Back Pain Relieving Fall Tips
Fall is a beautiful time of year. As the year moves into its vintage months, we are often presented with beautiful sunny and comfortable days, stunning colors of foliage changing and of course… lots and lots of leaves on the ground. Here in Springfield it’s no different. Just a drive down any road will see yards full of leaves ready to be sorted and picked up. It’s the annual leaf pick up job and one of the biggest outdoor jobs to do prior to the winter months. So we’re going to look at a few ways to help your back and help prevent any injuries that might befall you.
Tip 1 Hire Someone else to do it
This is obviously the easiest way because you don’t need to do a thing and your chances of back pain will be limited to you sitting on the sofa watching someone else do the work.
Tip 2 Wear a back brace
Ok, now we’re onto the serious tips. You’re going to do it yourself. After all, why not, it’s beautiful weather to be out in, the sun is shining and it’s not too hot so when you get a sweat on, you’re still cool. So first tip is to wear a low back brace to provide good support for your back. You can pick these up pretty cheaply from Amazon, Walmart or any of the pharmacies.
Tip 3 Wear appropriate footwear
Might sound obvious, but don’t do this in flip flops or the like. It may still be warm, but chances are the ground may be damp and you can easily slip and fall and hurt yourself if you don’t wear appropriate footwear. Wear sturdy boots that provide good support for your feet and thus prevent the chances of falling.
Tip 4 Keep your hands free
It’s always a good idea to keep your cell phone on you, just in case of emergencies, you just never know, but keep it safely in a pocket on you. Keeping your hands free will enable you to catch yourself if you do trip and fall. After all, there will be many leaves on the ground, and who knows what they could be covering. Maybe there’s a mat under there you could trip over, or cracked concrete or poorly laid slabs on the patio that the leaves have covered. All these things are tripping hazards which can cause you injury if not careful.
Tip 5 Warm up before raking
Raking is exercise and if you just go out and simply start your raking activity, you could end up pulling a muscle or two. So do some light stretches first and limber up, just as you would for any other exercise.
Tip 6 Walk carefully and slowly
Once again, the ground may be slippery if its damp or even icy if it’s been cold. So take simple small steps and take your time and be careful as you walk around.
Tip 7 Take frequent breaks
Depending on the size of your yard, you may have a lot of leaves to clear up, so work in short bursts, taking plenty of breaks to help your back along the way. If you can, get some help and take it in turns to rake.
We hope these tips will help you to stay injury and pain free. Of course if you are suffering pain from your yard clean up or for whatever reason, we are here to help you. Our multi disciplined treatments are extensive and we have so many options to help you out of pain and back to fitness based on your needs. From chiropractic to physical therapy to medical massage, we have the treatments to help you.
Call us today or simply schedule online.