Autumn in The Garden

Market Harborough Chiropractor garden advice.
Written By davecasey6719@gmail.com, On September 30, 2013

Autumn in the garden
In Market Harborough we love our gardens and autumn is the time of a lot of there is a lot to do – planting for the spring; clearing never ending piles of leaves and tidying dead growth from summer shrubs. Your back is vulnerable to injury with lots of heavy work, so a Market Harborough Chiropractor has some helpful tips. As an allotment holder myself I see at first hand the potential to harm the spine everytime I am at my allotment.

Clothes
– Don’t wear clothes that are tight or could constrict your movement, make sure you can bend at the knees so you can keep back straight. I use knee pads to avoid long periods bending from the waist.

Warm Up
– Gardening is like any other exercise; you need to warm up first. Don’t go straight into heavy garden work; start off with lighter jobs as this will lessen the chance of muscle strain. Don’t forget to stretch afterwards even the next day as muscles and ligaments recover from a hard few hours work. Remember sports usually last for a few short minutes of exertion, gardening can last for hours bent over so can be more strenuous than you think.

Clever pruning
– Get as close as possible to the things you are pruning and avoid overstretching to reach the area you are dealing with.

Using the rake

– Keep your body in line with the rake and don’t over stretch by leaning too far forward or dragging your arms too far behind. Try not to twist as you rake because the joints in the lower back can be damaged by too much twisting especially if it is repetetive. Use short, precise movements. When going to pick the leaf litter up, bend both knees and keep your back straight.

Take a break
– Vary your activity by spending no more than 20-30 minutes on any one thing and make sure you take regular breaks. Use a spade or fork to lean on when bending to pick at weeds to help take some load of the lower back.

Plan ahead
– A specialist garden trolley might be worth investing in to move heavy pots around to protect them from the cold weather as well as being great for carting heavy bags of compost around.

If you plan ahead and maintain your back with regular chiropractic treatment you can keep the spine mobile and help prevent potential back problems before they develop.