Back Pain and Gardening

As the weather has improved here in Texas the conversation drifts towards yard fix-up, gardening, lawn care- the gamut of outdoor home improvement activities. At a get together the other night, I listened to many of the guests talk about their plans for the spring, out and around their homes.

Yet the majority discussing their activities were weekend warriors (according to the Merriam-Webster definition  “weekend warriors are those people who participate in unusually physically strenuous activity only on weekends or part-time.”) 

For most of the people there at the get together, you can find them Monday through Friday  at work, usually a desk or computer oriented job.

So it wasn’t surprising to hear many comments about back pain, sore knees and various aches and pains.  In my practice Monday “urgent” appointments, (those that couldn’t wait) frequently happened because of overdoing yard work.

How do you prevent that pain? Of course, you can minimize the overdoing, but I'm guilty of that too. So I'm not going to give advice on something I don't do myself.

I will suggest

1. Good body mechanics.

    You know:

•  Lift with your legs
•  Avoid twisting when using a shovel. Scoop up the mulch or soil and step or turn your feet before you throw the mulch or soil.  Twisting causes additional stress on your back which can contribute to back pain.
• Don't lift plants, tools that are outside your reach. Most back injuries occur when we don't take time to take a step or two closer to the thing we want to pick up.  We reach and then…the back rebels. Big time rebellion, pain.

2.  Use adaptive gardening techniques
        Whatever you call it, adaptive gardening, enabled gardening or accessible gardening make your garden work well for you. Adapt your garden to you, not the other way around. Minimize the need to bend and reach.

3.  Use tools to help yourself. 

    Tools like wheelbarrows, hand trucks and tools that fit. I'm tall (6'6") so I get tools that have longer handles. You can generally switch out handles on many brands of rakes,hoes, shovels and the like.

    One of my neighbors, Mary is less than 5' tall. To protect her back she needs to use tools that are shorter to fit her. Tools sized for children may just be the right height for her.     The handles are shorter, the tools are lighter weight, overall a better fit for a person who is short.

    Put heavy planters or containers on wheeled stands. Then you can push them instead of lifting.

    Lift container plants before you water them. Watering can add several pounds to an already heavy plant.

    Use a pulley system to raise and lower hanging baskets.

4.  Consider raised bed gardening.

    You can raise the bed by constructing or using pre-made forms for your garden. I'm currently writing a report on raised bed gardening which will be completed soon.

5. Buy a smaller size of soil, mulch and other supplies.

    Larger maybe less expensive in the short run, but a back injury will cost more in time, money and discomfort.

6. Finally, pain is your body's early warning system.

    First the twinge is like a slight nudge saying, "Take it easy."  A pulling or more discomfort is your body saying, "I'm warning you. This is too much." Finally back spasms or sharp pains are your body's way of saying, "Ok, you wouldn't stop voluntarily. I'll make you stop." Listen to your body.

All in the day of a gardener's life,