute walk to look at all the progress you made is a great idea.

           

Its always a good idea to put ice on any area that may feel sore after you are finished.  Remember DO NOT USE HEAT!  Put ice on the area for 10-15 minutes each hour for about 3 hours.  If the pain persists beyond 48 hours it would be a good idea to give us a call and we can advise you on the best ways to try and alleviate it.

As always, if you have any questions or want more information contact us through our website at http://www.peyserchiropractic.com/

Happy gardening!