Gardening is a wonderful activity, especially during the warmer months of the year. Those who spend a lot of time working in their gardens can accumulate hours of physical activity. As you may know, physical activity and exercise are touted for the positive health effects they provide such as improved mood, decreased risk of disease, and many others.
However, while it may seem like gardening is a relatively risk-free pursuit, numerous injuries can result from this hobby. Luckily, there are some easy tips and tricks that can make gardening a pleasant and safe experience for those who look forward to the activity every year.
In this article, we will review the top 3 chiropractic tips for gardening to keep you active, healthy, and injury-free.
Tip #1: Use Padding
Many of the tasks inherent in gardening involve getting down low to the ground. This position is required for removing weeds, planting seeds, and many other aspects of gardening.
The easiest and most straightforward method for accomplishing most of these tasks is to position yourself on hands and knees. For short periods of time, there is nothing wrong with being in this position. In fact, most people’s bodies will tolerate kneeling for hours before they begin to experience pain or other symptoms.
However, when a person kneels on hard ground day after day, month after month, and year after year; problems often begin to develop.
For instance, a person who kneels a lot may start to experience knee joint pain, hip pain, or even back pain due to the position in question.
Fortunately, the fix for this issue is very simple: the use of knee pads or pillows. By using some light padding underneath your knees, you’ll keep yourself in great gardening shape for many years to come.
Tip #2: Don’t Reach Too Far
When you’re working in the garden, you’ll often be tempted to reach long distances. You may think that reaching a couple of extra inches to snag that one last weed won’t lead to any long-term consequences. Unfortunately, reaching too far can put significant stress on the back, shoulders, and other joints.
For this reason, you should always position yourself in such a way as to avoid overreaching. Once you’ve finished working in a certain area, move your whole body over to the next area. This extra repositioning may seem like a waste of time, but the practice will enable you to reach within your body’s anatomical limits and it will keep you safe from injury.
Tip #3: Take Your Time
Perhaps the best tip that can apply to almost all pursuits in life is to take your time. Rushing through a job invariably leads to injury and complications. By planning out what you’re going to do, gathering the right tools, and setting up your workstation, you put yourself in the best position for injury prevention.
This is especially true when you are performing jobs requiring sharp or otherwise dangerous tools in your garden. These tools only pose a risk to you if you don’t follow proper protocols and are rushing through the job at hand.
Be sure that you are being mindful of your gardening tasks and not hurrying to get them done. Best of all, taking this extra time will help you enjoy the act of gardening even more.
Have you been having some increased pain since the gardening season started up again? Are you looking for ways to improve your posture so that you can avoid injuries while working outside? If so, stop by Keystone Chiropractic, your expert Plano, TX chiropractors, today! We’ve helped many others overcome gardening-related concerns and we’d be happy to do the same for you. Book your appointment now!
