Spring Gardening Causing Back Pain? Here’s 3 Tips for Pain Free Gardening
Spring is in the air and that means it’s time to give your garden the TLC it needs after a long winter!
However before you jump into your spring gardening, it’s important that you keep the health of your back in mind!
Back pain is a common concern that is associated with gardening, so let’s look at some tips you can implement this season to avoid the pain.
Prevention
Gardening works out many different muscles at once from a variety of movements. From kneeling and bending over (for prolonged time periods at that) to squatting, awkward lifting, and pulling.
All of this will give your body a good workout but also put a lot of strain on your body. To combat the strain and prevent gardening pain there are two main areas of focus:
- Proper Warm Up
- Good Posture
A strong core and good flexibility are good deterrents to back pain. So keeping this in mind, try incorporating a yoga routine before you begin gardening. Yoga will help strengthen your muscles and loosen tight muscles. This will help prevent pain from a lengthy gardening session.
Focus on posture when doing any lifting, digging, or kneeling, as these are the movements that are sure to trigger back pain.
When lifting, ensure you use the correct lifting form by squatting down to your object, keeping your back nice and straight, and lifting with your legs. Do not lift with your back!
If you must kneel to dig or to plant, don’t hunch over. Hunching, or bending forward for a prolonged period of time will add a lot of stress to your lower back and increase the odds of you experiencing back pain. If you need to kneel, keep your back straight and focus on good form and posture!
Let Tools Do The Heavy Lifting
Tools are a gardener's best friend, especially if you are susceptible to back pain.
- Kneeling - Purchasing cushioned knee pads from your local hardware store will do wonders for your knees. You will be able to kneel longer and shouldn’t experience pain once you stand up.
- Lifting & Moving - A wheelbarrow is your best friend for moving hundreds of pounds around your garden relatively seamlessly. If you need to move heavy pots consider purchasing a plant dolly as well.
- Stand Up Weeders - Kneeling down, digging out, and pulling those pesky weeds can wreak havoc on your back! Purchasing a stand up weeder can make this tiresome chore much easier!
Take Breaks & Rest
Within a gardening session make sure you switch up tasks every so often. You want to avoid repetitive motions as these can lead to injury.
For example, if you are weeding one area of your garden don’t move on to a new area and continue weeding. Perhaps you can take out some pruners and clean up shrubs and trees, allowing your back some rest from pulling weeds.
Once you’ve completed a different task, then move back on to weeding!
Additionally, listen to your body when it says it’s done for the day. Allowing your body the rest it needs after a gardening session will make the next one that much easier on yourself.
Your Chiropractor Can Get You Into Gardening Shape!
If you need some extra relief from pain to get back into gardening, Dr. Vollrath is here for you.
We will assess the root cause of your back pain and develop a treatment plan to get you back into gardening shape. We will provide adjustments as well as exercises and stretches you can do for long term relief.
Contact Us today to book your appointment and let the team at Core Clinic get you into spring gardening shape!
