Advice to Keep Gardening Pain Free

According to media outlets, gardening season is here and with it bring the potential for a variety of repetitive stress injuries, strains and sprains. Here are a few tips to make your gardening season more enjoyable by helping to avoid injuries in the yard.

As with any physical activity, it’s important to allow your muscles time to warm up prior to getting to work in the yard or garden. Practice the movements you’ll be engaging in that day and make sure the muscles that you’ll be using are properly stretched. Stretching and routine exercise can help in preventing the recurrence of spinal injuries and other health issues. Even taking a short walk can do wonders for warming up your legs and back, two of the main parts of your body used in gardening and yard work.

Try to avoid bending, pushing and pulling, as with raking, hoeing and picking up leaves, for prolonged periods of time. These activities can easily strain the shoulders and lower back, so it’s important to take regular breaks. It’s also important to remember to switch hands often, to avoid straining one side of your body.

Long-handled tools offer better leverage and require less exertion, making tasks easier on your muscles and joints. Avoid bending forward and sideways, as they can irritate the muscles in the neck and lower back. Kneel, rather than bend, whenever possible.

Always remember, if a task seems like too much work for one person, it probably is. Ask a friend to help or consider hiring a professional for large undertakings like landscaping and tree topping.

As a Santa Monica shoulder pain doctor, I understand the intense pain the repetitive strain injuries can cause people and hope that these tips help everyone to avoid preventable injuries. If you feel like you’ve overdone it and are experiencing recurring pain symptoms, speak with a Santa Monica pain management doctor.

Tags: health and fitness, injury prevention, pain management, pain management doctor, Santa Monica, Santa Monica pain management doctor, Santa Monica shoudler pain doctor, shoulder pain, shoulder pain doctor, stretching